Barbara Ciecińska

Dynamic development of various technologies replacing existing, difficult or in various ways arduous, is the reason for replacing equipment with modern ones. New equipment may be associated with a different power supply, a different way that the construction materials are processed or the tools used, than the previous one. Then arises a need to re-examine whether the working conditions at a workplace are safe, what onerous and hazardous factors are associated with the work. An example of such a technological change could be a laser processing, when equipment using a concentrated energy stream, properly controlled, produces a specific effect on materials. However, along with the benefits of the new technology, come also many risks, such as the effects of radiation on matter and the human body, electricity, fire hazards, the problem of toxic emissions and others. This paper presents the problem of ensuring work safety at a newly commissioned CO2 laser station. Technique of brainstorming was used to identify and analyze the working conditions and types of hazards. These may be different from what was previously known, partially known, or even unconscious. Ishikawa diagram was developed and shown to be an effective tool for detailing and structuring problems in relation to safety. In the case of a technical problem, a poka-yoke solution to eliminate the hazard was proposed. Problems occurring at the workstation during machining and related to its operation were assigned, using the affinity diagram, to specific departments of the company, according to its work organization, which can significantly facilitate the management of the work and employees of the different departments in the future, in order to ensure safe and hygienic working conditions.

The paper presents the results of improving the production process using the SMED method. The process improvement was carried out in a company in the construction industry, using a machine park consisting of CNC machines. The study evaluated the current state of changeover times for selected CNC machines and proposed a reduction in changeover times for the machine park analysed. By introducing changes to the changeover process on selected CNC machines, it was possible to minimise the changeover time by more than 20% on all the machines analysed. The proposed reorganisation of the CNC operators’ workstations resulted in a time reduction of approximately 61% for machine 1, 52% for machine 2 and 12% for machine 3. The installation of barcode readers on the profiles, on the other hand, made it possible to load the machining programmes into the CNC machines more quickly and resulted in a reduction in loading time of approximately 88% on average for each of the machines analysed.