Adapted from the book
Industrial Engineering and Factory Management, by Arthur G. Anderson
Anderson, A. G. (Arthur G.), 1886-Anderson, A. G. (Arthur G.), 1886-Published: New York,The Ronald Press Company, copyright 1928
Description xiii, 623 p.
Anderson used the description of time study as given by Taylor as the basis and reformulated the Taylor's prescription into process industrial engineering.
Process industrial engineering breaks the process into operations, and studies production machines, associate tools, accessories, work holding devices, material handling equipment and containers, associated facilities, service facilities, layout of plant, layout of the work place and identifies improvement opportunities to increase productivity. The improvement ideas range from invention machines and processes to increase productivity to simple changes like modifications to jigs and fixtures. Methods Engineering, Method Study, Operation Study, and Operation Analysis are some of terms used to describe this phase or step of process industrial engineering.
After all equipment and facility related studies are completed, the focus is shifted to the manual effort required to operate machines and tools. Motion study initially developed by Gilbreth and further developed by others is used at this stage of process industrial engineering.
Determination of time required to do an operation and complete a process are essential requirement for determining the productive potential of an organization. Time study is the name presently used for this phase of the process industrial engineering. But Taylor used Time Study to described the whole procedure of process industrial engineering. It is because he developed his thinking in the context of rate setting. For rate setting, he proposed elementary rate fixing department and under that activity he described the entire process industrial engineering and gave the name of time study. But Anderson and Lowry, Maynard & Stegemerten expanded the Taylor's idea into Method, Motion and Time Studies. Under method they highlighted study of machines and equipment. Machine work study is proposed recently to describe this activity as work study has focus on human work.
OPERATION STUDY—NATURE AND SCOPE
Operation Study is the popular term for the more inclusive title "Job Standardization. Motion and Time Study."
Operation study involves an analysis and standardization of all factors influencing the doing of a task, the development of the best method of performance, and the determination of the time required. Standardization is finding the best arrangement to achieve a goal and making all aware of the best arrangement so that it is used by all engaged in achieving that goal. In an organization, management has to ensure that all activities, operations and processes are standardized. That is best way of performing an activity, operation or process is found out and in all parts of the organization the best way is used to perform each operation.
The aim of operation study is to make the manufacturing establishment in its entirety most efficient and effective; to insure that the personnel, buildings, equipment, operating and auxiliary departments are suitable for the work to be done, and function to advantage.
The following benefits accrue from operation study:
(1) the best manufacturing conditions as to equipment, layout, and surroundings are established and maintained, and improvements stimulated;
(2) the best methods, and the skill of the most expert workers are understood and made available to all others, increasing average efficiency and earning power;
(3) uniformly consistent and correct task times are set affording an accurate basis for setting wage rates fair to man and management; thus eliminating a prolific cause of industrial unrest;
(4) production is increased;
(5) quality is improved and made more uniform;
(6) waste of time, materials and human energy is eliminated;
(7) production may be scheduled and delivery dates set with assurance;
(8) a detail check is provided on the effective functioning of every auxiliary department as previously arranged for; they become truly service departments of the highest order.
As a consequence manufacturing costs will be at a minimum, making higher wages and lower prices possible.
Operation study is the foundation of good production/manufacturing/supply chain management. Operation study is derived from the explanation that Taylor gave for Time Study in 1912.
In 1912, Taylor had occasion to outline and define time study, and he said: "Time study" consists of two broad divisions, first, analytical work, and second, constructive work.
The analytical work of time study is as follows:
(a) Divide the work of a man performing any job into simple elementary movements.
(b) Pick out all useless movements and discard them.
(c) Study, one after another, just how each of several skilled workmen makes each elementary movement, and with the aid of a stop watch select the quickest and best method of making each elementary movement known in the trade.
(d) Describe, record and index each elementary movement, with its proper time, so that it can be quickly found.
(e) Study and record the percentage which must be added to the actual working time of a good workman to cover unavoidable delays, interruptions, and minor accidents, etc.
(f) Study and record the percentage which must be added to cover the newness of a good workman to a job, the first few times that he does it.
(g) Study and record the percentage of time that must be allowed for rest, and the intervals at which the rest must be taken, in order to offset physical fatigue.
The constructive work of time study is as follows:
(h) Add together into various groups such combinations of elementary movements as are frequently used in the same sequence in the trade, and record and index these groups so that they can be readily found.
(i) From these several records, it is comparatively easy to select the proper series of motions which should be used by a workman in making any particular article, and by summing the times of these movements, and adding proper percentage allowances, to find the proper time for doing almost any class of work.
(j) The analysis of a piece of work into its elements almost always reveals the fact that many of the conditions surrounding and accompanying the work are defective; for instance, that improper tools are used, that the machines used in connection with it need perfecting, that the sanitary conditions are bad, etc. And knowledge so obtained leads frequently to constructive work of a high order, to the standardization of tools and conditions, to the invention of superior methods (processes) and machines.
Scope of Operation Study.—It will be noted that under (j) job standardization work is suggested, while (b) and (c) refer to motion study.
Job Standardization
Job standardization denotes the establishment of the best possible conditions with respect to all physical factors which influence the job and is a first natural objective in all operation-study work. A new plant, laid out, designed, built and equipped completely ready for operation by progressive managers and industrial engineers will presumably be ideal with respect to job standardization. Where ideal conditions cannot be realized in existing workshops the best standards attainable can be set and maintained. An outline for job standardization and motion-study work is as follows:
Outline for Job Standardization and Motion-Study Work
A. Object
B. Location
C. Relations to other processes 1. Processes preceding 2. Processes following 3. Routing methods
D. Materials
E. Equipment 1. Machines 2. Tools 3. Transportation facilities 4. Miscellaneous 5. Floor plan
F. Local conditions 1. Lighting 2. Ventilating 3. Heating 4. Safety devices 5. Sanitation 6. Fire protection
G. Personnel 1. Number 2. Position of each operator 3. Method of wage payment
H. Process: A complete and detailed account of every motion made, etc.
I. Lost motion and interference
J. Recommendations
Some of the important things to consider are as follows:
Equipment.—A study of existing equipment may suggest changes and improvements or repairs. The need to bend over, to lift heavy materials or parts, to take more than a step or two, slows up the work and tires the operator; which suggests the economical utilization of mechanical devices. Processes should be those which combine economy with uniformity of standard quality. Productivity is dependent upon the use of best of machines as appropriate for each operation, and the maintenance of normal conditions with respect to their upkeep. Proper means of transporting and handling materials must be utilized.
Tools.— This phase of the investigation will consider the selection of proper steels (tool materials), shape, size, variety and tempering of tools, procedure in issuing them when needed, and their repair and resharpening after use. Likewise all necessary auxiliary equipment in the way of bolts, blocks, clamps, dies, jigs, etc., should be standardized,—perhaps for each operation—kept in good condition, and made readily available. Assurance must be had that the tools needed for a given task will be available. To ensure this, the tool room organization and administration have to studied and improved.
Materials.—Economy in the use of materials should be studied. Waste should be considered, remembering that workmen constantly handling a material may become careless and insensible to its value. Disposing, reclaiming or utilization of waste should be provided for. Considering the consumer's use of the product and methods of manufacture, the kind and grade of material used should be analyzed. Another material may be better, a cheaper grade prove as suitable, or a better grade may be less expensive to process and the finished product more uniform as to quality. A study of storeroom practice may suggest ways of eliminating delays in the issuing of materials.
Layout.—All the machines and workplaces in the department have a relation one with another, and must be considered together. Departmental arrangement is important. A uniform, maximum flow of materials in process is the aim. To achieve this, moves between operations should be short, space sufficient, inspection points and storage areas provided for, production facilities balanced so that congestion will not take place at certain points, with perhaps idle work areas at others. Tool, store and stock rooms must be readily accessible and service centers convenient. Most factories grow by adding manufacturing space here and there, until finally production arrangements are haphazard. In one instance the path of travel of a part was reduced from 535 feet to 27 feet, four truck trips including two elevator journeys dispensed with, and the method changed to require four operators instead of five. Much time was saved.
Environment.—Intelligent attention will be given to adequate illumination, ventilation, sanitation, comfort of floors, unnecessary noises or objectionable odors, and danger hazards. Environment has an impact on productivity. Adjustments and changes suggested by the analysis have to be implemented.
When the work is completed provision must be made for the maintenance of the standards established. Best performances are possible only when conditions are "right," and standard performances possible only when conditions do not vary materially.
Operation study brings about a great change in the relation of auxiliary departments to the operating departments, and the attitude of executives. The man doing a job ordinarily, has little option but to accept equipment, arrangements, tools, materials, environment, etc., as they come. The worker is at the bottom of the ladder of authority. With operation study job requirements are analyzed and standardized in every particular; and the service required of auxiliary departments and executives is outlined in minute detail, and effective functioning checked at every turn. The job is now supreme, and workmen in a position to demand effective management. This is as it should be, for mental inertia and laziness are as prevalent among one group as the other.
After standardization of all physical factors including production machines, tools and material handling equipment, motion study has to be done for development of the best method for operator or operators for doing the operation. Then the method is to taught to the workers.
Motion Study.—Motion study involves an analysis of the movements made in performing an operation with the object of eliminating useless and unnecessarily fatiguing motions and arranging the necessary ones in a logical sequence. As a part of motion study also, certain aspects of physical factors as workplace layout and arrangements are analyzed for their effect on time taken by the operators to complete their motions. Thus a portion of motion study improve job standardization further. Thus proper facilities are specified first and then the motions which the worker makes in performing the task are subject to study.
In motion study, it is well to record the motions of each hand separately and the need for using both hands as is done thereon. The performance of the most successful workers should be studied to the end that the best method may be evolved for the benefit of all. Effort is made to achieve a method which is simple, direct and easy to perform, and in which results are attained by straight, short and quick motions which succeed each other naturally, establishing a rhythm and harmony of action of the hands and body that makes for accuracy, speed and minimum fatigue.
Thoughtful observation of a worker and consideration of the significance of his movements, of the machinery, tools and accessory equipment used, of incidental delays, the receipt of materials, manner of its handling and of the disposal of his finished work, may well suggest action leading to increased productivity at less cost and with less effort. A machinist turning out 198 castings a day, each weighing 35 pounds, in carrying them to and from his machine walked over two miles a day under load. By rearranging his stock trucks he at once doubled his output and earning capacity. An extreme case perhaps, but innumerable instances of time savings ranging upward from a few per cent are being effected. Preliminary stop-watch studies may aid in judging the relative worth of alternate methods and reveal facts not apparent from observation.
Administration and Production Control.—The productivity of a department or a work station will be influenced by the success with which work in process is controlled, and the smoothness with which the administrative machinery functions. Production centers must be coordinated, delays and interruptions anticipated and guarded against, and supply and auxiliary service departments made efficient. It should be appreciated that while motion study accompanied by the suggested job standardization work invariably results in increased output this is not accomplished by speeding up the worker, but by reducing friction, training in proper methods, and removing obstacles that he has previously needed to overcome. Poor lighting or deficient ventilation slows up the worker; while the need to manipulate a machine which can be made to operate automatically, or to lift and carry a 50 pound casting 10 or 15 feet every few minutes are obstacles to easy, rapid work. Observation of the worker accompanied as it is by a detailed study of the task provides data for selecting workers possessing the necessary physical and mental qualifications and manual or trade skill. This may be available to the personnel department in the form of a job specification card.
The outline suggests the compilation of data for an entire trade, as that of machinist, for example, which when suitably indexed would enable a man sitting at a desk to determine accurately the time of doing any operation in the trade. It has not been possible to do this because of the variety of equipment and tools used, differences in methods, and varying conditions existing in different plants.
Synthetic Time Studies.—Some tool manufacturers now provide fundamental operation time data with their machines which approximates what Taylor had in mind. This is supplemented in plants by studies designed to yield time data covering all elemental motions made in using the equipment. With sufficient data of this character, properly arranged and classified, the operation time for any job within the capacity of the machine may be calculated without the need for taking individual studies.
Operation Time Studies.—In the past, most efforts have been devoted to making operation time studies—ascertaining the proper time for the doing of an individual task or operation. This is accomplished by observation of the worker at the machine, or work station while doing the job.
The Use of Charts, Diagrams and Formulas.—Data obtained in either of the ways suggested may be utilized to prepare standards which are expressed in charts, diagrams or formulas. By the use of these, task operation times may be determined.
Stop-Watch Study.—The primary purpose of stop-watch studies is to record operation times and provide a basis for setting rates. It is the third and final phase of operation study. With facilities for doing a task and the conditions surrounding it at their best and standardized, and with the worker trained in the best method of accomplishment, studies with a stop-watch enable an observer to determine the time it ought to take to perform the task. Rates set in this manner will be based upon facts and relatively fair as compared with each other.
To an increasing extent management and men are favoring the use of time study as the one best method of setting task times. The improvement effected by standardization work and training in best methods that precede stop-watch studies are the phases of operation study that enable work to be accomplished in minimum time. Stop-watch studies tell men and management what that time should be and eliminate cause for disagreements on this vital point.
Combination of Job Standardization, Motion Study and Time Study.— The activities of job standardization, motion Study and time Study are carried out at operation and process levels throughout the life of the process and factory.
When operation study is inaugurated in an existing plant this procedure in the sequence suggested is to be recommended for an entire process if times set are to prove equitable, for changes and improvements effected for the benefit of one operation will influence the time for doing others.
In a new plant the first step and much of the second will have been cared for in its design.
In going plants, technology is not static and the evolution constantly taking place necessitates changes and readjustments. New methods are introduced, improved equipment is added, the product is altered in design, or possibly new items are added. Materials are constantly being replaced by others, newly developed and more suitable or cheaper to use. Recent years, for example, have seen the development of bakelite, decalcomania, drop forgings, aluminum and steel castings, pressed steel and punched parts. Likewise machine improvements offer possibilities for combining operations, and perfection of processes for simplification. For example, the introduction of a new method of finishing automobiles has cut down by several days the production time for this phase of the work, and greatly decreased the space and facilities needed. This typical situation calls for continual revision of obsolete task times and the setting of standards for new operations. In all such cases job standardization and motion-study work will be carried on as a preliminary to each and every stop-watch study of an individual task or operation. The work is never finished and it goes on during the life of the process and production establishment.
1. What does operation study involve doing?
2. What is the aim of operation study?
3. What important benefits are expected to accrue from operation study?
4. Explain the meaning and nature of job standardization. Of motion study. Of stop-watch study.
Updated on 1.6.2023, 14 July 2019, 12 July 2019
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