Work Measurement

Application of techniques
to
Establish time for a qualified worker
for
Carrying out a task at a specified rate of working
 Work measurement objectives
Basic objectives
•Eliminate ineffective time
•Establish standards for the work (Setting standards times)
Secondary objectives
•Compare number of alternatives methods
•Determine no. of machines a worker can handle.
•Distribute work to a group of operator.
•Basis for estimation made for tenders, machine loading,
delivery schedules etc.
•Basis for setting standards for machine utilization and labour
performance.
•Basis for incentive scheme
Work Measurement Approach

Select
Record
Examine
Measure
Compile
Define
 Work Measurement Approach
Select: Same as Methodstudy

Record: Same as Methodstudy

Examine: Breakdown into element

Critically examine
Separate unproductive elements

Measure: Each element in terms of time (Work

content) by suitable work measurement
technique
Compile: Calculate std-time for the operation by
adding allowances.
Define: Std time for the operation method.
Issue the time standards for the methods/activities
specified.
Work Measurement Techniques

Time Study
Work Sampling
Structured Estimating
PTS
 Time Study
Factors affecting selection of job for time study/
selection criteria…
- New job (New product, operations)
- Change in method, material
- Requirement of new time standards, for revising
insensitive scheme.
- Complains from workers about time standards
of operations.
- Bottleneck operations
- Comparing two proposed methods
 Time Study
Some Important Definitions…

Qualified worker: is one who is having all the skills

knowledge & other attributes required to do work
in hand to satisfactory standards of quality
quantify and safety.

Representative worker: Whose skills and

performance is average of the group under study
and who is not necessarily a qualified worker.
 Time Study
Element: It is a distinct part of a specified
operation for convenience of observation,
measurement and analysis.

Standard Performance: It is the rate of

output naturally achieved by qualified
worker without over exertion as an average
over the working day / shift, provided that
he works as per specified method and is
motivated to work.
 Time Study
Work Content = Basic Time + Relaxation Allowance + Other
Necessary Allowances (Work Related)
Basic Time (Normal Time) = (Observed Time) X
(Observed Rating /Standard
Rating)
(This is the time required to carry out an element of work at standard
rating)

Standard Time = Work Content + Unavoidable Delays

(This is the total time in which a job should be completed at standard
performance)

Allowances: provided to cover time taken for personal needs,

Allowances:
unavoidable delays, and general slow down of performance due to
fatigue.
 Time Study Procedure/ Steps/ Approach
• Selecting job to be studied
• Selecting operator for the study (Any representative
worker to be studied)
• Recording necessary information in different forms.
• Breaking down operations into elements.
• Measuring element by stopwatch and rating the
workers WRT std. Time concept of observer.
• Calculation of “Basic Time” from “Observed Time”
• Deciding on “Allowances”
• Determining “Standard Time”
Different Elements (As per British Standard glossary)
Repetitive Element: Occurs in every work cycle of an
operation eg. putting aside a finished component, locating
job in holding device.
Occasional Element: Doesn't occur in
every work cycle, but occur at regular or irregular intervals.
eg. setting machine.
Constant Element: For which basic time remains constant
whenever it is performed. e.g. switching on/off the machine,
inserting tool.
Variable Element: For which basic time varies WRT some
characteristics of the product. (eg. dim, matl. etc.) e.g.
cutting different malts, pushing trolley with different loads.
Different Elements (As per British Standard glossary)
Manual Element: Performed by worker

Machine Element: Performed automatically by

machine or process, which once started cannot be
influences by worker except to stop it. e.g. auto
cutting on CNC.

Governing Element: Occupying a longer time

within a work cycle than that of any other element.

Foreign Element: This is observed which does not

form a part of the operation under study
 Elements
“Need for breaking down operation into elements.” Home work

How to decide on elements/ General

rules, Guidelines to decide elements
elements..
Elements should be easily identifiable. It should have definite
beginning and end, which can be easily recognized (known as
break points) e.g. change in motion, sound etc.

Elements should be as short as can be conveniently timed.

(Smallest element timed by stop watch is 2.4 sec)

Manual elements should represent natural rhythm and should be

recognized as distinct segment of the operation.

Manual and machine elements should be separated as far as

possible.
 Timing the Element
Timing By Stopwatch…
Cumulative Timing
Fly back Timing
Differential Timing
 Timing By Stopwatch…
Cumulative Timing
• Watch runs continuously throughout the study
• Started at the beginning of first element & not
stopped until the whole study completed
• At the end of each element watch reading is recorded
• Individual element times are obtained by successive
subtraction
Fly back Timing
• Hands of stop watch are returned to zero at the end
of each element & allowed to start immediately once
again
• Time for each element obtained directly
 Timing By Stopwatch…
Differential Timing
• Used when the elements are of very short duration
and the available equipment is only stopwatch.
• Time is recorded in-group of elements.
• For eg. for an operation in-group of elements first
reading are taken at the end of 3rd, 6th and 9th
element.
• Then second reading is taken at the end of 4th, 7th
and 9th element.
• Now, by subtracting the initial readings from latter,
time for element 4,7 & 10 can be obtained.
 Advantages of cumulative timing…
• Accurate compared to Fly back method, since no
errors in reading due to slight delay when the hand
is snapped back to zero in Fly back method.

• No harm if some elements are missed since overall

time is not affected

• No chance for adjusting readings of any elements

• Highly preferred for shorter work cycles & for

setting time standard for wage & incentive plans.
 Time Study
Time Study Equipments & Forms
Homework
 Time Study
Allowances
Allowances are provided to cover time taken for
personal needs, unavoidable delays, and general
slow down of performance due to fatigue.

It is provided to have realistic standard time.

There is no universally accepted set of procedure to

provide allowances that can be applicable to every
working condition, anywhere in the world. (This is due
to factors related to the individuals as well as nature and
environment of the job).
 Allowances

Types of Allowances
Relaxation Contingency Policy Special
Allowances Allowances Allowances Allowance
Fixed Variable
Personal Need
Basic Fatigue
 Allowances
• Relaxation Allowance:
These allowances are provided ‘to recover
from fatigue’.
They are normally added element by
element to basic time, so that work value of
each element is built up separately.
There are two major components of this
allowance, fixed and variable allowances.
 Allowances
Fixed Allowances:
i Personal Needs: Provided for the necessity to leave the work place to
attend to personal needs. Common practice is to provide 5 to 7 %.

ii. Basic Fatigue: Provided for the energy expended while carrying out
work and to break monotony. Common practice is to provide 4% for
light work, good working conditions and seated posture.

Variable Allowances: Provided when working conditions are

different considerably and due to that stress and strain are added.

Relaxation allowances are provided in the form of ‘Rest Pauses’.

Common practice is to provide rest pauses of 10 to 15 minutes at mid

morning and mid afternoon sessions, generally coupled with tea,
coffee etc.
 Allowances
• Contingencies Allowances: Provided to
account for unavoidable delays, such as…
Cleaning Machine
Discussion with foreman
Occasional lubrication to machine
Occasional and minor repair works etc.

This allowance is very small and should not

exceed 5%.
 Allowances
• Policy Allowances:
Policy allowances are provided to ensure
satisfactory level of earnings. This should
be used as an addition to standard times, so
that product standard times are not altered.
This is an indirect incentive to the workers.
 Allowances
• Special Allowances: Provided for activities which are
not part of the regular operating cycle, but which are
essential to the satisfactory performance of the work.
Some typical examples are…
Startup Allowances
Shutdown Allowances
Cleaning Allowances
Tool Allowances
Setup Allowances
Changeover Allowances
Reject Allowances
Learning Allowances
Training Allowances
Small batch Allowances
Implementation Allowances
 Time Study
Performance Rating
This is assessment of the worker’s rate of
working relative to the observer’s concept of
rate of standard pace.

Standard Performance ???

This performance is denoted as 100 on the

standard rating and performance scale and
known as ‘standard rating’.
 Performance Rating
Need for Performance Rating
Performance rating is necessary as human
abilities are different for doing identical
work. Time taken by different workers and
output produced by them for the same job is
different.

So, some sort of adjustment is required in

observed time by stopwatch to arrive at
representative time and standard ratings.
 Performance Rating
Performance Rating Techniques
Speed Rating
Westinghouse System
Synthetic Rating
Objective Rating
 Performance Rating
1. Speed Rating:
• It is the comparison of an operator’s rate of working
to that of an observer’s concept of standard rate of
that operation.

• Speed of a qualified worker for doing a job is taken

as standard performance and denoted as 100 on
rating scale.

• If the worker under observation is working faster than

the standard rate, then he will be rated above 100,
that is, 105,110,120 etc. And if he is slow compared
to standard, then he will be rated as 90, 80 etc.
 Speed Rating
Illustration for Speed Rating…

• A same job is being performed by two workers and both are taking different
duration as below.
Worker 1 = 0.165 min.
Worker 2 = 0.204 min.

• An observer is rating these two workers with respect to his concept of standard
rate of working and the ratings are as below.
Worker 1 = 110
Worker 2 = 90

• Now, basic time will be calculated as shown below incorporating observed

time (actual time taken by the worker) and observer’s rating

• Basic time = observe time X rating

• For worker 1 = 0.165 X 110/100 = 0.18 min.

• For worker 2 = 0.204 X 90 / 100 = 0.18 min.
 Westinghouse System
In this method following four factors are
considered
• Skill of operator
• Efforts put in by him in doing the job
• Working conditions
• Consistency maintained by him while working

A leveling table developed by Maynard and

others to arrive on basic time from observed
time keeping above factors in view.
 Westinghouse System
Skill Efforts Working Consistency
conditions
Super A1 & Excessive A1 & Ideal A Perfect A
A2 A2
Excellent B1 & Excellent B1 & Excellent B Excellent B
B2 B2
Good C1 & Good C1 & Good C Good C
C2 C2
Average D Average D Average D Average D

Fair E1 & Fair E1 & E2 Fair E Fair E

E2
Poor F1 & Poor F1 & F2 Poor F Poor F
F2
 Synthetic Rating
It is the evaluation of workers speed with the help of the
PMTS (Predetermined Motion and Time System)

• Actual element time is compared with time assigned to

fundamental motion element.
• Performance Rating Factor = P /A
Where, P = PMTS of an element
A = Average of the observed time values of the
same element.

• These factors then applied to all the manually controlled

elements.

• In this method element of ‘judgment’ is reduced, giving

comparatively precise rating.
 Objective Rating
In this method operator’s speed and relative
difficulty of the job are considered.

• Difficulty in doing the job is as follows.

• Amount of body used
• Foot pedals
• Eye – hand cooperation
• Handling requirements.
• Weight of job.

Above factors for any job are assumed separately

and then added to get basic time.
 Factors Affecting Rating

Within the control of Outside the control of the

workers workers

-Variations due to abilities -Variations due to materials

-Variations due to attitude
-Variations due to
motivation
-Variations due to tools and
machine
-Variations due to working
conditions
-Variations due to training