UNIT – III

WORK STUDY
Productivity, Method Study – Steps, Charts and Diagrams, Principles of
Motion Economy; Work measurement – Time Study – Rating, Allowances
and Standard time calculations; Work sampling, Human Factors and
Ergonomics.
Introduction to Work Study
 Frederick Winslow Taylor (1856-1915) and Frank B. Gilberth (1869-1924)
are originators of work study (Time & Motion study).
 Time and motion study were developed separately.
 Taylor invented time study whereas Gilberth invented motion study.
 Work study is a technique which deals with the problems:
As to how should a job be done/completed, and how much time a job
should take for completion.
 Objective of work study is to determine the best method of performing
each operation and to eliminate wastage so that production increases
with less human fatigue.
 The work study is also used in determining the standard time that a
qualified worker should take to perform the operation when working at
a normal pace.

PRODUCTIVITY
What Is Productivity?
• Productivity is a measure of economic or business performance
that indicates how efficiently people, companies, industries and whole
 economies convert inputs, such as labor and capital, into outputs, such
as goods or services. Productivity can be measured at any of these five
levels:
Personal productivity
Workforce productivity
Sector productivity
Team or department productivity
National or global productivity
• Personal productivity: The term “personal productivity” is often used to
describe how much individuals can accomplish every day in their
personal lives, not just in the workplace.
• Workforce productivity: Workforce productivity is the aggregate
productivity of all individuals in a company’s workforce.
• Sector productivity: The aggregate productivity of all companies in an
industry or sector is an expression of the sector’s productivity.
• Team or department productivity: The collective output of one or more
individuals united under a common goal.
• National or global productivity: The aggregate productivity of all
industries in an economy is an expression of the economy’s productivity.
• Productivity is calculated by dividing output by inputs. The basic formula
is:
Productivity = Output / Input
• Output is typically measured as the rupee value or the units of products
and services that a company produces.
• Inputs are any resource used to create products and services. The two
most common types of input are capital — which includes investments
in assets used for production, such as manufacturing equipment and
computers — and labor.
• Other inputs may include energy, technology, materials and purchased
services.
How Does Productivity Work?
• Productivity goes up when output increases at a faster rate than inputs
or when a company can generate the same output with lower inputs.
Here’s an example that shows how this works, exploring the effect of
different inputs.
• Suppose you own an apple orchard, and you’re looking at ways to
increase the productivity of your annual apple-picking operation.
Currently, your company’s 50 workers can pick a total of 10,000 large
apples per hour by hand, on average. Your hourly labor productivity is
therefore 10,000 apples/50 people = 200 apples per hour per picker. Not
bad, but you see four options to do better, beyond just pushing people to
work harder:
• 1. Technological improvements: You can add inputs in the form of
technological improvements that expand output by more than their cost.
If you provide each apple-picker with Acme’s Super Duper Apple-Picking
Machine, labor productivity jumps twofold: They can each pick 400
apples per hour.
• 2. Technical efficiency: Companies can improve technical efficiency by
using their existing technology or skills more efficiently. Perhaps your
workers can do better than 200 apples per hour if they become more
skilled at picking apples by hand.
• 3. Organizational improvements: You may be able to improve hourly
output by reorganizing apple-picking teams so they more efficiently cover
the entire orchard.
• 4. Increasing scale: You may be able to increase productivity by
expanding your operation. Doubling your apple output may require you
to double the size of your orchard, the number of pickers you employ and
 the number of machines they use. But it won’t require you to build a
second headquarters building, hire twice as many administrative workers
or double your marketing and advertising budget. Your output will
double, but your inputs will not.
How to Measure Productivity in the Workplace
• Speaking of KPIs, a company must be able to measure productivity if it
hopes to gauge the effectiveness of its efforts to improve
productivity. There is an enormous range of productivity metrics in
common use, depending on the industry and the type of business
function you’re measuring. Here are some of the most common:
• Revenue per employee. This is a core productivity measure for many
companies. It is typically calculated as the most recent 12 months of
revenue divided by the current count of full-time equivalent employees.
Revenue per employee may be a particularly relevant KPI for consulting
services firms.
• Number of parts produced. This fundamental measure of manufacturing
productivity is usually measured in parts per worker per hour.
• Customer satisfaction score (CSAT). This is the average customer rating,
generally gathered from surveys and measured on a scale that may range
from 1-5 or 1-10. Low scores may be a warning that customers will defect.
CSAT is a core element of a customer experience (CX) focused strategy.
• Downtime. This is the percentage of time that an important business
system is unavailable. Unplanned downtime will compromise
productivity.
• Employee turnover rate. This is the percentage of employees who leave
an organization during a certain period of time. High turnover is often
associated with low productivity due to the time required to find and
train replacements. Fortunately, companies can take steps to minimize
employee turnover.
• Labor utilization rate. This ratio assesses the proportion of workers’ time
that is spent on productive tasks. It’s calculated as the time spent on
productive or billable hours divided by the total number of employees’
available hours and, like revenue, is important for services firms to track.
• Gross profit margin. This profitability metric reflects the efficiency of a
company’s core business operations. It’s calculated as net sales revenue
minus cost of goods sold or services delivered. A business whose gross
profit margin is consistently below others in its industry risks being
overtaken by more productive competitors. Thus, it’s important for all
companies to track their gross profit margins.

METHOD STUDY (STEPS, CHARTS AND DIAGRAMS)

• In this field, pioneering work was done by Frank B. Gilberth in 1885, at
the age of 17 when he was a junior apprentice bricklayer at Whidden and
Co.
• He soon discovered that if proper coordination between the mason and
labor is maintained then the speed of bricklaying increases many times.
• During 1910, lot of work was done by him with name of “motion study”.
In 1917, he suggested the adoption of “Motion Study”. Later on, the
scope of motion study was enlarged and it was named as “Method
Study”.
• According to Frank B. Gilberth, motion study is “the science of eliminating
wastefulness as well as unnecessary, ill-directed and in-efficient
motions”.
• Frank B. Gilberth was only interested in motion economy by eliminating
repetitive motions during the performance of a job and determining the
best and convenient method of performing a job under the existing
conditions so that a worker can consistently work for a longer time with
maximum comfort and safety.
• Method study is the systematic recording and critical examination of
existing and proposed ways of doing work as a means of developing and
applying easier and more effective methods and reducing costs.
• Objectives of Method Study:
i. The improvement of processes and procedures.
ii. To eliminate wastage of time and labor.
iii. Prevention of fatigue and breaking the monotony (dullness)
ofrepetitive work.
iv. To find the best way of doing a job.
v. To improve the design of workplace layout.
vi. To train the individual worker in its practice as per standardized
method.
vii. Reduction of waste and scrap, improvement in quality.
viii. Effective material handling.
ix. Greater job satisfaction, higher standards of safety and health.
x. Improvement in the flow of production and processes.

Procedure of conducting Method Study:

1 . Select
2. Record
3. Critically examine
4. Develop the best method
5. Define
6. Install
7. Maintain
Process Charts
• A chart representing a process may be called a process chart and is used
for recording a process in a compact manner, as a means of better
understanding it and improving it.
• The chart represents graphically or diagrammatically the sequence of
operations or events that occur during the performance of a task or a
process. The chart uses various sets of symbols and aids for better
understanding and examining the process.
Process Chart Types
i. Outline Process Chart
ii. Flow Process Chart
iii. Two-hand Process Chart
iv. Multiple Activity Chart
• Process Chart Symbols
• In 1947 American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) established
five (05) standard symbols which are universally accepted to prepare
charts.
• Flow Process Chart
• A flow process chart is detailed version of outline process chart and it
records all the events. It is defined as a graphical representation of all
events, operations, inspections, transportations, delays and storages
occurring during a process by means of process symbols. There are three
types of flow process charts, namely:
i. Man-type flow process chart
ii. Material-type flow process chart
iii. Equipment-type flow process chart
• Man-type: records activity of worker/operator
• Material-type: records what happens to the material
• Equipment-type: records the manner in which the equipment is used
PRINCIPLES OF MOTION ECONOMY
• Principles Governing Motion Study
• Set of rules were designed by Gilberth in order to develop better method.
They are:
• Both hands should move simultaneously. This reduces fatigue.
• Both hands should complete their movements at the same time i.e. they
should start and finish their motions at the same time.
• Both hands should not be idle at the same time unless in a rest period.
• Between two movements there should be some time gap. The time gap
is called elapsed time (pass).
• Motion of both the hands should be symmetrical and in opposite
directions and should be made simultaneously.
• Hesitation in any movement observed at any time should be analyzed.
• The shortest time demonstrated by any worker should be marked and
efforts should be made to attain it.
• The number of motions required to do a particular work should be clearly
specified.
• Variations in time for any movement should be avoided and causes
recorded.
• All motions should be easy, natural and should reduce fatigue.
Introduction to Therbligs
• To facilitate the analysis of motion, Gilberth developed a set of smaller
hand motions some of which could be combined to give a complete
motion. The smaller motions he termed as “Therbligs” (reverse spelling
of his name). They are 18 in numbers. For the purpose of recording the
motions, he split up different motions of a process into 18 fundamental
hand motions. Every therblig is represented by a symbol, a definite color
and with a word or two to record the same.
• A chart which uses or employs Therbligs is referred as “micro-motion
study chart” while a chart which uses symbols which are macroscopic in
nature is referred as process chart. SIMO chart is a microscopic chart. A
single operation may consist of many Therbligs.
 Micro-motion Study
• Micro-motion study means the study of micro (small) motions known as
Therbligs. Each human activity is divided or split into small movements.
The purpose of such study is to find for an operator one best pattern of
movement which involves less efforts, time, and fatigue to accomplish a
task. This study is best suited for those operations which are short in cycle
and are repeated thousands of time (such as packing of sweets into
boxes, food canes into cartons, launching of space craft, missiles, modern
cricket, athletics etc.).
• Micro-motion study involves taking motion pictures of an activity while
being performed by the operator with a timing device kept in the field of
view and then film is studied on the projector frame by frame.
• Following equipments are required for this study:
1. Movie camera.
2. 16mm film for recording.
3. Micro-chronometer or Wink counter.
4. Motion picture projector with screen.

WORK MEASUREMENT
Time Study
• Time study is a work measurement technique and is used to determine
the time required by a qualified and well trained person working at
normal pace to do a specific task at a defined level of performance.
• The time thus, calculated is known as “Standard Time”. Motion study
procedures are carried out before carrying out work measurements or
Time study.
• Time study was developed and carried by F.W. Taylor. He split up the job
into the minutest details and further into various sub-activities also called
“Elements”.
• After various studies, he calculated a standard time to do a particular job.
Thus, a wage system can be worked out by keeping the standard time as
a benchmark.
• Wages are determined by the production rate per hour per worker and
are used to distinguish between a bad worker and a good worker by
giving the good worker a bonus for his enhanced activity.
Procedure of Conducting Time Study
• The basic procedure for carrying out time study stepwise is:
i. Study the job in terms of the workplace, tools, operator, etc.
ii. Collect or study all the information about the method (i.e. description
of operations). Break each operation into small elements. An element is
a distinct part of an operation selected for the convenience of the
observation, measurement and analysis.
iii. Examine each element for most effective method and motions are
being used.
iv. Observe and record time for the operator to perform each element of
operation.
v. Determine number of cycles of observations to be timed and calculate
the time by taking the average of all readings.
vi. Rate operator performance.
vii. Extend the observed time to basic times (or normal time).
viii. Determine the allowances (to be provided over and above the basic
time).
ix. Determine the standard time for the operation.

RATING
• Performance Rating
• When number of qualified operators is performing the same activity,
their output will not be same. Some operators will definitely be
 producing more than what others are producing, while it is assumed that
all the operators are following the same method and working under the
same working conditions. As such it is really a problem whose work
should be considered as fair day’s work.
• If the slowest worker is considered as standard then the efficient worker
will be considered very fast and ultimately there will be lot of difference
between their earnings and thereby it will cause dissatisfaction amongst
the workers.
• As such there should be standard of performance for all the processes
and should satisfy the group of workers.
Basic/Normal Time
• When the required number of observations is obtained, the next step is
to convert the observed time into basic time. Basic time is defined as “the
time for carrying out an element of work at standard rating”.
• Considering the rating factor and the observer’s time for that element,
basic time for that element is found by the following formula:
Normal Time= Observed Time X Observed Rating/ Standard Rating
ie;
Normal Time = Observed Time X Observed Rating / 100
• The next step is the addition of various job allowances in order to
determine the work content and the standard time.

ALLOWANCES
• Allowances are the additional time allowed to perform the work and are
above the normal time/basic time.
• It is an amount of time added to the normal time to provide for personal
delays, unavoidable delays, fatigue delays etc. Allowances when added
to the normal time/basic time it results in standard time.
• Need of Allowances
• It is not expected that an operator will work all day without some
interruption. The workers may take time out for personal needs, for rest
and for reasons beyond his control.
• To add enough time to the normal production time to enable the average
worker to meet the standard when performing at a normal pace.
Various Allowances
• 1. Fatigue Allowance: due to working condition, nature of work
(monotony, body movement, stress), general health of worker, physical
and mental fatigue. It may vary 12-20% or more.
• 2. Personal Allowance: for trips to the dressing room, drinking water etc.
and is taken as 2-5% in 8hours shift per day.
• 3. Delay Allowance: for tool breakage, interruption by foremen etc. Delay
allowances may be avoidable or unavoidable. For example: idleness due
to character or nature of a process or operation.
• 4. Policy Allowance: They are not the genuine part of the time study and
should be used with utmost care and only in special circumstances like
wage agreement between employers and trade unions etc.
• 5. Special Allowance:
• a. Contingency Allowance: unavoidable delays like: filling coolant in
reservoir, tool sharpening, tool breakage, power failure, waiting for in
process inventory from previous machines etc.
• b. Periodic Activity Allowance: Examples setting up of a planer,
regrinding a lathe tool etc.
• c. Interference Allowance: when worker is looking after two or more
machines simultaneously.

STANDARD TIME
• It is the time which is taken by a normal worker for doing a specific task
or job working under moderate conditions and under normal pace and
 including other allowances such as fatigue, setting of tool and job,
repairing of tool and checking of job etc. Thus,
• Standard Time (ST)= Observed time ×Rating factor +Allowances
• ST= Basic Time or Normal Time +Allowances

WORK SAMPLING
• Work sampling is a statistically based technique utilized for analysing
work performance and machine utilization by direct observation, but
without a stop watch. So work sampling is another useful technique of
work study.
• This technique is particularly useful to estimate the proportion of delays
or idleness’s occurring in a enterprise/plant and attributing the cause for
it, such as power failures/input delays, machine cleaning, machine
breakdowns and manpower idling.
• Work sampling is a technique for establishing standard times of activities.
This method also known as activity sampling was devised by L.H.C. Tippet
in 1934. This technique is more suitable for analysing group activities and
repetitive activities which take longer duration.
• The method of work sampling consists of taking a large number of
instantaneous observations randomly, rather than taking observations
continuously as is done in various production investigations/ studies. This
method is a sampling technique and depends upon laws of probability
• Definition of Work Sampling:
• “Work sampling is a method in which a large number of instantaneous
observations are made at random time intervals over a period of time on
a group of machines, workers or processes/operations.
• Each observation records what is happening at that instant and the
percentage of observations recorded for a particular activity or
 delay/idleness is a measure of the percentage of time during which that
activity or delay/idleness occurs”.
• Work Sampling Procedure:
• The procedure to be adopted for conducting a work sampling
investigation will depend upon the type of application. As much as
possible different methods will be applied for taking observations. An
analysis of the data shall be conducted to suit the case.

But the following general procedure is applicable in each study:

• (1) Define the Problem:
• State the main objectives or purpose of the study clearly. This invariably
includes the detailed description of each element of the work. The
analyst must explicitly know “what are the different states of the
operator’s activity which are to be observed”. Sometimes it will be
required to observe the operator as either working or idle.
• (2) Design a chart for recording information’s.
• (3) Make a pilot study i.e.………… preliminary observation.
• (4) From the preliminary observations, compute the delay percentage p.
• (5) Determine the accuracy and confidence level desired for the
investigation.
• (6) Obtain the approval of the foreman of the department or section
head concerned in which study is to be made. Obtain the cooperation of
the workers/operators to be studied and they should also understand the
aim/purpose of study.
• (7) Calculate the number of observations required for a chosen level of
confidence and accuracy. Because work sampling is a statistical sampling
procedure and the estimate obtained would become more and more
realistic as the sample size increases.
• Thus, more number of observations will make the study more accurate.
With this increase in number of observations, the cost and time of study
would increase. Thus the number of observations to be taken are decided
in the light of precision and confidence required.
• (8) Determine the number of observers needed. Select and instruct these
people.
• (9) Determine the number of days/shifts required for the study.
• (10) Plan the schedule of observations such as time for taking and the
route to be followed by the observer.
• (11)Proceed with sampling of observations in the chart (record sheet)
making notes of any unusual points.
• (12) Analysing the data and presenting the results. The work sampling
data are analysed during the study in order to check if the things are
going according to plan or not. The data is usually summarized at the end
of each day.
• This provides the trend for the next day’s work and gives information
regarding precision obtained in the study so far and how much more is
required. At the end of study, the final analysis are performed and
required results are presented. These would provide either ratio delay,
performance study-or-work measurement.
Applications/Uses of Work Sampling:
• Work sampling is a highly useful method to solve variety of problems in
various types of activities involving groups of machines, processes or
people.
• With the expansion and growth of industrial plants/ enterprises it has
become increasingly difficult for executives/managers to collect
information and facts about what goes on in their manufacturing
sections.
• Work sampling is useful and can be applied when:
• (1) Work of teams has to be investigated/studied.
• (2) There is clear distinction between working time and idle time.
• (3) To indicate areas of delay.
• (4) To investigate and to locate areas underutilization.
• (5) For establishing overall performance levels.
• (6) For determination of machine utilizations.
• (7) In determining the distribution of duties among a group of workers.
• (8) For the purpose of cost control and accounting.
• (9) To estimate allowances for unavoidable delay.
• (10) In ware housing and shipping operations to pin-point delays so that
changes in the layout or method could be identified which reduces
delays.
• Advantages of Work Sampling:
• (1) It is a cheaper technique than time study and production study.
• (2) Only one analyst can perform work sampling study of many activities.
• (3) Observers does not require much training.
• (4) It is more useful in non-repetitive and indirect jobs.
• (5) Many operations or activities which are impractical or costly to
measure by time study can readily be measured by work sampling.
• (6) Observations may be made over a period of days or weeks thus
decreasing the change of day to day or week to week variations.
• (7) Observations are made at random intervals depicting the usual
routine of the worker as against continuous observations of a worker for
a long time in time study which may not reveal his usual routine (being
conscious of being observed).
• (8) The work sampling may be interrupted at any time without affecting
these results.
• (9) The study can be made with pre assigned degree of reliability.
• (10) The study is less tiring and less tedious.
• (11) It is less time consuming.
• (12) As the study is spread over a number days, it is likely to be more
representative and is less affected by day to day variations.
Limitations of Work Sampling:
• (1) Compared to time study, the statistical approach of work sampling
study is difficult to be understood by worker.
• (2) The operators may not understand value of sample size and accuracy
etc.
• (3) It is not economical for the study of jobs of short duration or operators
and machines, spread or located over wide area.
• (4) The worker may change his work patterns on the sight of work
sampling observer and try to look more productive, resulting incorrect
information which are meaningless.

HUMAN FACTORS AND ERGONOMICS

Introduction
• The word Ergonomics has its origin in two Greek words “Ergon” meaning
work and “Nomos” meaning natural laws. So, it is the study of the man
in relation to his working environment.
• The word ergonomics is used commonly in Europe and in USA and other
countries it is called by the name “Human Engineering” or “Human Factor
Engineering”. The date of birth of concept of ergonomics can be
pinpointed to 12th July 1949.
• At this date, a meeting was held in which an interdisciplinary group was
formed who were concerned with human work problems. Later on 16th
Feb. 1950 the term ergonomics was adopted in a meeting again and the
discipline was born.
 Definition
Ergonomics or Human Engineering may be defined in various ways.
Some of them are:
• It is the scientific study of the relationship between man and his working
environment
• Ergonomics implies, fitting the job to the worker or fitting worker/man to
the job.
• The application of human biological sciences along with engineering
sciences to achieve optimum mutual adjustment of men and his work
and the benefits measured in terms of human efficiency and safety.
• Objectives of Ergonomics
• The major objectives of Ergonomics include the following:
• Achieve better work efficiency and effectiveness.
• It is concerned with maximizing human values such as safety, comfort and
satisfaction and to minimize fatigue and stress.
• It is concerned with maximizing the quality and efficiency of work.
• Designing for human use and optimizing working and living conditions
• Application of Ergonomics
• Ergonomics in practice is found to be applied over a wide range of
working environment such as:
• 1. In Anatomy-(study of body dimension and relations for work design)
like design of seats and arrangement of components and equipment to
suit human body measurements.
• 2. The layout and presentation of all types of instruments, dials and
display panels to help accurate perception.
• 3. The design of control lever, wheels etc. to suit human mental and
physical characteristics.
• 4. Lighting, noise and climate conditions at the work place.
• 5. In work study (Time-Motion study)- concerned with increasing
performance by measuring and then minimizing the time taken to
perform various operations by enhancing physical or mental well being
of man at work.
• 6. Ergonomics has also been applied in consumer goods and service
systems example car seats arrangement, design of dial gauge, meters,
and control handles etc.
• Aspects of Human Engineering/Ergonomics (Man-Machine System)
• There are three aspects of Human Factor Engg./Ergonomics:
1. Design of Information Displays
2. Design of Controls
3. Environmental Factors
• 1. Types of Displays:
• Information display is a method of presenting information about the
state of a system. This information may be static or dynamic.
• 1. Visual Displays-most common means of providing information to
human operators, traffic signals, pressure gauges, train information, plan
schedule, speed warnings, traffic displays, voltage input, charts, graphs
etc.
• 2. Auditory Displays- are warning devices based on human sense of
hearing examples: Horns, whistle, siren, buzzer, bell, and oscillators.
• 2. Types of Controls:
• Controls are the means by which information is transmitted to the
Machine from the man.
Hand controls
Hand wheels
Knobs
Hand levers
Cranks
 Push buttons and toggle switches
Joysticks
Foot pedals.
3. Environmental Factors
• These are those factors which surround the worker as he performs his
task. It effects the worker’s physical wellbeing as well as performance and
therefore his efficiency towards work.
• The environmental factors that affect the performance are:
a. Lighting (Illumination)
b. Ventilation
c. Temperature control and air-conditioning
d. Noise and Vibrations
e. Drinking Water
f. Colors
g. Nutrition
Design of Work Place Layout
Design consideration:
• 1. Materials and tools should be available at their predetermined places
and close to the worker (i.e. within the normal working area of the
operator).
• 2. Tools and materials should be placed according to their order of use.
• 3. Attempt should be made to apply gravity factor for movement of raw
material towards the operator.
• 4. Operator should have comfortable postures i.e. design of work table
and seat should be perfect.
• 5. The height and the back of the chair should be adjustable with proper
foot rest, arm rest and leg room available.
• 6. Worker should be able to operate levers and handles without changing
body position.
• 7. The workplace should have good environmental condition such as
reduced noise, reduced dust, humidity, temperature, heating condition,
enough illumination etc.
• 8. Foot pedals should be used wherever possible.
• Basic Parameters of Work Place Design
• 1. Actual Working Area: It is most convenient area of working.
• 2. Normal Working Area: It is within the easy reach of the operator.
• 3. Maximum Working Area: It is accessible with full arm stretch.

END