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Time and Motion Study

A time and motion study combines time study and motion study techniques to analyze workflows and identify opportunities for improvement. It involves directly observing tasks using a timekeeping device to record how long each step takes. The goal is to standardize times and improve work methods by rearranging steps into the most efficient sequence. Over time, time and motion studies evolved into a comprehensive method known as methods engineering, which is used today to analyze processes in various industries. While time study and motion study originated from the same principles, they have distinct underlying approaches to establishing performance standards and optimizing productivity.

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158 views2 pages

Time and Motion Study

A time and motion study combines time study and motion study techniques to analyze workflows and identify opportunities for improvement. It involves directly observing tasks using a timekeeping device to record how long each step takes. The goal is to standardize times and improve work methods by rearranging steps into the most efficient sequence. Over time, time and motion studies evolved into a comprehensive method known as methods engineering, which is used today to analyze processes in various industries. While time study and motion study originated from the same principles, they have distinct underlying approaches to establishing performance standards and optimizing productivity.

Uploaded by

trpvsk
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© © All Rights Reserved
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A time and motion study (or time-motion study) is a business efficiency technique combining the

Time Study work of Frederick Winslow Taylor with the Motion Study work of Frank and Lillian
Gilbreth (the same couple as is best known through the biographical 1950 film and book Cheaper by
the Dozen). It is a major part of scientific management (Taylorism). After its first introduction, time
study developed in the direction of establishing standard times, while motion study evolved into a
technique for improving work methods. The two techniques became integrated and refined into a
widely accepted method applicable to the improvement and upgrading of work systems. This
integrated approach to work system improvement is known as methods engineering and it is applied
today to industrial as well as service organizations, including banks, schools and hospitals.

Time study is a direct and continuous observation of a task, using a timekeeping device (e.g., decimal
minute stopwatch, computer-assisted electronic stopwatch, and videotape camera) to record the
time taken to accomplish a task[3] and it is often used when:[4]

there are repetitive work cycles of short to long duration,

wide variety of dissimilar work is performed, or

process control elements constitute a part of the cycle.

The Industrial Engineering Terminology Standard, defines time study as "a work measurement
technique consisting of careful time measurement of the task with a time measuring instrument,
adjusted for any observed variance from normal effort or pace and to allow adequate time for such
items as foreign elements, unavoidable or machine delays, rest to overcome fatigue, and personal
needs."[5]

The systems of time and motion studies are frequently assumed to be interchangeable terms,
descriptive of equivalent theories. However, the underlying principles and the rationale for the
establishment of each respective method are dissimilar, despite originating within the same school
of thought.

The application of science to business problems, and the use of time-study methods in standard
setting and the planning of work, was pioneered by Frederick Winslow Taylor.[6] Taylor liaised with
factory managers and from the success of these discussions wrote several papers proposing the use
of wage-contingent performance standards based on scientific time study.[7] At its most basic level
time studies involved breaking down each job into component parts, timing each part and
rearranging the parts into the most efficient method of working.[8] By counting and calculating,
Taylor wanted to transform management, which was essentially an oral tradition, into a set of
calculated and written techniques.[9][10]
Taylor and his colleagues placed emphasis on the content of a fair day's work, and sought to
maximize productivity irrespective of the physiological cost to the worker.[11] For example, Taylor
thought unproductive time usage (soldiering) to be the deliberate attempt of workers to promote
their best interests and to keep employers ignorant of how fast work could be carried out.[12] This
instrumental view of human behavior by Taylor prepared the path for human relations to supersede
scientific management in terms of literary success and managerial application.

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