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Chapter 7 Direct Time Study
Chapter 7 Direct Time Study
A change in material or method of working has been made and a new time standard is
required.
A complaint has been received from a worker or workers’ representative about the time
standard for an operation.
A piece of equipment appears to be idle for an excessive time or its output is low, and it
therefore becomes necessary to investigate the method of its use.
Obtain and record all the information available about the job, the operator and
the surrounding conditions, which is likely to affect the carrying out of the work.
Record a complete description of the method, breaking down the operation
into “elements.”
Examine the detailed breakdown to ensure that the most effective method and
motions are being used, and determine the sample size.
Measure with a timing device (usually a stop-watch) and record the time taken
by the operator to perform each “element” of the operation.
At the same time, assess the effective speed of working of the operator
relative to the observer’s concept of the rate corresponding to standard rating.
Extend the observed times to “basic times.”
Determine the allowances to be made over and above the basic time for the
operation.
F. Working conditions
Temperature, humidity, adequacy of the lighting, etc., as a
supplement to the information recorded on the sketch of
the workplace layout.
Breaking the job into elements
Once the analyst has recorded all the information about the
operation and the operator, job must be broken down into
elements.
Foreign element is an element observed which does not form a part of the
operation(s) being studied. Examples: in furniture manufacture, sanding the
edge of a board before planning has been completed; degreasing a part that
has still to be machined further.
Deciding on the elements
There are some general rules concerning the way in which a job
should be broken down into elements. They include the following:
Fly back timing the hands of the stopwatch are returned to zero at
the end of each element and are allowed to start immediately, the
time for each element being obtained directly.
The normal distribution curve shown in figure 106 will move to the
left while retaining approximately the same shape. This is quite
clearly shown in figure 108, where the peak of the curve (the
average time) now comes at 36 seconds instead of 48 — a
reduction of 25 per cent.
Comparing the observed rate of
working with the standard
What the analyst is concerned with is therefore the speed with which
the operator carries out the work, in relation to the analyst’s concept of
a normal speed. Speed of what?
The only thing that counts is the effective speed of the operation.
The optimum pace at which the worker will work depends on:
In the figures above, 0.20 x 100 is shown as equal to 0.20 rather than 20.
It must be remembered, however, that rating does not stand by itself:
it is always a comparison with the standard rating (100) so that, when the
revised time is being calculated, the assessed rating is the numerator of a
fraction of which the denominator is the standard rating.
In the case of the 100 standard this makes it a percentage which, when
multiplied by the observed time, produces the constant known as the
“basic time” for the element.
This basic time (0.20 minutes in the example) represents the
time the elements would take to perform (in the judgment of
the observer) if the operator were working at the standard rate,
instead of the faster one actually observed.
Excluding this figure, the total of the remaining 30 basic times is 7.97
minutes, which yields an average of 0.266 minutes per occasion.
At this stage in the study the figure 266 would be entered on the study
summary sheet and be carried to the analysis of studies sheet; but at the
end of the calculations for the element, the basic time finally selected would
be rounded off to the nearest two figures — in this case 0.27 minutes.
The observed times are then totaled under each rating, and
these totals are then extended by multiplying by the
corresponding ratings, to yield the basic times (totals) shown in
the line below.
The grand total of all these basic times comes to 7.92 minutes,
which, when divided by 30 (the number of observations) given
the selected basic time for the element — 0.264 minutes. This
may be compared with the result of 0.266 minutes achieved by
averaging the individual basic times.
Work content
Allowances
Even when the most practical, economic and effective method has
been developed, many jobs require the spending of human effort, and
some allowance must therefore be made for recovery from fatigue
and for relaxation.
Allowances for personal needs. This allowance provides for the necessity
to leave the workplace to attend to personal needs such as washing,
going to the bathroom or getting a drink.
Common figures applied by many enterprises range from 5 to 7 per cent.
Allowances for basic fatigue. This allowance, always a constant, is given
to take account of the energy exhausted while carrying out work and to
lessen monotony. A common figure is 4 per cent of basic time. This is
considered to be sufficient for a worker who carries out the job while
seated, who is engaged on light work in good working conditions.
Variable allowances are added to fixed allowances when working
conditions differ clearly from those stated above, for instance because of
poor environmental conditions that cannot be improved, added stress and
strain in performing the job in question, and so on.
Relaxation allowances are given as percentages of the basic time. They
are normally calculated on an element-by-element basis.
Rest pauses
Relaxation allowances can be taken in the form of rest pauses. While
there is no hard and fast rule governing rest pauses, a common
practice is to allow a 10 to 15 minute break at mid-morning and mid-
afternoon, often joined with facilities for tea, coffee or cold drinks and
snacks, and to permit the rest of the relaxation allowance to be taken at
the good judgment of the worker.
1. Contingency allowances
Contingency allowances should not be greater than 5 per cent, and should
only be given in cases where the analyst is absolutely satisfied that the
contingencies cannot be eliminated and that they are justified.
2. Special allowances
Special allowances may be given for any activities which are not
normally part of the operation cycle but which are essential to the
satisfactory performance of the work.
Such allowances may be permanent or temporary; wherever possible,
these allowances should be determined by time study.
Set-up allowance, given to cover the time required for preparing a machine or process
for production, an operation which is necessary at the start of production on a batch of
fresh products or components.
Dismantling allowance may be given, to cover the time needed for making alterations
to machine or process settings after completing a run of production.
Reject allowance included in a standard time when the production of a proportion of
defective products is in the process, but is perhaps more usually given as a temporary
addition to standard times, per job or per batch.
Learning allowances given to trainee operators engaged on work for which standard
times have been issued, as a temporary benefit while they develop their ability.
Training allowance is a similar allowance given to an experienced worker to
compensate for the time he is required to spend instructing a trainee, while both are
working on jobs for which standard times have been set.
Implementation allowance, given to workers asked to adopt a new method or process
to encourage them to attempt an enthusiastic implementation of the new ways.
Small batch allowance is required to allow a worker working on small batches to decide
what to do and how to go about it and then to work up to a standard performance by
practice and repetition.
Standard time is the total time in which a job should
be completed at standard performance.
1. Stopwatch
Mechanical stopwatches
Electronic stopwatches
2. Video cameras
Provides visual and audio record of method
used by worker
3. Computerized techniques in direct time study
Use of PCs
Mechanical Stopwatch
Calibrated in
decimal minutes
Electronic Stopwatch
LED read-out