J. For. Sci., 2019, 65(4):144-149 | DOI: 10.17221/27/2019-JFS

Behavioural profile effect of forestry machine operators in the learning processOriginal Paper

Millana Bürger Pagnussat^*,1, Eduardo da Silva Lopes¹, Rachael D. Seidler²

¹ Department of Forest Engineering, State University of the Center-West - UNICENTRO, Irati, Paraná, Brazil

² Department of Applied Physiology and Kinesiology, University of Florida, Gainesville, USA

A lack of efficient operators for wood harvesting machines poses a great challenge. Here, our objective was to evaluate the effect of the behavioural profile on the productive efficiency of forwarder operators. The study was carried out in a Brazilian company, with a sample of 10 operators. A profile evaluation characterized the reference profile, comparing with the profile of the operators studied. The operators were evaluated through their productive efficiency, for 11 months to track learning curves. The results showed that operators must be attentive to details, deadlines, rules, be patient and a moderate initiative taker. The operators were classified into two behavioural profiles, class 1 appropriate to the position and class 2 with some inappropriate points. The productive efficiency of the operators increased during the training, with the profile operators 1 and 2 reaching the targets set by the company in the fifth and seventh month, respectively. The difference in the average productive efficiency between the operators of profile 1 and 2 during the training process was 19%.

Keywords: wood; operator recruitment; learning curves; productivity

Published: April 30, 2019  Show citation