Assessing Mental Workload of Automotive Factory Employees Using NASA-TLX and RSME Methods

Azizah, Fahriza Nurul; Nurwinata Rinaldi, Dimas; Wafiq Al-Muqaffa, Figar · 2025 · Crossref

DOI: 10.23917/jiti.v24i01.8363

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Summary

This study addresses the increasing mental workload among employees at PT XXX, an automotive parts supplier in Indonesia, driven by rising production demands and new product plans for 2025. The research was motivated by supervisor reports of fluctuating productivity and the need to assess human resource stability to prevent production failures and work-related stress. The primary objective was to analyze the mental workload conditions of workers across different production processes to identify high-risk areas and improve the current work system. The researchers employed a quantitative descriptive method, utilizing two subjective assessment tools: the NASA Task Load Index (NASA-TLX) and the Rating Scale Mental Effort (RSME). Data were collected from 116 employees across four distinct production processes: Assembly Operator (68 employees), Assembly Inspector (25 employees), Quality Control (13 employees), and Quality Assurance (10 employees). The NASA-TLX method evaluated six dimensions: mental demand, physical demand, temporal demand, performance, effort, and frustration. The RSME method assessed mental effort using a single scale. Validity and reliability tests confirmed the data quality, with Cronbach’s Alpha values exceeding 0.6 for all dimensions. The results indicated that employees experienced high mental workload overall. The average NASA-TLX score was 62.09, categorizing the workload as "High," while the average RSME score was 97.52, indicating "Great Effort." The study found significant variations in workload across different roles, supporting the hypothesis that jobs requiring observation and analysis impose higher mental loads than repetitive tasks. Specifically, the Quality Assurance process exhibited the highest mental workload in both measurement methods, followed by Quality Control. In contrast, Assembly Operators and Inspectors, whose tasks were more repetitive, recorded lower scores. The NASA-TLX analysis revealed that "mental/thought work" and "job satisfaction" were the most heavily weighted indicators, suggesting high pressure and a perception that efforts were not adequately appreciated. The study concludes that the NASA-TLX and RSME methods provide consistent and complementary assessments of mental workload, validating their combined use in industrial settings. The findings highlight that cognitive-intensive roles, particularly in quality assurance, place the greatest strain on employees. This implies that interventions to reduce mental workload should prioritize these specific processes. By identifying these disparities, the company can implement targeted improvements to stabilize productivity and mitigate stress, marking a shift from purely physical assessments to a more holistic evaluation of employee well-being in the automotive manufacturing sector.

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Topics

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• workload measurement
• mental demand

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• Empirical Findings: self report data
• Methodological Resource: metric or index