Work Study

A production system primarily focuses on improving efficiency by maximizing output from each hour of employee effort. To be more productive, organizations need to change the mindset of their workers and to make them strive for high productivity, low production costs and superior product quality. An organization may experience a high degree of employee dissatisfaction as it pressurizes them to work harder beyond certain limit. It may also result in long term degradation of performance. In order to overcome this problem as well as to reward the high performing workers, production managers use suitable techniques to determine the time required for an average worker to perform a task and then assign work accordingly. Work measurement is the application of the certain techniques to determine the degree and quality of labor required to perform any specific task. The time consumed by any worker at a specific speed to carry out any specific task under normal operating conditions is gradually referred to as standard time. It is expressed in terms of time elapsed per unit of output or units of output per unit of time. Managers use these standards in planning, controlling and scheduling their operations. Uses of Work Measurement Data: The following points indicate the uses of work measurement data: Man Power Planning: Correct man power requirements for different tasks in any plant may be accurately determined by work measurement data. It also enables any management to determine future requirements of any machine or equipment. Planning: The success of an enterprise depends upon its ability to make reliable delivery promises which to a greater extent depends on its effectiveness of planning and scheduling. Work measurement data on operation timings gives an idea as to when a particular job could be started and by when the same may be completed. Estimating Production Costs: The success or failure of an enterprise in any competitive market depends on accuracy with which it is able to estimate the cost

Work Study can conveniently be defined as an important tool to any management for achieving higher productivity. Industrial engineers use more and more of this vital technique to solve the problems of varying complexities. Some of the problems are as follows: (a) Efficient utilizations of man, machine and methods (b) Reduction of the unit cost of production

(c) Efficient laying or relaying out of plant and equipments as well as the improvement of the existing methods (d) Measurement of time required to do certain tasks and establishment of standard level of performance, which could be used as a standard of wage payment. (e) Efficient planning for production (f) Elimination of unnecessary human motions involved in doing a job and balancing of necessary ones (g) Comparative evaluation of performance (h) Elimination, combination, simplification or standardization of operations involved in performing the tasks. The main objective of work study is to improve the effectiveness of important parameters of production such as man, machine and methods. Work study can be broadly classified into two aspects: (1) Methods Study and (2) Work Measurement.
Method study can be defined as systematic procedure of recording and analyzing the existing methods of doing the work including various human movements involved in it, with the main objective of evolving the easiest and the most economical method of doing the task. The various techniques that are used in connection with method study, the technique of work measurement would be used frequently in order to get the concept of time content in each method. In this respect, the method study and work measurement are interrelated with each other, though in general, the work measurement is done after method study. Selection and study of suitable method of doing work is must be done from the point of view of the economy and cost saving. But the findings of the method study can definitely result in better utilization of man power and other tangible resources and elimination of bottleneck activities. It is mostly in these directions that method study proves its worth and excellence. Method study in its general generalized field of activity can also be termed as work simplification. It is a simple technique requiring more of a common sense than any other technical supremacy in its applications. The procedures usually adopted may be categorized stage by stage as follows: (a) Selection of the work to be studied; (b) Collection of data and recording of relevant facts about the existing method; (c) Critical and impartial examinations of the data collected; (d) Development of the most practical, economic and effective method, having due regard to all contingent circumstances; (e) Installation of the new method and maintaining the same by regular routine check. Selection and systematic analysis of the job should not mean too much of time and cost. Off course, in some cases, it may be expensive, particularly, if the analysis of detail requires specialized knowledge in the appropriate and related field. Collection, recording and presentation of valuable data should be done for the existing as well as for the proposed method. The most usual way of recording facts

is to write them down. But to describe in writing even a simple process can be very tedious business. It is often difficult to get into the heart of the problem by studying the written record. Visual aids in such cases, proves its worth. That is why method study is carried out by a series of charts and diagrams prepared for both existing and proposed method. All the charts and diagrams used in methods analysis make use of few symbols to denote the following activities: (a)Operations (activities concerned with manufacturing, working and accomplishing)that is shown as , (b) Inspection (Verification) that is shown as ; (c) Transportation (movement) is generally presented as ; (d)Delay (Interference) is presented as D and (e) Storage (holds or keeps) is shown as .

Operation process chart: It is a graphical representation by linear diagrams to show the feeding of materials or components into operations flow circuit. It usually shows the total number of operations to be performed in order to accomplish the job vis--vis the inspection to be done at various stages of the operations process. Or, in other words, it utilizes the first two symbols as mentioned above. It helps to visualize the complete sequence of operations and inspections involved in the process as well as the operation is to be selected for detailed study that fits the requirements of the entire process. It is a graphical representation of the points at which the materials are introduced into the process and thereafter, operations and inspections are performed on them. Operations and inspections in this chart of a single part or component is in the form of a single flow line consisting of a horizontal portion on the top of which the description of the materials is written. While the operations and inspections that are performed on the job are written on the vertical portion. The symbols representing operations and inspections are placed one below another in the sequence of their occurrence and are finally joined by a vertical line. A brief description of the activities is written on the right side of the symbols representing the activity. While the time required completing the job is mentioned on the left hand side of the symbol. The entry points of the materials, process rejection, rework, repetition, etc. are indicated at the appropriate place. Flow Process Chart: Flow process chart shows the sequence of the flow of work of a product or any part of it through the plant through the usage of the right symbol. This chart is prepared in the same as that of operations process charts. However, it utilizes all the five symbols used in methods analysis while the amount of distance is noted on the right side of the transportation symbol. Flow process charts are of three types, namely, material type, man type and the equipment type. The material type shows how the material is handled, the man type indicates the activities of the men employed while the equipment type exhibits the activities performed by the equipments. When this process chart is made to show graphically the movement of more than one component of the assembly, it is called as assembly flow process chart or gang flow process chart. The flow process chart is useful to explore the possibilities of the following events: (a) To reduce the distance travelled by the workman or materials.

(b) To avoid the waiting time and thereby reducing the production losses (c) To eliminate the unnecessary operations or to combine one operation with another to reduce costs (d) To design a better sequence of the activities to be performed (e) To relocate the inspection stages in order to reduce the frequency of inspection. Multiple Activity Chart: A multiple activity chart is a chart in which the activities of more than one subject is recorded to indicate the interrelationship in a given work cycle. It is also known as multiple activity time chart or simo chart. By simo, we mean simultaneous motion cycle. Therefore, this chart could be regarded as synchronized graphic representation of operations performed simultaneously by two or more men, two or more machines or any combinations of men and machines. Usually, such charts are plotted with more than one activity against a common time scale or frame scale. By frame, we mean the length of the motion film has been used in the micro motion study. The objectives of the preparation of the multiple activity charts are as follows: (a) To detect the idle time enforced on men and machines and thereby rearranging the work cycle in order to reduce the same. (b) To establish the number of machines that may be conveniently manned by an operator (c) To assess the number of workmen required to perform a job involving an organized team work. (d) To reallocate the activities among the workers in order to achieve optimal work distribution. (e) To combine or eliminate some of the work elements if observed unnecessary For the construction of such charts, we are therefore required to find out the time content by micro motion study or another technique of work measurement. Otherwise, the precise delaying of simultaneous motions will not be possible to make. Usual examples of this chart are: (i) Manmachine chart, (ii) Man-machine-helper chart and (iii) Right hand left hand chart, etc. Synchronization and coordination of more than one executing part can be done only after this study. All such charts should be drawn for the existing as well as for the proposed method and savings and improvements achieved forthwith has to be found out for developing the method. Man-machine chart or Right hand left hand charts are absolutely necessary for determining the optimum number of machines a man can attend to without sufficient time loss in interference. The charts and diagrams mentioned above usually go under process analysis and motion analysis. Study and systematic analysis of human motion involved in the method analysis is the beginning of the motion study. Motion analysis which should always be followed by work measurement is done with a view to standardize the methods of doing work, speeds, feeds, etc. to be adhered to while performing a job. Diagrams: Every business activity, be it manufacturing, servicing or office, requires movement of men and materials from one location to another. Every movement is not essential, which may be avoided through the rearrangement of the facilities within the department or by effecting

change in the sequence of activities. This reduction leads to substantial reduction in labor costs as well as efforts required to do the job. So, the recording the movements may be an invaluable guide to improve the existing layout in a diagrammatic manner. Diagrams highlight unnecessary long travels, cross traffics and obstacles clearly than the charts. The usefulness of the diagrams is as follows: (a) To select the different plant layouts and thereby select the optimum layout (b) To study the extent of traffic over the different routes of the plant (c) To identify the extent of back-trafficking, cross traffic and obstacles encountered during the movements of materials (d) To study the activity relationships between departments and work centers. Diagrams are of two types, namely, flow diagrams and string diagrams. The details of which are given below: Flow Diagrams: Flow diagram and flow process charts are identical so far as the utilization of the symbols is concerned. But the essential difference between the two lies in the fact that the flow diagram is usually drawn on scaled drawings of the floor plan of the workplace. Flow diagram shows the relative position of the machine tools, work benches, storage racks, inspection benches, etc. on a scaled diagram on which the movement of the workers and materials are marked. Therefore, the distance moved in between the operations can be easily obtained. This is an essential technique suitable for laying or relaying out of the existing production department or plant. When there is more than one component going through the plant simultaneously, each one should be colored differently to distinguish between their individual paths of flow. String Diagrams: These are almost similar to flow diagram, except in this system, a string is passed round the pins fixed on template models of the floor plan or the drawing board to show the individual path of flow. That is to say in this technique, the lines are replaced by strings. Paths of flow of various components or parts could be conveniently by differently colored strings. In the case of laying out or relaying out of the plant, the planner will get more flexibility with a string diagram rather than a flow diagram. Repetitive movements that are difficult
to be traced on flow diagrams may be easily traced on string diagrams.

Work Study: Method study; motion study; work measurement, performance rating, standard time, time study; work sampling.