Congratulations to Waterman for earning the National Ergo Cup Award at the 2023 National Applied Ergonomics Conference! The team, who placed first in the McWane Ergo Cup Competition, won the national award for their Rotary Weld Fixture. The innovation reduced the physical risk of back and shoulder pain by 95% and reduced setup time, weld time and staffing requirements. The project was recognized in the Ergo Cup “Team-driven Workplace Solutions-Other” category, which includes projects solving non-standard issues such as awkward posture or hand-intensive work.
Manufacturing Engineer Jasmin Cisneros, Special Projects Manager Dan Eggleston, Senior Designer Loudvig Berberian, Project Manager David Francis and Lead Machine Operator of Pipe Fab Operation Jacob Gonzales worked together as a team to investigate the welding procedure and identify awkward postures and repetitive motion that could be eliminated with an ergonomic solution. They presented their project at the conference against international competitors, including Cintas, GE Aviation, Honda of Canada, John Deere, Lockheed Martin and Toyota.
The Rotary Weld Fixture was selected by a prestigious judges panel of ergo practitioners representing organizations including UConn Health, 3M, Ohio State University, Amazon, Cargill, Lockheed Martin and Liberty Mutual Insurance.
Waterman was one of two teams to represent McWane in the competition. Clow Valve demonstrated their Pattern Picker, a motorized tool to pick up patterns from the rack and move them safely to the pattern table without manual lifting.
The annual Applied Ergonomic Conference is hosted by the Applied Ergonomics Society, a worldwide organization dedicated solely to the support of the profession and individuals involved with improving workplace performance, quality, sustainability and employee availability.