Motion and time study

Definition: Motion and time study is the systematic study of work systems with the purposes of: 1. Developing the preferred method (usually with the lowest cost). 2. Standardizing this method. 3. Determine the time required by a trained worker working at normal pace to do a task. 4. Assisting in training the worker in the preferred method. I will focus on two main parts of the definition: 1. Motion Study (or work method design) to find the preferred method for doing the work. 2. Time study (or work measurement) to determine the standard time to perform a task.

Scope of Motion and Time study

Motion and time study is used in three ways: 1. By industrial engineers and specialists providing their services to line managers and supervisors. 2. By line managers and supervisors after appropriate training and practice. 3. By workers in teams or groups after receiving enough training.

Motion and Time study and no manufacturing activities and indirect factory labour. Mechanization and automation decreased the relative importance of direct labour. However, it is profitable to study the work of operators working on the machines and automated lines through the use of new techniques such as work sampling, queuing theory, time lapse cameras and other methods. It is also profitable to study non manufacturing tasks such as office work and retail business using motion and time study techniques.

History of Motion and Time study

Time study was first used by Taylor in 1881 @ the Midvale Steel Company.

Taylor noticed that the working system needs more improvement and decided to make changes to the way the job is performed.

Taylor started by employing two strong workers to do the experiments. He was trying to find what constituted a full day's work for a first class man which could be performed every day.

His first day attempt was to find what fraction of horse power a man could perform. But he then realized that there was no direct relationship between the horse power that a man exerts and fatigue. He found that a relationship exists between the fraction of day a man under load, the length and frequency of rest periods and how much he can do during one day.

Taylor understood that he was dealing with a human problem as well as materials and machines. He approached the human side of his investigations with an understanding of its psychological aspects.

Taylor states "one of the first duties of management is to develop a science for each element of human work".

Taylor's investigation of shoveling.

Motion study by the Gilbreths The wife (Lillian) was a psychologist and Frank was an Engineer. They worked together to understand the human factor as well as to understand the materials, tools, and equipments. Their contributions included fatigue study, process harts, motion and micro motion study, and chronocyclegraph. Mr. Gilberth started as a brick layer and then he becomes a building contractor. He noticed that each worker used his own unique technique in doing the work and no two workers were using the same methods. He also noticed that the worker doesn't always use the same set of motions when doing repetitive work. The previous observations led him to investigate "one best way" of performing a given task. Mr. Gilberth then gave up his contracting business and was totally devoted to motion study investigations and applications. He made photographs of workers to study them and he substituted longer fatiguing cycles and motions by shorter and less fatiguing motions. Gilberth adapted the motion picture camera to his work and made his greatest contribution to industrial management and made micro motion study (developed by the Gilberths) possible. 3

Micro motion study( first made public in 1912) is the study of fundamental elements or subdivisions of an operation by means motion picture camera and a timing device which accurately indicates the time intervals on the motion picture film. This makes possible the analysis of the elementary motions recorded on the film, and the assignment of time value to each.

Cyclograph and chronocyclegraph were also developed by Gilberth to study the motion path of an operator. That was possible by placing electric light bulbs to different parts of the body and photographing with a still camera the path of light as it moves through space.

The chronocyclegraph uses an interrupter placed in electric circuit with a flashing on quickly and off slowly. This makes the path of the bulb appearing as a dotted line indicating the direction of motion. This graph helps in Measuring the time, speed, and acceleration.