ASSIGNMENT NO.

-1

Q 1) Explain the concept of work study? What are its objectives? Explain
the process of method study with an illustration.
Answer:
Work Study: Work study is term used to embrace the techniques of method study and work
measurement, which are employed to ensure the best possible use of human and material
resources in carrying out a specified activity
Objectives of work study are as follows:
Scientific and controlled analysis of existing available methods of executing a task.
Measuring performance of mentally and the physically qualified workers, establishing it
as standard for performance measurement.
Optimum utilization of workers, plant, machinery and other resources at minimum cost.
Improved productivity and enhance worker mood.
Increasing efficiency of organization.
Process of Method Study
Method Study may also be defined as the systematic investigation of the existing method of
doing a job in order to develop and install an easy, rapid, efficient and effective and less
fatiguing procedure for doing the same and at lower costs. This is generally achieved by
eliminating unnecessary motions involved in a certain procedure or by changing the sequence
of operations or the process itself.
The stages in method study are as follows:
1. Select
2. Record
3. Examine
4. Develop
5. Evaluate
6. Define
7. Install
8. Maintain

The following diagram depicts the process of method study

Select

Record

Examine

Develop

Evaluate

Define

Install

Maintain

Selection of the Job for Method Study

Evaluate
Maintain
Develop
Define
Install

Cost is the main criteria for selection of a job, process and department for methods analysis.
To carry out the method study, a job is selected such that the proposed method achieves one
or more of the following results:
a. Improvement in quality with lesser scrap.
b. Increased production through better utilization of resources.
c. Elimination of unnecessary operations and movements.
d. Improved layout leading to smooth flow of material and a balanced production line.
e. Improved working conditions.
Recording Techniques for Method Study
The next step in basic procedure, after selecting the work to be studied is to record all facts
relating to the existing method. In order that the activities selected for investigation may be
visualized in their entirety and in order to improve them through subsequent critical
examination, it is essential to have some means of placing on record all the necessary facts
about the existing method. Records are very much useful to make before and after
comparison to assess the effectiveness of the proposed improved method.
The recording techniques are designed to simplify and standardize the recording work. For
this purpose charts and diagrams are used.

Q 2) What is work measurement ? what does it aim at? Why is it important

for organisation?
Answer: Work measurement involves the estimation of the amount of human effort needed
for producing a unit of specified output from an operation. The amount of time that is usually
taken by a well-trained worker, operating under normal working conditions, to produce one
unit of output is referred to as work standard.
Similar steps are involved as to method study:
1. Select the tasks
2. Record the facts
3. Analyse them
4. Calculate basic and standard times for the task
5. Agree the method and its related time
Time study involves recording the time required to complete a job by a worker, incorporating
the necessary allowances, and then estimating the total time required to perform the job.

Standard data makes use of a database which provides standards that have been set for
common tasks or movements. The predetermined motion time study is a technique for setting
work standards that uses the recorded standard time data for each of the basic motions (reach,
grasp, move, turn, stretch, etc.) associated with performing a task to determine the time
required to perform the whole task. Adjustments are made to this data since operating
conditions vary from firm to firm and job to job. Work sampling is a method of analysing the
work by taking a number of observations at random. Historical analysis is a non-scientific
technique that makes use of past data to set standards.

It is important for organisations because:

Operations managers use work standards when assigning work to employees, scheduling
work in departments, and evaluating employee performance.
Managers use several different techniques to set work standards.
Managers need not set fresh standards for these common tasks; they can simply refer to the
database to obtain them.
Employee self-timing is another technique for setting standards. In this method, employees
maintain a log of the time spent on each specific task. This technique is generally used to
set standards for white-collar workers.
Managers use work standards to evaluate the performance of employees and take decisions
regarding rewards and compensation.

Q 3)What are standard time and performance rating in time study? Explain the use of
standard time?
Ans: Standard time: The standard time is the time required by an average skilled operator,
working at a normal pace, to perform a specified task using a prescribed method. It includes
appropriate allowances to allow the person to recover from fatigue and, where necessary, an
additional allowance to cover contingent elements which may occur but have not been
observed.
The Standard Time is the product of three factors:
1. Observed time: The time measured to complete the task.
2. Performance rating factor: The pace the person is working at. 90% is working slower than
normal, 110% is working faster than normal, 100% is normal. This factor is calculated by an
experienced worker who is trained to observe and determine the rating.
3. Personal, fatigue, and delay (PFD) allowance.
The standard time can then be calculated by using:
Standard Time = {Observed Time} {Rating Factor}) (1+ {PFD Allowance})
Performance Rating: During the time study, time study engineer carefully observes the
performance of the operator. This performance seldom conforms to the exact definition of
normal or standard. Therefore, it becomes necessary to apply some 'adjustment' to the mean

observed time to arrive at the time that the normal operator would have taken to do that job
when working at an average pace. This 'adjustment' is called Performance Rating.
Performance Rating can be defined as the procedure in which the time study engineer
compares the performance of operator(s) under observation to the Normal Performance and
determines a factor called Rating Factor.
Rating Factor = (Observed Performance)/ (Normal Performance)
Use of the standard time:
Staffing (or workforce planning): the number of workers required cannot accurately be
determined unless the time required to process the existing work is known.
Line balancing (or production levelling): the correct number of workstations for optimum
work flow depends on the processing time, or standard, at each workstation.
Materials requirement planning (MRP): MRP systems cannot operate properly without
accurate work standards.
System simulation: simulation models cannot accurately simulate operation unless times
for all operations are known.
Wage payment: comparing expected performance with actual performance requires the
use of work standards.
Cost accounting: work standards are necessary for determining not only the labour
component of costs, but also the correct allocation of production costs to specific
products.
Employee evaluation: in order to assess whether individual employees are performing as
well as they should, a performance standard is necessary against which to measure the
level of performance.

Q 4) Discuss the steps in making time study.

Find out the standard time using the following data:
Average time for machine elements = 6 min
Average time for manual elements = 4 min
Performance rating = 110%
Allowances = 10%
Ans: Steps in making time study:
a. Define and document the standard method.
b. Divide the task into work elements.
c. These first two steps are conducted prior to the actual timing. They familiarize the analyst
with the task and allow the analyst to attempt to improve the work procedure before
defining the standard time.

d. Time the work elements to obtain the observed time for the task.
e. Evaluate the workers pace relative to standard performance (performance rating), to
determine the normal time.
f. Note that steps 3 and 4 are accomplished simultaneously. During these steps, several
different work cycles are timed, and each cycle performance is rated independently.
Finally, the values collected at these steps are averaged to get the normalized time.
g. Apply an allowance to the normal time to compute the standard time. The allowance
factors that are needed in the work are then added to compute the standard time for the
task.
Numerical:
Average time for machine elements = 6 min
Average time for manual elements = 4 min
Performance rating = 110%
Allowances = 10%
Normal Time = Machinery Time + Manual Time Rating
= 6 + 4 1.1
= 10.4
Therefore,
Standard Time = Normal Time + Allowance
= 10.4 + 10.4 10/100
= 11.44 mins
Q 5)Wright short note on following
a)Relation between productivity and work study
Ans: Productivity is the ratio between output and input. It is quantitative relationship between
what we produce and what we have spent to produce. Productivity is nothing but reduction in
wastage of resources like men, material, machine, time, space, capital etc.
Work study is an important management tool to achieve higher productivity. It is related to
human work, method of doing work and standard of performance. Work Study divides work
into smaller elements, studies it, and rearranges it to get same or greater efficiency at reduced
cost. Work study is the technique of method study and work measurement employed to
ensure the best possible use of human and material resources in carrying out a specified
activity. It is also a management service based on method study and work measurement used
in examination of human work leading to investigation of all the resources that effect
efficiency and economy of situation to affect improvement.
Work study minimizes cost either by designing the work for high productivity or by
improving productivity in existing work through improvements in current methods by
reducing ineffective and wasted time. Therefore, it can be said that it is a direct means of

raising the productivity. It is direct means of rising or improving the productivity as work
study is used to examine human work that affects efficiency which in turn affects
improvement. Work study therefore has direct relationship with the productivity. It is
frequently used to increase the amount produced from a given quantity of resources with little
or no further investment.

b)Considerations for selection of method study

Ans: Selection of the Job for Method Study
Cost is the main criteria for selection of a job, process and department for methods analysis.
To carry out the method study, a job is selected such that the proposed method achieves one
or more of the following results:
1. Improvement in quality with lesser scrap.
2. Increased production through better utilization of resources.
3. Elimination of unnecessary operations and movements.
4. Improved layout leading to smooth flow of material and a balanced production line.
5. Improved working conditions.
Considerations for selection of method study
The job should be selected for the method study based upon the following considerations:
1. Economic aspect
2. Technical aspect, and
3. Human aspect.
A. Economic Aspects
The method study involves cost and time. If sufficient returns are not attained, the whole
exercise will go waste. Thus, the money spent should be justified by the savings from it. The
following guidelines can be used for selecting a job:
a. Bottleneck operations which are holding up other production operations.
b. Operations involving excessive labor.
c. Operations producing lot of scrap or defectives.

d. Operations having poor utilization of resources.

e. Backtracking of materials and excessive movement of materials.

B. Technical Aspects
The method study man should be careful enough to select a job in which he has the technical
knowledge and expertise. A person selecting a job in his area of expertise is going to do full
justice.
Other factors which favor selection in technical aspect are:
1. Job having in consistent quality.
2. Operations generating lot of scraps.
3. Frequent complaints from workers regarding the job.

Human Considerations

Method study means a change as it is going to affect the way in which the job is done
presently and is not fully accepted by workman and the union. Human considerations play a
vital role in method study. These are some of the situations where human aspect should be
given due importance:
1. Workers complaining about unnecessary and tiring work.
2. More frequency of accidents.
3. Inconsistent earning.

References:
1. Theory and Problems in Production and Operations management by S.Chari. Tata
McGraw-Hill
2. Operations Management by S Anil Kumar. New age International