title: Increased work pace is unprofitable: a beef-cutting case study.
abstract: The beef industry worldwide is showing a trend towards increased cutting pace aimed at higher profits. However, prior research in the duck meat industry suggested that a higher cutting pace reduced quality and yield, leading to losses. This study aimed to test this hypothesis by investigating the effects of varying beef-cutting paces on yield, quality and economy. A field experiment was conducted on six workers cutting beef fillet, sirloin and entrecôte. Three types of paces were sequentially tested: Baseline (i.e., status quo), 'Quantity focus' (i.e., pace required to maximise quantity) and 'Quality focus' (i.e., pace required to minimise errors). The results showed a significant drop in yield, increased rate of quality deficiency and economic losses with the change to 'Quantity focus' (from Baseline and 'Quality focus') for all meat types. Workers supported these results and also added health problems to the list. The results confirmed that an increased cutting pace is unprofitable.
authors.affiliation: KTH Royal Institute of Technology, STH, Unit of Ergonomics, Alfred Nobels allé 10, SE-141 52 Huddinge, Sweden. Electronic address: kjerstin.vogel@kth.sth.se.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Vogel
authors.affiliation: School of Engineering, Jönköping University, P.O. Box 1026, SE-551 11 Jönköping, Sweden. Electronic address: johan.karltun@jth.hj.se.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Karltun
authors.affiliation: School of Business, Monash University Malaysia, Jalan Lagoon Selatan, Bandar Sunway, Petaling Jaya 46150, Selangor, Malaysia. Electronic address: paul.yeow@monash.edu.
authors.forename: P H P
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Yeow
authors.affiliation: KTH Royal Institute of Technology, STH, Unit of Ergonomics, Alfred Nobels allé 10, SE-141 52 Huddinge, Sweden. Electronic address: jorgen.eklund@sth.kth.se.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Eklund
mesh_terms: D000062:Accidents, Occupational / Q000191:economics / Q000517:prevention & control; D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D017046:Cost Savings; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D017598:Efficiency, Organizational / Q000191:economics; D063427:Food Quality; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007588:Job Satisfaction; D008460:Meat / Q000191:economics; D008462:Meat-Packing Industry / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods*; D018803:Models, Economic; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000191:economics / Q000517:prevention & control; D009937:Organizational Objectives / Q000191:economics; D011786:Quality Control; D013548:Sweden; D013997:Time Factors; D057188:Workflow; D000078329:Workforce; D016526:Workload / Q000191:economics / Q000523:psychology
keywords: Beef; Economy; Health; Productivity; Quality; Satisfaction