ABSTRACT
Digital human modeling soft ware (DHMS) enables early assessment of important design parameters of future products and production systems. Typically, humans aff ect the system performance, and in order to achieve the expected system effi ciency, ergonomics needs to be considered in the design process in addition to the more technical or logistical matters. Hence, there is a call for ergonomics to be a natural part of the product and production system development process, also at virtual stages. Commercial DHMS support the consideration of ergonomics at virtual stages of the design process. Simulation is becoming an increasingly important approach in the design of products and production systems. Simulation and predictive models enable evaluation of the consequences of design choices before fi nancial resources are committed to constructing either prototypes or actual systems; the rapid adoption of these tools pose an opportunity to integrate consideration of ergonomics into early design stages (Mathiassen et al., 2002).
