Chapter 12

Introduction to Work
Measurement (time study)
Outline:
1. Time Standards and How They are Determined

2. Prerequisites for Valid Time Standards

3. Allowances in Time Standards

4. Accuracy and Precision in Work Measurement

Important Definitions

Work measurement (or Time study)

Evaluation of a task in terms of the time that should be allowed

for an average trained worker to perform the task.

Standard time

Amount of time that should be allowed for an average worker

to process one work unit using the standard method and
working at normal pace.
Objectives and Functions of Work Measurement
(Time Standards)
The objectives of work measurement are to provide a
sound basis for:

 Determining manpower requirements and capacity

limitations.
 Comparing alternative methods for accomplishing the
same task.
 Realistic costing
 Cost reduction and cost control
 Production planning and scheduling
 wage incentives calculation
 Evaluating worker’s performance.
Prerequisites for Valid Time Standards
Factors that must be standardized before a time standard can be set

1. Average trained worker

2. Standard performance (pace)
3. Standard method
1- Average Worker

 A worker who is representative of the persons who

usually perform tasks similar to the task being measured

 If the work is performed mostly by men, then the

average worker is male

 If the work is performed mostly by women, then the

average worker is female
2- Standard Performance (in terms of pace)

 A pace of working that can be maintained by an average

worker throughout an entire work shift without harmful
effects on the worker’s health or physical well-being

 The work shift includes periodic rest breaks and occasional

interruptions are experienced by the worker

Some benchmarks of standard performance such as :

◦ A walker Walks at 3 miles/hr on level flat ground
◦ Dealing of cards from a 52 card deck in exactly 30 sec
3- Standard Method
Must include all of the details on how the task is performed,
including:
◦ Procedure - hand and body motions
◦ Tools
◦ Equipment
◦ Workplace layout
◦ Irregular work elements
◦ Working conditions ( lighting, the size of the space in which a worker must
perform his/her job, exposure to potential toxins, or biological hazards, and the kind of
physical strain (i.e. heavy lifting))

◦ Setup
Allowances in Time Standards
Allowances in Time Standards

 Normal time is adjusted by an allowance factor Apfd to obtain the

standard time

 Purpose of allowance factor is to compensate for lost time due to

work interruptions and other reasons

 Standard time:

Tstd = Tn(1 + Apfd)

PFD Allowance (Unscheduled times + Paid
times)
 Personal time
◦ Rest room breaks, phone calls, water fountain stops (5% typical)
 Fatigue
◦ Rest allowance to overcome fatigue due to work-related stresses
and conditions (5% or more)
 Delays
◦ Machine breakdowns and listening to foreman instructions (5%
typical)

 Formulas

Shift time = actual work time (1+Apfd)

Apdf= allowance time/actual work time

Example 1 (PFD and shift time calculations)

Determine the personal time, fatigue, and delay (PFD) allowance to be

used for computing time standards in the following situation.
 Second shift workers punch in at 3:30 p.m. and punch out at 12:00
midnight. They are provided one-half hour for dinner at 6:00 p.m., which
is not counted as part of the 8-hour shift.

 For purposes of determining the allowance, 30 minutes of break time

(personal time and fatigue) are allowed for each worker. In addition, the
plant allows 35 min for lost time due to unavoidable delays.

What should the PFD allowance factor be?

Example 1 (PFD – Unscheduled paid time):
Solution
Allowance time for

30 min of break time plus 35 min for the lost time = 65 min

Shift Time (paid time)= Actual Time (1+APFD)

APFD= [ Shift Time/Actual Time ] - 1

Allowance factor APFD =480/(480-65) – 1 = 1.157 – 1 = 0.157 = 15.7%

(shift paid time with unscheduled breaks = 8:30 – 00:30 (not counted in the shift
time/means unpaid/) =8 hrs, 8*60=480 min, not counted as part of the shift time
means unpaid)

Another method:
APFD= Allowance Time/Actual Time
Apfd = 65/(480-65) = 65/415 =0.157 = 15.7%
Example 2 (PFD)
The work shift at the ABC Company runs from 7:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. with a 45 min break
for lunch from 11:30 to 12:15 p.m. that does not count as part of the work shift (workers
are not paid for this time).

 The company provides two 12-min rest breaks during working hours (scheduled(as
in a)/unscheduled(b) - paid time), one in the morning and one in the afternoon.

 The company also allows 25 min per day for personal needs (-> unscheduled -paid
time).

 In addition, a work sampling study has shown that on average, unavoidable delays in
the plant results in 20 min lost time per worker per day ( -> unscheduled - paid
time).

Determine the PFD allowance factor for the following two management policies on
allowances:

(a) the two 12-min breaks are both scheduled breaks that all workers take at the same time, and

(b) the two 12-min breaks are included in the allowance factor so that workers can take their breaks
whenever they want.
Example 2:

Solution

(a) Allowance time consists of (allowance =unscheduled +paid)

25 min for personal time + 20 min for delay time = 45 min.

Note: The two 12-min rest breaks are not figured/counted into the allowance factor
as they are scheduled, but they do reduce the actual work time during the shift.

Total work time = 480 – 45 – 2(12) = 411 min.

Thus,Allowance factor Apfd = 45/411 = 0.1095 = 10.95%

Example 2:

Solution
(b) Allowance time consists of two 12 min rest breaks + 25 min
for personal time + 20 min for delay time = 69 min. (consider
the two 12 minutes breaks in the allowance because they are unscheduled)

Total work time = 480 – 45 – 2(12) = 411 [Link],

Allowance factor Apfd = 69/411 = 0.1679 = 16.79%

Methods to Determine Time Standards
Work Measurement Techniques

 Direct time study (DTS)

 Predetermined motion time system (PMTS): Methods

Time Measurement (MTM) , Maynard Operation Sequence
Technique (MOST)

 Standard data systems (SDS)

 Work sampling
Task Level & Implementation of Work
Measurement techniques

See next page …

Work breakdown & work measurement

Drilling task (work sampling)

Work elements (DTS & SDS)

- Pick up and place the plate

- Fix the plate using a work-
Motion elements (PMTS; MTM & MOST)
holding fixture
- Drill the plate
- Unfix the plate Basic hand motions
- Pick up and place the plate - Reaching the plate
in the box - Grasping the plate
- Moving the plate
- Release the plate
Direct time study (DTS)

 Direct time study (DTS) involves direct observation of a task using a

stopwatch to record the time taken to accomplish the task.

 The task is usually divided into work elements and each work
element is timed separately.

 While observing the worker, the time study analyst evaluates the
worker’s performance (pace), and a record of this pace is attached to
each work element time. This evaluation of the worker’s pace is
called performance rating.

 The observed time is multiplied by the performance rating to obtain

the normal time for the element or the task.
Predetermined motion time systems (PMTS)
 A predetermined motion time system (PMTS) relies on a database of basic
motion elements such as reach, grasp, and move that are common to nearly
all manual industrial tasks.

 To use a predetermined motion time system to set a standard time for a

given task the analyst lists all of the basic motion elements that comprise the
task, noting their respective conditions, and recovers the normal time for
each element from the database.

 The normal times for the motion elements are then summed to obtain the
normal time for the task.

 Two advantages related to predetermined motion time systems:

(1) performance rating is not required and
(2) they can be applied to determine the time standard for a task before
production.
Standard Data Systems (SDS) - Database

 A standard data system (SDS) is a compilation of normal time values for

work elements used in tasks that are performed in a given facility.

 These normal times are used to establish time standards for tasks that
are composed of work elements.

 An advantage of a standard data system is that a time standard can be

set before the job is in production.
Standard Data Systems (SDS) - Database
 The normal time values in a standard data system are usually compiled
from previous direct time studies, but they may be based on
predetermined motion time data, work sampling data, or even historical
time records.

 To use a standard data system, the analyst first identifies the work
elements that make up the task together with the values of the work
variables respectively for each element.

 He then accesses the database to find the normal time for each element.
The work element values are summed to determine the normal time for
the task.

 As in the other work measurement techniques, an allowance is added to

the normal time to compute the standard time.
Work Sampling (Task level)
 Work sampling uses random sampling techniques to study work situations so
that the proportions of time spent in different activities can be estimated
with a defined degree of statistical accuracy.

 Examples of the activities/tasks in a work sampling study might include

setting up for production, producing parts, machine idle, and so on.

 A large number of observations over an extended period of time are usually

made in order to achieve the desired level of statistical accuracy.
Work Sampling
 The period of the study must be representative of the activities normally
performed by the subjects (e.g., workers, machines), and the observations
must be made at random times in order to minimize unfairness:. For
example, if the workers knew when the observations would be made, it
might influence their behavior.

 The objectives in a work sampling study may be to measure machine

utilization in a plant or to determine an appropriate allowance factor for use
in setting standards in direct time study.
Accuracy and Precision in Work Measurement
 Accuracy is the degree to which the measured value agrees with the true value of the quantity of interest. The
measurement system is accurate if it is free of systematic errors, which are positive or negative deviations from the
true value that are consistent from measurement to measurement.
 Precision is the repeatability of the measurement system. High precision means that the random errors in the
measurement procedure are small.
Statistical terms/definitions
 Accuracy is defined in terms of whether or not the confidence interval contains the true population parameter (it is
accurate if all points fall within the confidence interval regardless of the width of the confidence level).
 Precision refers to the width of a confidence interval (the smaller width, the more precise measurement).

Example

 Precision is concerned with the expected variability within a single time study. It would be more precise if the
standard deviation is smaller (+/- 3 Sigma for 99.7%). Precision of a time standard is determined at a certain reliability
or confidence level

◦ For example, the standard time for a task is 4.00 min, and we are 95%

confident that the actual time is within 5% of that time

 1- Direct Time Study (DTS)

Direct time study

form

Tobs, PR, Tn
2- Methods Time Measurement
(MTM)
4- Work Sampling