Integration of ergonomic principles in the design and construction of car wheel polishing tools to improve operator performance

The use of manual tools in the process of polishing car wheels is still widely found in variety workshops, which has an impact on low work efficiency and high physical load of operators. This research aims to design and build ergonomics-based car wheel polishing tools to improve operator efficiency and work comfort. The method used is design and construction with an ergonomic approach, starting from identifying user needs, collecting anthropometric data, to testing the functional of the tool. The design of the tool was adjusted to the anthropometric data of 10 workshop operator respondents, resulting in a tool with dimensions of 100 cm × 70 cm × 120 cm. The evaluation was carried out by comparing the polishing performance manually and using tools in terms of working time, fatigue level (Borg CR-10), and work posture (RULA). The results showed that the average polishing time decreased from 65 minutes (manual) to 12.3 minutes (using tools), with a time efficiency of 80.8%. The fatigue score decreased from 7.6 to 2.9, and the RULA score showed a decrease in ergonomic risk from high to moderate-low. The paired t-test showed a statistically significant difference (p < 0.05) across the parameters tested.