Section V: Management, Ergonomics and Systems Engineering
The general aim of Section V is to optimise work organization and farm management through labour and work planning as well as systems engineering, and to improve the health and safety of workers with respect to environmental factors as well as ergonomic, psychological and social factors such as work satisfaction.
Members:
Chair: Prof. Pietro Piccarolo, Department of Agricultural, Forest and Environmental Economics and Engineering Via Leonardo da Vinci 44, 10095, Grugliasco, Turin, Italy
T.: +390116708593,
F.: +390116708591,
E-mail: pietro.piccarolo@unito.it
Vice Chair: Dr.Claus Gron Soerensen, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Agricultural Engineering, University of Aarhus, Schüttesvej 17, DK-8700 Horsens, Denmark.
T.:+45 89993023
F.:+45 89993100
E-mail: claus.soerensen@agrsci.dk
Secretary: Prof. Dr. Ladislav Nozdrovicky, Department of Machines and Production Systems Faculty of Agricultural Engineering, Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra
Tr. A. Hlinku 2 SK-949 76 NITRA, Slovak Republic
T.: +421 37 641 41 11, +421 37 641 51 11
E-mail: Ladislav.Nozdrovicky@uniag.sk
Members:
Dr. D. Goense, Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Engineering, IMAG-DLO, Dept. Labour & Management, Dr. Mansholtlaan 10-12, / P.O.B. 43, 6700 AA, Wageningen, The Netherlands
T.: +31 317 47 64 62
F.: +31 317 42 56 70
E-mail: daan.goense@wur.nl
Prof. Gajendra Singh, Asian Institute of Technology, AFE Programme, SERD, P.O. Box 4, Klongluang, Pathumthani 12120, THAILAND.
T.: +66 25 24 5450
F.: +66 25 24 6200
E-mail: singhg@ait.ac.th
Prof. Tarmo Luoma, Work Efficiency Institute, P.O.Box 28, Melkonkatu 16A, FIN-00211 Helsinki, Finland.
T.: +358 9 2904 1200
F.: +358 9 692 2084
E-mail: tarmo.luoma@tts.fi
Prof. Hisashi Horio, Department of Agricultural and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, Kobe University, 657-8501 Nada-ku, Kobe, Japan.
T.F.: +81 78 803 5916
E-mail: horio@kobe-u.ac.jp
Dr. Matthias Schick, ART (Switzerland)
T: +41 52 368 32 52
F.: +41 52 365 11 90
E-mail: matthias.schick@art.admin.ch
Dr. Elisabeth Quendler,University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences (Universität für Bodenkultur)
Peter Jordan Straße 82, 1190, Wien, Austria
T.: +43 1 47654-3506
F.: +43 1 47 654-3527
e-mail elisabeth.quendler@boku.ac.at
Dr. Miguel de Cervantes Villamuelas,Polytechnic University of Madrid, Spain
T.: +34 91 336 5864
F.: +34 91 336 36 88
e-mail miguel.cervantes@upm.es
Dr. Jurgen Frisch, KTBL- Kuratorium für Technik und Bauwesen in der Landwirtschaft – Darmstad - Germany
T.: +49 6151 7001-124
F.: +49 6151 7001-123
e-mail: j.frisch@ktbl.de
Honorary Chair:
Prof. Tadeusz Juliszewski, Agricultural University of Cracow, ul Balicka 104, Pl 30-149, Cracow, Popand
E-mail:juliszewski@ar.krakow.pl
The activities of section V deal with the following themes:
1) Ergonomics: Related to the workload and safety of farmers’ use of combines, tractors and other technical equipment, including the compatibility of signs and manuals in the actual workplace.
2) Risk analysis: Related to accident prevention in all agricultural operations that impose varying levels of physical and mental stress.
3) Work organization: Related to the investigation of work methods and labour operation time with combines, tractors and other equipment, including the effect of weather conditions on daily planning.
4) System Management: Related to the information technology and decision support systems used to improve productivity and product quality as well as cost reduction, including the reduction of the impact of agricultural production on the environment.
The Challenging Theme that will play a key role in agriculture in the future is agro-food and non-food logistics, which is a field that will empower and adapt our agricultural activities to the third millennium. Logistics is the part of the supply chain that involves the planning, implementation and control of the efficient and effective flow and storage of goods, services and related information from the point of origin to the point of consumption in order to meet the requirements of customers.
The main R&D activities of Section V related to logistics for agriculture could be the following:
- Supply-chain of fresh products, cold products storage and transportation.
- Supply-chain of locally grown products.
- Traceability and food safety.
- High capacity harvesting and transportation chains.
- Transport of raw products from fields to farms and/or to collecting centres.
- Product flow and transport optimisation within the farms.
- Transport and delivery of biomass for energy production.
- Manure and waste management.
- Segregation and handling of IP products (non-GM vs. GM).
- E-commerce in agriculture
The themes of Section V may help to meet the increasing demand for both food and non-food agricultural products and related supply-chains. In order to increase competition, one challenging domain is that of increasing energy efficiency and higher labour productivity in agriculture.
On the one hand (especially in technologically advanced countries or regions), electronics will make the processes more efficient in various ways: labour saving, labour easing, fuel saving and input saving in site-specific applications; the processes will hence be made more ecologically friendly.
On the other hand (especially in developing regions and for labour-intensive crops), reducing the workload without producing labour saving would result in higher rural unemployment.
In this environment, expert knowledge, management skills and IT-based management support systems become critical success factors for all activities.
Section V works in collaboration with the ‘Commission Internationale de l’Organisation Scientifique du Traval en Agriculture’ (CIOSTA).
CIOSTA was founded in 1950 as a non-profit, professional organization to promote agricultural economy with a focus on agricultural production systems, yield and quality automation, labour economics and ergonomics and safety.
Section V and CIOSTA organize a biennial international conference. The next conference will be held from 17–19 September 2007 at the Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra (the Slovak Republic).
Title of Conference: ‘Advances in labour and machinery management for profitable agriculture and forestry’
The topics will be:
- Methods and modelling
- Process engineering and controlling
- Calculation and planning
- Farm management
- Ergonomics and workplace design
- Work safety, Prevention and Risk analysis
The conference language is English.
Pietro Piccarolo
Chairperson of CIGR Section V
