The Role of Human Factors in the Future of Thermal Spray Processing

Many thermal spray operations, such as gun assembly, grit blasting, masking, and inspection are still uniquely distinguished by their heavy reliance on manual labor. The resulting outcomes for yield and quality can therefore depend heavily on the operator’s skill and the influence of the surrounding environment. The emerging field of human factors research provides a scientific approach to understand the impact of physiological and cognitive aspects of operator interactions with equipment, parts, and processes, and can be effectively used to guide customized interventions and training to reduce output variation. Principles from human factors research can also be used to prepare thermal spray operators and specialists for interaction with an increasingly automated and digitized manufacturing environment.