Search Results (20)

Furniture production is a specific industrial sector with a high human labor demand, a wide range of materials processed, and short production runs caused by high customization of end products. The difficulty of measuring the aesthetic requirements of customers is also specific to furniture. This review of academic papers identifies and explains effective quality management strategies in furniture production. The reviewed literature highlights a range of quality management methodologies, including concurrent engineering (CE), total quality management (TQM), lean manufacturing, lean six sigma, and kaizen. These strategies encompass a variety of pro-quality tools, such as 5S, statistical process control (SPC), quality function deployment (QFD), and failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA). The strengths of these quality management strategies lie in their ability to enhance efficiency, reduce waste, increase product diversity, and improve product quality. However, the weaknesses concern implementation challenges and the need for culture change within organizations. Successful quality management in furniture production requires tailoring strategies to the specific context of the furniture production industry. Additionally, the importance of sustainability in the furniture industry is emphasized, which entails incorporating circular economy principles and resource-efficient practices. The most important finding from the literature analysis is that early detection and correction of poor quality yields the most beneficial outcomes for the manufacturer. Therefore, it is essential to strengthen the rigor of quality testing and analysis during the early stages of product development. Consequently, a deep understanding of consumer perspectives on required furniture quality is crucial. The review identified two research gaps: (1) the impact of unnecessary product over-quality on the efficiency of furniture production and (2) the influence of replacing CAD drawings with a model-based definition (MBD) format on quality management in furniture production. Full article

General principles derived from anatomical studies of human body sizes should be applied to chair designs. Chairs can be designed for a specific user or a particular group of users. Universal chairs for public spaces should be comfortable for the largest possible group of users and should not be adjustable, such as office chairs. However, the fundamental problem is that the anthropometric data available in the literature either come from many years ago and are out of date or do not provide a complete set of all the dimensional parameters of a sitting human body position. This article proposes a way to design chair dimensions solely based on the height range of the intended chair users. For this purpose, based on literature data, the main structural dimensions of the chair were assigned to the appropriate anthropometric body measurements. Furthermore, calculated average body proportions for the adult population overcome the incompleteness, outdated and burdensome access to anthropometric data and link the main chair design dimensions to one easily accessible anthropometric parameter: human height. This is achieved by seven equations describing the dimensional relations between the chair’s essential design dimensions and human height or even a height range. The result of the study is a method of determining the optimal functional dimensions of a chair for a chosen range of sizes of its future users based only on users’ height range. Limitations of the presented method: the calculated body proportions are correct only for people with a standard body proportion characteristic of adults, i.e., they exclude children and adolescents up to 20 years of age, seniors, and people with a body mass index exceeding 30. Full article

Chairs are furniture that are intended for direct contact with people, they are heavily loaded by forces, and they must meet a number of criteria, such as ergonomics, safety, economic sustainability, feasibility, and aesthetic requirements. This study aimed to define the dimensional solution of wooden chairs for the adult bariatric subpopulation of Slovakia. Long-term observations of the changes in the anthropometric dimensions of the population (secular trend) allowed the determination of the body height of 95% of the adult male population. Based on the analysis of the bariatric population of Slovakia, regardless of gender, the values of weight, waist and hip circumference, and seat width were defined in the years 2020 to 2022. The increased population’s average body mass makes the researched topic highly relevant and necessary. Based on the obtained data, new dimensions of wooden chairs for bariatric respondents were designed: seat height 49 cm, seat width 67 cm, and seat depth 47 cm. Adjusting the dimensions of wooden chairs makes it possible to ensure comfortable sitting and standing for bariatric respondents and prevents many health problems. For furniture manufacturers, the introduction of the production of wooden furniture for bariatric respondents can be a competitive market advantage. Full article

Every space used by a person should suit the anthropometric and biomechanical characteristics of the users. Poorly designed premises and types of equipment have a negative impact on human health. Furniture, as a device for daily use, can in the long term, with inadequate dimensions, significantly affect human health. In this work, we define the secular development of selected anthropometric dimensions of the Slovak population. Based on the positive development, we point out the dimensional and strength characteristics of bed and resting furniture and the dimensional and strength characteristics of seating furniture, which anthropometric dimensions influence. At the same time, we note the need to update the calculation formulas for pricing individual products, which will have an economic impact on wood furniture production. Based on the results, we can conclude that in most of the monitored characteristics of the Slovak population, such as height and bodyweight, the elbow height when sitting, palm width, hand length, length of the forearm to fingertip, buttock–knee length and knee height—sitting with shoes, affect the dimensions of the bed and seating furniture. This implies the need to update the current standards for the general Slovak population. Full article

In the conditions of Slovakia, forest harvesting is largely carried out by hand-held chainsaws. Working with a chainsaw is one of the most demanding tasks in forestry, both in terms of demands on the operator and compliance with technological and work discipline. The aim of this work is the analysis of selected anthropometric dimensions of the upper limbs of the adult male population and their comparison with parameters and approaches in the design of hand-held controls for manual chainsaws. The research was conducted on a sample of 1629 men aged 18 to 25, in whom six anthropometric dimensions related to the upper limbs were measured, which are important for the sizing of the controls on the chainsaw handles. The results of the anthropometric analysis were compared with the recommended values for the design of hand-held chainsaws. Based on the results obtained, we identified some parameters of the front and rear handles that would need to be resized. Most of the recommended dimensions are in a convenient range. However, to take into account user comfort, we suggest, in some cases, increasing their minimum recommended values. Full article

The issue of the formation of wood dust particles in the work environment is still an actual topic in terms of its impact on employee health and the risk of fire or explosion in a woodworking operation. This article deals with the characteristics of spruce dust (Picea abies Karst. (L.)), which was taken from several types of wood technology. Experimental samples of spruce dust were taken from four types of sawing technologies, including grinding, briquetting and from the suction device container. The physical parameters of the samples taken were monitored and the particle size analysis was determined. The granulometric composition of the samples is significantly different. The sample of spruce wood dust from sawing has the most numerous fraction (250 µm), while the sample from grinding has the most numerous fraction 63–250 µm (87%).The aim of the paper was to monitor the minimum ignition temperature of the settled spruce dust layer and to look for a significant dependence of the minimum ignition temperature and ignition time on the type of spruce dust sample. A significant dependence was not confirmed. Significant moisture dependence of the samples was confirmed; the highest humidity was observed in the container, the lowest in sawing. Full article

The aim of the study was to conduct an analysis of selected anthropometric measurements of sitting posture of the adult male population and to compare the results to the workplace of earthmoving machine operators. Research into this problem is important in several respects, particularly the design approaches taken for the current and future machines, and their impact on the health and safety of operators. The anthropometric analysis was based on dimension measurements of the adult male population gathered in the years 2002–2019. The sample consisted of 1702 subjects aged 18 to 25. Thirteen body dimensions were selected and evaluated according to the European Standard of International Organization for Standardization (EN ISO) Nr. 3411. Anthropometric analysis of individual dimensions was evaluated using descriptive statistics and frequency histograms. The results of the analysis were compared to values recommended in the EN ISO 3411 standard. Results confirmed the growing trend of specific human dimensions within the adult population. In eight of the 13 analyzed body dimensions, descriptive statistics showed above-average values in the analyzed population compared to the values given in the standard. The long-term trend commonly observed in the adult population of developed countries was also confirmed. Full article

Teaching is a specific type of profession with a specific mission. In this study, the motivation level of primary school teachers in Slovakia in the period from 2015 to 2020 was analyzed. A total of 1189 Slovak teachers with a stratified selection were addressed. Cronbach’s Alpha, Tukey’s HSD (honest significant difference), and ANOVA were used to analyze the data obtained. The research results confirm that Slovak teachers are motivated most by relationship and financial factors. Other important motivation factors are atmosphere in the workplace, a good work team, a supervisor’s approach, a fair appraisal system, and a basic salary. The research also confirms that, over the duration of the study, there was a significant change in the average level of motivation factors; however, there was no change in their relative proportion and structure. In relation to gender, significant diachronic differences were confirmed. Research results prove that Slovak teachers have stable requirements in terms of motivation. This study’s findings will further help school management create effective motivation programs for primary school teachers. Regarding the fact that no similar research has been conducted in Slovakia in a long time, the research results presented here are original and unique. Full article

Significant increase in 25 anthropometric variables of the Slovak and Czech population in time are defined in the paper. A total of 691 respondents from Slovakia and 688 from the Czech Republic were analyzed. Arithmetic means and standard deviations to characterize the anthropometric variables and their variation were defined and compared. Subsequently, quantiles of the selected anthropometric measurements of the adult male and female population in individual countries in the year 2004 and newly determined quantiles in the year 2018 were calculated and compared. Following the results, the fact that secular trend has stabilized and differences in population between individual countries have minimized over the course of the last 14 years can be stated. Full article

The main goal of human resource management (HRM) is to create conditions that allow enterprises to run businesses effectively by following the maximum performance and sustainability of business processes, which are key factors for an enterprise to succeed on the market. For effective management of employees as a part of HRM, systematic employee motivation is necessary because human resources are a key factor for achieving enterprise sustainability. As employees can be motivated by everything stimulating their activity, the aim is to define the importance of employee motivation through the most important motivation factors relating to mutual relationships. The emphasis is put on the identification of statistically significant differences in terms of socio-demographic features of employees. At a significance level of 5%, the statistically significant differences in terms of gender, age, and job were tested further using Tukey’s honestly significant difference test. The research results showed a large number of statistically significant differences between individual employee categories. This leads to the conclusion that employers should focus on creating individual motivation programs for employees and not approach employees uniformly because of their various needs. Creating individual motivation programs for employees should respect their needs in terms of gender, age, and job position. Enterprises are recommended to focus their motivation programs on supporting motivation factors related to finance, mutual relationships, and work conditions. Full article

The ability to do business successfully and to stay on the market is a unique feature of each company ensured by highly engaged and high-quality employees. Therefore, innovative leaders able to manage, motivate, and encourage other employees can be a great competitive advantage of an enterprise. Knowledge of important personality factors regarding leadership, incentives and stimulus, systematic assessment, and subsequent motivation factors are parts of human capital and essential conditions for effective development of its potential. Familiarity with various ways to motivate leaders and their implementation in practice are important for improving the work performance and reaching business goals. Pearson’s chi-square test is used to test correlation between the motivation factors relating to career aspiration and education. Following the research results, the fact that there is dependence between the motivation factors relating to career aspiration and completed education can be stated. The motivation factors relating to career aspiration are important, even very important for highly educated employees and employees with upper secondary education. Following the research results, the fact that the requirements and expectations relating to career aspiration are more demanding when the education completed by employees is higher is confirmed. Full article

Employee performance and their new ideas, as well as their efforts to promote the company in positive ways help build the values of an enterprise. Properly motivated managers, white-collar, and blue-collar workers use their performance to affect the business efficiency, and therefore the success and sustainability of the enterprise. Selecting the right structure of motivation factors, especially those aimed at job category and gender, is the main role of enterprise management. The aim of this study is to analyze and define differences in the perception of the preferred level of motivation in terms of gender and job category. The questionnaires were given to randomly selected employees working in Slovak enterprises in order to ensure variability and randomness of respondent selection which is necessary for relevant data acquisition. Following the average, the order of the importance of motivation factors of 3720 respondents was defined. The Student’s t-test and Tukey’s HSD test were used. We confirmed that there are statistically significant differences in the perception of the motivation in terms of job category. Moreover, we proved the significant differences between genders in the job category of blue-collar workers. We did not observe differences between genders in the other job categories studied. The results reported should be accepted and implemented in motivational programs by the employees of human resource departments as a way to keep up with strategic human resource management. Full article

The research on population shows that the count of overweight people has been constantly growing. Therefore, designing and modifying utility items, e.g., furniture should be brought into focus. Indeed, furniture function and safety is associated with the weight of a user. Current processes and standards dealing with the design of seating furniture do not meet the requirements of overweight users. The research is aimed at designing flexible chairs consisting of lamellae using the finite element method (FEM). Three types of glued lamellae based on wood with different number of layers and thickness were made and subsequently, their mechanical properties were tested. Values for modulus of elasticity and modulus of rupture were used to determine stress and deformation applying the FEM method for modelling flexible chairs. In this research, the methodology for evaluating the ultimate state of flexible chairs used to analyse deformation and stability was defined. The analysis confirms that several designed constructions meet the requirements of actual standards (valid for the weight of a user up to 110 kg) but fail to meet the requirements for weight gain of a population. Full article

Good quality sleep is a prerequisite for regenerating the human body, hence, beds should be optimized for specific group of users, taking into consideration their size or age. Current research studies show similar trends in adult populations around the world, where increases in height as well as in weight can be observed. Not only the ergonomics but also the safety of beds, which is determined by the quality and dimensions of structural elements, must be taken into account in bed design. Designing the structural elements for users with a high body weight is presented in the paper. The properties of a bed’s structural elements, which ensure comfort as well as the safety of a bed are affected by the excess weight of users. New requirements for cross sections, suitable materials and construction of structural elements were set in accordance with the standard EN 1725:1998. Also, an analysis of stresses was done using the finite element method (FEM) and the calculation of allowable stresses related to a user weighing 150 kg. The results of our research provide complete standards and regulations associated with the safety requirements of bedroom furniture for users with a weight more than 110 kg to ensure that the manusfacture of quality products in Slovakia. Full article

Quality human resources are an integral part of corporate strategy. Human capital development is an essential step towards the success of the business on the market. This paper fills the hole by providing the information about the ways how to motivate employees in terms of occupational classification and the age. The aim of the research was to determine whether there are statistically significant differences in the level of importance of employee motivation in terms of occupational classification and the age of respondents and the studied areas of motivation. A total of 3720 employees in small and medium-sized enterprises were analysed all over Slovakia using the method of simple random sampling. Descriptive statistics were used to describe sampling units. The differences in the values of the importance of motivation factors of individual groups were tested using the method of Tukey’s HSD at the level of significance α = 5%. Following the results, the fact that there are significant differences in terms of occupational classification and the age in the analysed areas of motivation can be stated. Therefore, the managers have to motivate employees in different ways that result in the more complicated management of human resources associated with meeting enterprise goals. Thus, the issue of individual motivation programmes created for individual employees tailored to employees’ needs must be discussed. Full article