Introduction

Sections:
1. The Nature of Work
Chapter 1
2. Defining Work Systems
3. Types of Occupations
4. Productivity
5. Organization of the Book

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

by Mikell P. Groover, ISBN 0-13-140650-7.
2007 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.
 Historical Figures Related to Work
Eli Whitney (1765-1825)
Interchangeable parts manufacture
Henry Ford (1863-1947)
Moving assembly line
Frederick W. Taylor (1856-1915)
Scientific management
Time study
Frank (1868-1924) & Lillian Gilbreth (1878-1972)
Motion study

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

by Mikell P. Groover, ISBN 0-13-140650-7.
2007 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.
 Work
Is our primary means of livelihood
Serves an important economic function in
the global world of commerce
Creates opportunities for social interactions
and friendships
Provides the products and services that
sustain and improve our standard of living

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

by Mikell P. Groover, ISBN 0-13-140650-7.
2007 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.
 The Nature of Work
Work is an activity in which one exerts physical
and mental effort to accomplish a given task
or perform a duty
Task or duty has some useful objective
Worker applies skills and knowledge for
successful completion
The activity has commercial value
The worker is compensated

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

by Mikell P. Groover, ISBN 0-13-140650-7.
2007 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.
 Work (Physics Definition)
The displacement (distance) that an object moves
in a certain direction multiplied by the force
acting on the object in the same direction.
Units of measurement:
Newton-meters (N-m) in the International
System of Units (metric system)
Foot-pounds (ft-lb) in U.S. customary units

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

by Mikell P. Groover, ISBN 0-13-140650-7.
2007 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.
 The Pyramidal Structure of Work
Work consists of tasks
Tasks consist of work elements
Work elements consist of basic motion
elements

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

by Mikell P. Groover, ISBN 0-13-140650-7.
2007 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.
 Task
An amount of work that is assigned to a
worker or for which a worker is responsible
Repetitive task as in mass production
Time required = 30 seconds to several
minutes
Non-repetitive task performed
periodically, infrequently, or only once
Time required usually much longer
than for repetitive task

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

by Mikell P. Groover, ISBN 0-13-140650-7.
2007 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.
 Work Element
A series of work activities that are logically
grouped together because they have a unified
function in the task
Example: assembling a component to a base
part using several nuts and bolts
Required time = six seconds or longer

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

by Mikell P. Groover, ISBN 0-13-140650-7.
2007 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.
 Basic Motion Elements
Actuations of the limbs and other body parts
Examples:
Reaching for an object
Grasping the object
Moving the object
Walking
Eye movement
A work element consists of multiple basic
motion elements

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

by Mikell P. Groover, ISBN 0-13-140650-7.
2007 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.
 Pyramidal Structure of Work
Extended to a workers career

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

by Mikell P. Groover, ISBN 0-13-140650-7.
2007 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.
 Importance of Time
In many human endeavors, time is of the
essence
In sports
In daily living
In business and industry
In work

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

by Mikell P. Groover, ISBN 0-13-140650-7.
2007 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.
 Importance of Time in Work
Time is the most frequently used measure of
work
How many minutes or hours are required
to perform a given task?
Most workers are paid by the time they work
Hourly wage rate
Salary
Workers must arrive at work on time
Labor and staffing requirements computed in
units of time

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

by Mikell P. Groover, ISBN 0-13-140650-7.
2007 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.
 Work System Defined
As a physical entity, a work system is a system
consisting of humans, information, and
equipment designed to perform useful work
Contributes to the production of a product or
delivery of a service
Examples:
Worker operating a machine tool in a factory
Robotic welding line in an automobile plant
Parcel service agent driving a delivery truck
to make customer deliveries
Designer working at a CAD workstation

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

by Mikell P. Groover, ISBN 0-13-140650-7.
2007 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.
A Work System as a Physical Entity

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

by Mikell P. Groover, ISBN 0-13-140650-7.
2007 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.
 Work System Defined
As a field of professional practice, work systems
include:
Work methods - analysis and design of tasks
and jobs involving human work activity
Work measurement analysis of a task to
determine the time that should be allowed to
perform the task
Work management organizational and
administrative functions that must be
accomplished to achieve high productivity and
effective supervision of workers

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

by Mikell P. Groover, ISBN 0-13-140650-7.
2007 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.
 Productivity
The level of output of a given process relative to
the level of input
Process can refer to
Individual production or service operations
A national economy
Productivity is an important metric in work
systems because
Improving productivity is the means by
which worker compensation can be
increased without increasing the costs of
products and services they produce

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

by Mikell P. Groover, ISBN 0-13-140650-7.
2007 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.
 Labor Productivity
The most common productivity measure is
labor productivity, defined by the following
ratio:
WU
LPR =
LH
where LPR = labor productivity ratio, WU =
work units of output, LH = labor hours of input

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

by Mikell P. Groover, ISBN 0-13-140650-7.
2007 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.
 Labor Factor in Productivity
Labor itself does not contribute much to
improving productivity
More important factors:
Capital - substitution of machines for
human labor
Technology - fundamental change in the
way some activity or function is
accomplished

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

by Mikell P. Groover, ISBN 0-13-140650-7.
2007 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.
 Examples of Technology Changes
Horse-drawn carts Railroad trains
Steam locomotive Diesel locomotive
Telephone operator Dial phone
Dial phone Touch-tone phone
Manually operated Numerically controlled
milling machine (NC) milling machine
DC-3 passenger Boeing 747 passenger
airplane (1930s) airplane (1980s)

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

by Mikell P. Groover, ISBN 0-13-140650-7.
2007 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.
 Measuring Productivity
Not as easy as it seems because of the following
problems:
Nonhomogeneous output units
Multiple input factors
Labor, capital, technology, materials,
energy
Price and cost changes due to economic
forces
Product mix changes
Relative proportions of products that a
company sells change over time

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

by Mikell P. Groover, ISBN 0-13-140650-7.
2007 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.
Example: Productivity Measurement
During the base year in a small steel mill,
326,000 tons of steel were produced using
203,000 labor hours. In the next year, the
output was 341,000 tons using 246,000 labor
hours.
Determine: (a) the labor productivity ratio for
the base year, (b) the labor productivity ratio for
the second year, and (c) the productivity index
for the second year.

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

by Mikell P. Groover, ISBN 0-13-140650-7.
2007 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.
 Example: Solution
(a) In the base year, LPR = 326,000 / 203,000
= 1.606 tons per labor hour
(b) In the second year, LPR = 341,000 / 246,000
= 1.386 tons per labor hour
(c) Productivity index for the second year
LPI = 1.386 / 1.606 = 0.863
Comment: No matter how its measured,
productivity went down in the second year.

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

by Mikell P. Groover, ISBN 0-13-140650-7.
2007 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.
 Productive Work Content
A given task performed by a worker can be
considered to consist of
Basic productive work content
Theoretical minimum amount of work
required to accomplish the task
Excess nonproductive activities
Extra physical and mental actions of worker
Do not add value to the task
Do not facilitate the productive work content
Take time

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

by Mikell P. Groover, ISBN 0-13-140650-7.
2007 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.
 Excess Nonproductive Activities
Can be classified into three categories:
1. Excess activities due to poor design of
product or service
2. Excess activities caused by inefficient
methods, poor workplace layout, and
interruptions
3. Excessive activities cause by the human
factor

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

by Mikell P. Groover, ISBN 0-13-140650-7.
2007 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.
Allocation of Total Task Time

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

by Mikell P. Groover, ISBN 0-13-140650-7.
2007 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.
 Poor Design of Product or Service
Products with more parts than necessary,
causing excess assembly time
Product proliferation
Frequent design changes
Waste of materials
Quality standards too stringent

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

by Mikell P. Groover, ISBN 0-13-140650-7.
2007 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.
 Inefficient Methods, Layout, Etc.
Inefficient layout that increases material
handling activities
Inefficient workplace layout that increases
hand, arm, and body motions
Methods that include unnecessary work
elements that waste time
Long setup times in batch production
Frequent equipment breakdowns
Workers waiting for work

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

by Mikell P. Groover, ISBN 0-13-140650-7.
2007 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.
 The Human Factor
Absenteeism
Tardiness
Workers spending too much time socializing
Workers deliberately working slowly
Inadequate training of workers
Industrial accidents caused by human error
Hazardous materials that cause occupational
illnesses

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

by Mikell P. Groover, ISBN 0-13-140650-7.
2007 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.
Organization of the Book

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

by Mikell P. Groover, ISBN 0-13-140650-7.
2007 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.