The purpose of Human Factors and Ergonomics in Manufacturing & Service Industries is to facilitate discovery, integration, and application of scientific knowledge about human aspects of manufacturing, and to provide a forum for worldwide dissemination of such knowledge for its application and benefit to manufacturing industries. The journal covers a broad spectrum of ergonomics and human factors issues with a focus on the design, operation and management of contemporary manufacturing systems, both in the shop floor and office environments, in the quest for manufacturing agility, i.e. enhancement and integration of human skills with hardware performance for improved market competitiveness, management of change, product and process quality, and human-system reliability. The inter- and cross-disciplinary nature of the journal allows for a wide scope of issues relevant to manufacturing system design and engineering, human resource management, social, organizational, safety, and health issues. Examples of specific subject areas of interest include: implementation of advanced manufacturing technology, human aspects of computer-aided design and engineering, work design, compensation and appraisal, selection training and education, labor-management relations, agile manufacturing and virtual companies, human factors in total quality management, prevention of work-related musculoskeletal disorders, ergonomics of workplace, equipment and tool design, ergonomics programs, guides and standards for industry, automation safety and robot systems, human skills development and knowledge enhancing technologies, reliability, and safety and worker health issues.