Industrial Engineering

Lecture Notes
by
P. U. Zine
Associate Prof., MED
 Unit: 1

Introduction to
WORK STUDY & PRODUCTIVITY
 HUMAN’S BASIC NEEDS &
PRODUCTIVITY

 World population – continuous growth

 Limited resources
 BPL People struggling for basic needs –
 Food,
 Clothing,
 Shelter,
 Security,
 Health and
 Essentials like water, sanitation etc.
PRODUCTIVITY & STANDARD OF LIVING

• For Improving the STANDARD OF LIVING, of its

citizens, the concerned nation must raise its
PRODUCTIVITY for economic growth. For any
organization, its input-output system can be
represented as follows:

PROCESS
INPUT OUTPUT
 PRODUCTIVITY

INPUTS may be in the form of different M’s:

Man, material, machine, method, management,
market, message ( i.e. information), moment (i.e.
time )

OUTPUT may be a
• product or
• service.
PRODUCTIVITY may be defined as follows:
 PRODUCTIVITY

• Mathematically:
PRODUCTIVITY = [OUTPUT / INPUT]
Thus,
• PRODUCTIVITY measures the extent to
which a certain OUTPUT can be extracted
from a given INPUT.
• It may be noted that PRODUCTION (which
is number of products) may be different from
PRODUCTIVITY.
 WORK STUDY

 One of the most powerful tools used in improving

productivity is work study.

Work study is:

 The systematic examinations of the methods of
carrying on activity
 To improve effective use of resources
 To set up standards of performance
 Work study and management
 Work study – a well-conducted work study analysis is
ruthlessly systematic, the places where effort and time are
being wasted are laid bare one by one. It aims to eliminate
the wastes.
 The causes of wastes: are usually found to be bad planning,
bad organization, insufficient control or the lack of proper
training.
 Responsibility: Since members of the management and
supervisory staffs are employed to perform these functions, it
will look as if they have failed in their duties.
 Also, the increase in productivity which the proper use of
work study usually brings about may appear to emphasize
this failure further.
 Caution: Any technique which has such far-reaching effects
must obviously be handled with great care and tact.
 Work study and management contd..

 Fear: People do not like to be made to feel that they have

failed, especially in the eyes of their superiors. They lose
their self confidence and begin to ask themselves whether
they may not be replaced. Their feeling of security is
threatened.
 Why competent and experienced people fail? - Its matter of
training & systematic approach. So, this must be made clear
to everybody from the very beginning of work study.
 What needed: Understanding and the backing of
management at all levels, starting at the top.
 Work study and supervisor
 Attitude of supervisors – Work study specialist's most
difficult problem!!
- They must be won over if he or she is to obtain good results
from work study; indeed, their hostility may prevent him or
her from doing any effective work at all.
 Why:
Supervisors represent management to the worker on the shop
floor, and just as departmental managers will take their
attitudes from the top manager, so the workers will take
theirs from their supervisors.
 Work study and supervisor
 Caution: Before the work study practitioner starts work, the
whole purpose of work study and the procedures involved
must be very carefully explained to the supervisor, so that he
or she understands exactly what is being done and why.
- Unless this is done, the supervisor is likely to be difficult, if
not actually obstructive, for many reasons.
 Reasons:
 The work for which they may have been responsible for
years is being challenged
 Some of these responsibilities have been taken away is
likely to make him or her experience a loss of status.
 If disputes arise or the workers are upset, supervisors are
the first people who will be called upon to clear matters
up, and it is difficult for them to do so fairly if they do
not understand the problem.
 Qualities of Work Study practitioner

 Education – better still an university education

(graduation or equivalent), preferably in the
engineering or business fields.
 Practical experience
 Personal qualities –
• Sincerity & honesty
• Enthusiasm
• Interest in & sympathy with people
• Tact
• Good appearance
• Self confidence
 Work study and worker
 Behavior of workers – Behavioral scientists believe that
individuals are motivated to act in a certain way by a
desire to satisfy certain needs.
 Maslow's hierarchy of needs:

Abraham Maslow
Self-actualization Theory
 Work study and worker
 Cautions -
1. Raising productivity: application of work study to improve plant
utilization and operation, to make more effective use of space and to
secure greater economy of materials before the question of increasing the
productivity of the labor force need be raised.
2. Work study - nothing to hide: Nothing breeds suspicion like attempts
to hide what is being done; nothing dispels it like frankness, whether in
answering questions or in showing information obtained from studies.
3. Keep informed: Workers' representatives should be kept fully informed
of what is being studied, and why. They should receive induction training
in work study so that they can understand properly what is being
attempted.
4. Acknowledge: The suggestions and ideas of the workers
5. Clarity of study: Make it clear that it is the work, and not the
worker, that is being studied.
6. Remember the objective: To increase productivity and also to
improve job satisfaction.
 WORK STUDY

 WORK STUDY is a tool of PRODUCTIVITY

ENHANCEMENT.

It simplifies a job
• TO REDUCE UNNECESSARY OR EXCESS WORK,
• WASTEFUL USE OF RESOURCES and
• sets up STANDARD TIME for performing that job.
 BASIC WORK CONTENT

Some terminologies-
• Total time in a Job: The time taken by a worker or
a machine to carry out an operation to produce a
given quantity of certain product.
• A work Hour: The labor of one person for one hour.
• A Machine Hour: Running of the machine or plant
for one hour.
 Basic work content: The basic irreducible minimum
time theoretically required to produce one unit output.
This is a perfect condition which is not achieved in
most of the cases.
 BASIC WORK CONTENT contd..
Total Time of
operation under Basic work content
existing conditions
(Minimum time
required to perform
one output)
Basic content added by poor
product design or material
TOTAL Utilization

Work content added by

inefficient methods of
manufacture or operation
INEFFECTIVE + Poor material handling
+ Poor quality standards
+ Poor inventory

Inefficient time due to

TIME human contribution
Like: Absenteeism, Bad
workmanship, Accidents etc
Management technique to reduce ineffective time

Basic work content

Product Development

Proper Material utilization

Quality control/ensure proper standards

Better layout & process planning

Inefficient
Material handling/reduce time & effort
time
totally Production planning
Eliminated Method study to reduce poor methods of work

Inventory control
Ensure longer life and no stoppage of machinery

Create satisfactory working environment

Training, better working condition
 WORK STUDY contd..
 EXCESS WORK CONTENT may be due to
following THREE CATEGORIES of factors:
(i) A-category:
A1: POOR DESIGN & FREQUENT DESIGN CHANGES
A2: WASTE OF MATERIALS
A3: INAPPROPRIATE QUALITY STANDARDS
(ii) B-category:
B1: POOR LAYOUT & POOR UTILISATION OF SPACE
B2: INADEQUATE MATERIAL HANDLING
B3: FREQUENT STOPPAGES AS PRODUCTION CHANGES
FROM ONE PRODUCT TO ANOTHER
B4: INEFFECTIVE METHOD OF WORK
B5: POOR PLANNING OF INVENTORY
B6: FREQUENT BREAKDOWN OF MACHINES AND EQUIP.
 WORK STUDY contd..
(iii) C-category:
C1: ABSENTEEISM AND LATENESS
C2: POOR WORKMANSHIP,
C3: ACCIDENTS AND OCCUPATIONAL HAZARDS

TOTAL TIME OF A JOB

= BASIC WORK CONTENT + EXCESS WORK CONTENT ( A + B +C )

(OR, TOTAL INEFFECTIVE TIME)
 WORK STUDY

 With increasing complexities of the technological

world, need to simplify the work system has been
increasing day by day.
 Work study is an area of knowledge that addresses
the problem of work simplification with the following
basic objectives.
- PRODUCTIVITY ENHANCEMENT, and
- HUMAN COMFORT & SAFETY
 WORK STUDY contd..

 Work study Definition:

It is the systematic study of work systems with the purposes of
1. Developing the preferred system and Method (with lowest cost)
2. Standardizing this system and method
3. Determining standard time for the task
4. Assisting in training the worker in the preferred Method
 Above stated definition has FOUR parts. However, the TWO
most important are:
1. MOTION STUDY (or Work Methods Design) &
2. TIME STUDY (or Work Measurement)
 WORK STUDY contd..
 Work study Definition by ILO:
It is the systematic examination of carrying on activities so
as to improve the effective use of resources and to set
standards of performance for the activities being carried
out.

Work Study is VALUABLE (Advantages) because:

• By carrying out its systematic procedures, one can get

results as good as or even better than the less systematic
genius would have been able to achieve in the past.

• It is systematic both in the investigation of the problem and

in the development of its solution.
 WORK STUDY contd..

• It raises productivity of the plant/unit by simply

reorganization of the work, with either a nominal or no
extra input.

• It sets the performance standards on which the effectiveness

of the production planning and control depends.

• It contributes to human safety by providing safer methods

of work, and allows for better working conditions by
exposing the hazardous situations.

• Its application starts providing savings immediately, and

continues till the operation continues.
 WORK STUDY contd..

• It is a tool that can be used every where, be it industrial or

non-industrial environment.

• It is easy and relatively cheaper in its application.

It is an excellent weapon for starting an attack on the
inefficient system.

• HOWEVER, WS SPECIALISTS SHOULD APPLY IT

TACTFULLY, SO THAT WORKERS REMAIN CO-
OPERATIVE WHILE STUDIES ARE CONDUCTED IN
THE PLANT.
  TECHNIQUES OF WORK STUDY

1. METHOD STUDY: It is the systematic recording and

critical examination of ways of doing things in order to
make improvements.

THUS it simplifies the job and develops more economical

method of doing it.

2. WORK MEASUREMENT: It is the application

of techniques designed to establish the time for a qualified
worker to carry out a task at a defined rate of working.

THUS it determines how long it should take to carry out the

work.
 TECHNIQUES OF WORK STUDY

 METHOD STUDY: Is an analysis of ways of doing work.

Method study steps include:
1. SELECT - The job/task/process to be studied.
2. RECORD - All the relevant data/facts about the selected job.
3. EXAMINE - The recorded facts critically by challenging its
purpose, place, sequence, person, and method.
4. DEVELOP - New methods as alternative methods of doing
the selected job.
5. EVALUATE - Results of different alternative solutions.
6. DEFINE - The new method and present it to the concerned
people.
7. INSTAL - The new method and provide training to the
concerned staff .
8. MAINTAIN - The new standard practice and establish control
procedures.
 METHOD STUDY contd..
 STEP I : JOB/TASK/PROCESS SELECTION
It involves following considerations:
1. ECONOMIC CONSIDERATIONS
2. TECHNOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS
3. HUMAN CONSIDERATIONS
1. ECONOMIC CONSIDERATIONS
 Cost effectiveness i.e. to check whether or not the WS
application would pay.
 For this, key-profit giving/ costliest operations with largest
waste/scrap should be attacked first.
 Next bottleneck operations, repetitive operations, repeated
material handling operations should be studied.
 For locating most important operations, PARETO
ANALYSIS could be used.
 METHOD STUDY contd..
2. TECHNICAL/TECHNOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS
 The analysis involves application of WS for the selection of
the operations/processes where new technology e.g.
automation/ robotisation should be introduced.

3. HUMAN CONSIDERATIONS
 Analysis involves location of those operations which present
the sources of dissatisfaction and/or annoyance to the
workers due to fatigue or monotony or unsafe environment
or a work which is clumsy in nature.
 METHOD STUDY contd..
 STEP II : RECORDING THE FACTS
Related to the existing process/ job ALL THE FACTS should
be recorded ACCURATELY.

TOOLS OF FACT-RECORDING are:

(A) CHARTS, which may be of two types:

(i) Based on SEQUENCE:
(a) Outline Process Chart
(b) Flow Process Chart
(c) Two-Handed Chart (or Operation Chart / Left
Hand & Right Hand chart)
(ii) Based on TIME scale:
(a) Multiple Activity Chart
(b) SIMO (SImultaneous MOtion) Chart
 METHOD STUDY contd..
STEP II : RECORDING THE FACTS

(B) DIAGRAMS which may be of following types:

 Flow diagram

 String Diagram

 Travel Chart

 Cyclegraph &

 Chronocyclegraph
 METHOD STUDY contd..
PROCESS CHART SYMBOLS:
ASME has recommended FIVE standard symbols to be used
on Process Charts, given below:

1. OPERATION: Main steps of the task /job involving

modification /change.
2. INSPECTION: Checking quality / quantity.

3. TRANSPORTATION: For movement of

persons/materials.
4. DELAY (TEMPORARY) : For waiting time of
operators or materials.
5. STORAGE (PERMANENT DELAY) : For
controlled storage involving authorized issue/receipt of
material etc.
 METHOD STUDY contd..
PROCESS CHART SYMBOLS:
ASME has recommended FIVE standard symbols to be used
on Process Charts, given below:
 PROCESS
CHART
SYMBOLS:
 METHOD STUDY contd..
Outline Flow Process Chart:

• It uses only TWO SYMBOLS:

and

 It provides an OVERALL PICTURE of the process / job /

task.
 Primarily it is used to show the sequence of operations &
inspections for a MANUFACTURING or an ASSEMBLY
kind of jobs.
Outline Flow
Process Chart :
Ex. Switch
Rotor Assembly
RECORDING MOVEMENT OF WORKERS/MATERIALS
Flow Process Chart
RECORDING MOVEMENT OF WORKERS/MATERIALS
Flow Process Chart (Man/Worker Type)
Job: Writing a letter using a shorthand typist
Steps are:
1. To author’s office
2. Take dictation
3. To own office
4. Prepare typing test
5. Type letter and copy
6. Remove from machine
7. Separate copies
8. Check
9. Give for signature
10. Waiting in IN-tray
11. Reading by the author
12. Checking by author
13. Signing by author
14. Move back to office
15. Type envelope
16. Put letters in envelope
17. Letters copy & aside to
OUT-tray
 Flow Process Chart (Material Type)
Job: Forgings processed in batches

Unplanned
vs. Planned
stoppage
 Flow Process Chart (Material Type)
Job: Engine stripping, cleaning & degreasing
Steps are:
1. In old engine stores
2. Picked up engine by crane
3. Transported to next crane
4. Unloaded to floor
5. Picked up by second crane (electric)
6. Transported to stripping bay
7. Unloaded to floor
8. Engine stripped
9. Main components cleaned & laid out
10. Components inspected for wear;
inspection report written
11. Parts carried to degreasing basket
12. Loaded for degreasing by hand
operated crane
13. Transported to degreaser
14. Unloaded into degreaser
15. Degreased
16. Lifted out of degreaser by crane
17. Transported away from degreaser
18. Unloaded to ground
Steps contd…. :
19. To cool
20. Transported to cleaning benches
21. All parts completely cleaned
22. All cleaned parts placed in one
box
23. Awaiting transport
24. All parts except cylinder block
and heads loaded on trolley
25. Transported to engine inspection
section
26. Parts unloaded and arranged on
inspection table
27. Cylinder block and heads loaded
on trolley
28. Transported to engine inspection
section
29. Unloaded on ground
30. Stored temporary awaiting
inspection
Flow Process Chart
(Material Type)
Job: Engine stripping,
cleaning & degreasing
 Activity Chart

• A listing of the activities of one or more subjects

(e.g., workers, machines) plotted against a time
scale to indicate graphically how much time is spent
on each activity.
• These activities are generally repetitive.
• Types of activity charts:
– Right-hand/left-hand activity chart (i.e. workplace activity
chart)
– Worker-machine activity chart
– Worker-multi machine activity chart
 Activity Chart
Shading Formats for Activity Charts
 Instead of using symbols for the work activities, as in the other charts,
the activities are indicated by vertical lines or bars

 When bars are used, they are shaded or colored to indicate the kind of
the activity being performed.
 Activity Chart
Activity charts usually have more than one time scale e.g., activity
time and cumulative time
Activity chart for a worker performing a repetitive task:
 Multiple activity Chart (Man-Machine chart)

 This kind of process chart records the activities of the

operator as well as the machine on the same chart against
a common time scale.
 Separate vertical columns (in the form of bars) are used
for both.
 The chart clearly indicates the IDLENESS (or
UTILISATION) of operator as well as the machine.
 Multiple activity Chart (Man-Machine chart)

• Purpose:
 On the basis of the recorded events in the chart, one
can rearrange the process so that IDLE-TIME is reduced,
or BETTER UTILISATION of the operator/machine is
achieved.
 It is used for balancing the work between man and
machine; proper utilization of maintenance crew/ team-
activities in mass production.
Multiple activity Chart (Man-Machine chart)
  Multiple activity Chart (Man-Machine chart)
Operation: Inspection of catalyst in a convertor
Original Improved
 Multiple activity Chart (Man-Machine chart)
  Two Handed Process Chart
It shows the activities of the two hands in relation to one another.
 Two Handed Process Chart
Flow Diagram

• It is a FLOOR-PLAN
showing the path of
travel of the operator
or the material,
through the plant.

• It ALSO indicates
the direction of
travel by means of
arrows, drawn on
the diagram.
 String Diagram
It is a scale plan or model on which a thread or string is
used to trace and measure the path of workers/ materials
during a specified sequence of events.
Length of the thread/string measures the distance
moved.
String Diagram