Management, Ergonomics and Systems Engineering

Optimization of farm management and work organization by use of operations planning, logistics and system engineering, while improving the operations efficiency, economics, health, ergonomics, and workers´ safety.

Mission:

The mission of Section V is to optimize farm management and work organization by use of operations planning, logistics and system engineering, while improving the operations efficiency, economics, health, ergonomics, and workers’ safety

Objectives:

The mission of Section V is achieved and fulfilled by a number of objectives. These include:

• Enhancing and improving the knowledge on farm management, specifically operations management
• Developing an improving decision support systems for operations planning, logistical challenges, operations and quality optimization, and economics
• Enhancing the knowledge on technology and sustainability assessments of operations methods in agriculture
• Improve the knowledge and methods for analyzing the interaction of work methods with biological system (soil, crop, etc.) and the meteorological system (weather data, weather forecasts, etc.)
• Improve the knowledge on ergonomics as an integrated part of operations management in bio-production
• Enhancing the evaluation of accident risks associated with agricultural operations

Scope:

Considering the objectives defined as above, the scope of CIGR-Section V refers to the following main subject areas:

• 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
• 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
• 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
• Risk analysis: Related to accident prevention in all agricultural operations that impose varying levels of physical and mental stress
• Section V works in collaboration with the ‘Commission Internationale de l’Organisation Scientifique du Traval en Agriculture’ (CIOSTA) with a focus on agricultural production systems, yield and quality automation, labour economics and ergonomics and safety

Activities:

The themes of Section V 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 operations productivity in agriculture. On the one hand (especially in technologically advanced countries or regions), information technology will improve efficiency in various ways: labour saving, labour easing, fuel saving and input saving in site-specific applications; the processes will hence be made more environmental 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 setting, expert knowledge, management skills and IT-based management support systems become critical success criterias.

One Challenging Theme that will play a key role in agriculture and in the food production in the future is agro-food supply chain. Important management challenges include the supply chain management and logistics involving 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. Important issues include traceability and food safety, optimized harvesting and transportation chains, manure and waste management, handling of IP products (non-GM vs. GM), and E-commerce in bio-production

Section V and CIOSTA organize a biennial international conference. The next conference will be held from 29 June - 1 July 2011 in Vienna, Austria and embracing the topics of
“Efficient and safe production processes in sustainable agriculture and forestry”