Essential Manufacturing

24Work Study

24.1 Introduction

Although modern manufacturing systems are not as labour intensive as they were some years ago, the efficient use of the human resources of energy, skill and intelligence remains very important. This applies not only to manufacturing but to all other industries where labour is employed. The techniques used to ensure efficiency and measure human work are the subject of this chapter. They are generally considered under the term ‘Work Study’; this is a rational discipline in that the techniques ensure a systematic investigation of any situation examined. The two main components of Work Study are Method Study and Work Measurement.

Work Study is generally regarded as the basic tool necessary for increasing human productivity. The concept has probably been around informally since work began, though the scientific methods really saw the greatest period of improvement around the beginning of the twentieth century. These major developments are widely conceded to be mostly attributable to four people, Frederick Winslow Taylor, Frank and Lillian Gilbreth and Charles Bedeaux.

F.W. Taylor was concerned principally with the time factor in work. He realised that the overall times for jobs were of little value as standards of performance and that times for ‘elements’ of jobs were more appropriate if methods were to be examined. Frank and Lillian Gilbreth applied themselves to the methods by which jobs were done. Frank Gilbreth was responsible for defining the 17 ...