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1 MANAGEMENT SERVICES CONCEPT

1.1 DEFINITION - MANAGEMENT SERVICES

The provision of advisory and information services to assist management in improving

effective use of resources. This may embrace the use of WORK STUDY, O & M,
OPERATIONAL RESEARCH, DATA PROCESSING, ERGONOMICS, ECONOMIC
FORECASTING, INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING. BS 3138 - 1992 (11001)

1.2 GENERAL

The concept of Management Services is therefore wide ranging and covers a number
of interrelated disciplines. Common to all these disciplines is that Management
Services is normally an advisory department which provides a service to assist line
and senior managers in carrying out their executive responsibilities to their individual
organisations. It follows therefore that the Management Service Officer normally has
no executive powers.

1.3 MANAGEMENT SERVICES - RESPONSIBILITIES

A typical management services department will be responsible to management for

some or all of the following activities.

1.3.1 Development and improvement of methods.

1.3.2 Determination of the time a task "did take", how long it "should take" and
what will be the "allowed" time.

1.3.3 Application of incentive schemes.

1.3.4 Labour control systems.

1.3.5 Setting of material systems.

1.3.6 Material control systems.

1.3.7 Production planning and control.

1.3.8 Monitoring of machinery and equipment utilisation.

1.3.9 Provision of operating statistics.

1.3.10 Calculation of bonus.

1.3.11 Job evaluation.

1.3.12 Provision of data for cost control, budgetary stock control, product
development, loading, scheduling, forecasting, etc

1.3.13 Computer programming, data processing.

1.3.14 Network analysis.

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1.3.15 Improvement of working conditions and safety.

1.3.16 Evaluation of new machinery, equipment and materials.

There are also many other areas of involvement all of which enable management to
perform their tasks more effectively by carefully considered ACTION based on reliable
information.

2. WORK STUDY AND PRODUCTIVITY

2.1 DEFINITION - WORK STUDY

The systematic examination of activities in order to improve the effective use of

human and other material resources. BS3138 1992 (11002)

2.2 Work Study consists of complementary techniques, Method Study and Work
Measurement.

Method Study is used to improve working methods whilst Work Measurement is used
to provide the data to measure and control human effort.

2.3 PRODUCTION AND PRODUCTIVITY

These two terms, though related mean quite different things:

Production is the actual amount of end product yielded by the enterprise.

Productivity on the other hand is the ratio of the amount produced relative to the
amount of some resources used.

Production Output
∴ Productivity or
Resource Input

As an example if a company produced 2000 suits per week and employs 200
operators:-

Production for 1 week = 2000 suits

2000
Productivity (relative to labour) = = 10 suits per operator for that week
200

The term productivity need not necessarily relate to labour only. It can be related to
any resource used in the production of the end product.

Resources which can be considered in this context are:

Land, Buildings
Plant, Machinery, Equipment
Labour
Materials (including fossil resources such as Coal and Oil)

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3. WORK MEASUREMENT

DEFINITION

The application of techniques designed to establish the time for a qualified worker to carry out
a task at a defined rate of working. BS 3138 1992 (11003)

3.1 THE TECHNIQUES OF WORK MEASUREMENT

There are several techniques of Work Measurement, each of which is particularly

suitable in different circumstances. The various techniques are:

3.1.1 Time Study

3.1.2 Activity Sampling

3.1.3 Rated Activity Sampling

3.1.4 Synthesis from Standard Data

3.1.5 Analytical Estimating

3.1.6 Comparative Estimating

3.1.7 Category Estimating

3.1.8 Predetermined Motion Time Systems (PMTS)

Each of these techniques has its part to play within the management services
department.

3.2 THE TIME

There are numerous different definitions of time used in Work Measurement.

At the introductory stage three are important to remember.

3.2.1 OBSERVED TIME - The time spent on an element or other activity as

shown on a watch or other instrument. BS 3138 1992 (22048)

The Observed Time is therefore how long it "Did Take" a worker to carry out a
task.

3.2.2 BASIC TIME - The time for carrying out an element of work or an
operation at standard rating. BS 3138 1992 (22006)

Standard rating is a term which will be fully explained in a later lesson, at this
stage is suffice to understand the BASIC TIME is the OBSERVED or "Did Take" TIME
adjusted by the pace at which the worker performed the task. This therefore
gives a "Should Take" TIME.

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3.2.3 STANDARD TIME - The total time in which a task or group of related tasks
should be completed at standard performance, i.e. Basic Time plus relaxation
times and, where applicable, contingency times and/or unoccupied times.
BS3138 1992 (22075)

There are a number of terms within this definition which will be fully explained in later
lessons. At this stage it is suffice to understand the STANDARD TIME is the total amount
of time which a worker will be allowed to carry out a task and therefore represents
how long a task "Should Take" plus allowances to allow the worker to either recover
from the effect of carrying out a task or to compensate the worker for unavoidable
delays or interruptions which are outside of their direct control.

3.3 QUALIFIED WORKER

A worker who has acquired the skill, knowledge and other attributes to carry out the
work in hand to satisfactory standards of quantity, quality and safety.
BS 3138 1992 (31109)

The qualified worker is therefore not a learner but is experienced in the task and
should represent the average worker who may carry out a task.

3.4 In all situations the Work Study Officer should attempt to observe qualified workers.
Occasionally, however, there will be a circumstance where qualified operators are not available, i.e.
due to labour turnover, sickness, holidays, new products, etc. If it is absolutely necessary to study at
that time using the only workers available, then the following precautions should be taken:

3.4.1 The job should be set up with the co-operation of the immediate
supervisors.

3.4.2 Equipment and machinery should be checked for its state of

maintenance and any faults rectified.

3.4.3 The method should be checked.

3.4.4 It should be ensured that any study work prepared under the non-
standard conditions is "provisional only". The job will be re-studied when a
qualified operator is available.

4. NECESSITY FOR WORK MEASUREMENT

4.1 SETTING STANDARDS

In many industries today, production standards are set by one of the three following
methods:

4.1.1 Past performance of operators.

4.1.2 Estimation by the supervisor of what constitutes a fair day's production.

4.1.3 Overall time for a trial lot.

Work Measurement properly applied can replace this guesswork by an objective

method of measurement.

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4.2. UNPRODUCTIVE TIME

Work Measurement is concerned with identifying, reducing or eliminating unproductive

time with any task.

Unproductive time may be an in-built part of a task, caused by the shortcomings of

management or caused by the operators themselves. All will reduce the overall
productivity of an organisation and therefore need to be identified and investigated.

4.2.1 UNPRODUCTIVE TIME IN BUILT AS PART OF A TASK

All operators are likely to have, in addition to their main productive task,
various elements of work which are of a "MAKE READY" or "PUT AWAY" nature.
E.g. The main productive task of a sewing machinist in a textile company is to
produce garments. However, in addition he/she will probably be required to:-
a. Clean the sewing machine or work area
b. Replace broken needles or cottons
c. Sort work both before and after machining
d. Complete paperwork

All are essential tasks, but are in themselves unproductive. Work

Measurement can be used to identify how much time is being used in these
areas and be an indicator as to whether Method Study is required.

4.2.2 UNPRODUCTIVE TIME CAUSED BY MANAGEMENT

Common causes of unproductive time which is within the control of managers

include:
a. Frequent task changes due to excessive product variety increase the
amount of time on “MAKE READY” or “PUT AWAY” type work.
b. Bad Planning of work, raw materials or machinery availability causes the
workers to be awaiting planning.
c. Bad maintenance of machines or equipment prevents the workers
completing their tasks due to breakdowns or leads to excessive quality
rejects being reworked.
d. Poor working conditions lead to the need for excessive recovery time on
the part of the workers.
e. The lack of effective Health and Safety procedures leads to lost time
through avoidable accidents.

The above list is not exhaustive and represents only some of the factors which
are within management control. Work Measurement identifies how much time
is wasted through reasons within management control and can therefore lead
to major productivity gains.

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4.2.3 UNPRODUCTIVE TIME CAUSED BY THE WORKER

With any task there is certain to be unproductive time which is within the
control of the worker. Some of this time will be legitimate recovery or
relaxation time caused by the effort of carrying out the task. The purpose of
work measurement in this area is to identify whether the actual amount of time
being taken is fair or is excessive labour oriented UNPRODUCTIVE time, and
includes:
a. Any period when the worker is inactive when there is work
available
b. The reworking of rejected work where the quality fault is directly
within the control of the worker.
c. Work stoppages due to accidents directly caused by workers
failing to observe Health and Safety procedures.

5. USES OF WORK MEASUREMENT

In the process of setting standards, Work Measurement is used for the following purposes:

5.1 To assist in Method Study by comparison of time for alternative

methods. Other conditions being equal, the method which takes the
least time will be the best method

5.2 To balance the work of members of teams, in association with Multiple

Activity Charts, so that each member has a task taking an equal time
to perform.

5.3 To determine the number of machines an operator can operate.

5.4 To provide information, on which the planning and scheduling of work

can be based, including the plant and labour requirements for carrying
out the programme of work and utilisation of available capacity.

5.5 To provide information on which estimates for tenders, selling prices

and delivery promises can be based.

5.6 To set standards of equipment utilisation and labour performance

which can be used for any of the above purposes and as a basis for
incentive schemes.

5.7 To provide information for Labour Cost Control, and to enable

Standard Costs to be fixed and maintained, and to provide information
which can be used in the preparation of budgets.

6. PURPOSE OF WORK MEASUREMENT

Summarising the above, the purposes of work measurement are:

6.1 To establish the time for a job.

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6.2 To identify, quantify and help to eliminate unproductive time.

6.3 To provide data to assist in the control of the enterprise

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7. SCOPE OF WORK MEASUREMENT

7.1 The variety of techniques available to the work measurement practitioner is such that
there is hardly any area of industry or commerce where measurement is impractical.
Too often the measurement of work is restricted purely to shop floor workers in a
factory – often in conjunction with some form of piecework system.

7.2 When it is considered that today 60% or so of our UK labour force is employed
in administration or service industries there would still seem to be a great deal
of benefit to be gained by applying the techniques more widely. In fact the
universality of work measurement needs to be more widely recognised.

7.3 The techniques can be applied in:

Factories, offices, laboratories, warehouses, transport departments, retail outlets,

banks, finance houses, local and national government departments or almost any
occupational situation where human labour or resource utilisation is important.

8. BASIC PROCEDURE

Just as there is method of approach or basic procedure for Method Study, so there is a basic
procedure for Work Measurement. This systematic approach is as follows:

8.1 SELECT the work to be studied

8.2 RECORD all the relevant data relating to the circumstances in which the work is
being done, the methods and the elements of activity in them.

8.3 MEASURE each element in terms of time over a sufficient number of cycles of
activity to ensure that a representative picture has been obtained.

8.4 EXAMINE the recorded data and element times critically to ensure that
unproductive and foreign elements are separated from productive
elements, and the basic time for each productive element is
determined.

8.5 COMPILE the Standard Time for the operation, which will include time
allowances to cover relaxation, personal needs, contingencies, etc.

8.6 DEFINE precisely the series of activities and methods of operation for which
the time has been allowed and issue the time as standard for the
activities and methods specified.

8.7 It will only be necessary to take a full range of steps listed above if a time is
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being established as a production standard. When Work Measurement is

being used only as a tool of investigation of ineffective time before or
established as a production standard. When Work Measurement is during a
Method Study, or to compare the effectiveness of alternative methods, only
the first four steps may be needed.
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9. SELECTION OF THE JOB TO BE STUDIED

The first step in the basic procedure of Time Study is to select the job to be studied. The
choice will depend upon a number of factors as follow:

9.1 A new job has been started which requires a new Standard Time.

9.2 A change in method has been made and a new Time Standard is required.

9.3 A complaint has been received from a worker or worker’s representative about
the Standard Time allowed for an operation.

9.4 A particular operation is a bottleneck and it is believed that the introduction of

an incentive may eliminate this bottleneck.

9.5 Standard Times are required prior to the introduction of an incentive scheme.

9.6 Where it is desired to compare the efficiency of two proposed methods.

9.7 As a preliminary to making a Method Study.

9.8 To investigate the utilisation of a machine whose output is low or which

appears to be unduly idle.

9.9 Where the cost of the job appears to be excessive.

10. TIME STUDY AND THE APPROACH TO THE WORKER

10.1 Whilst most supervisors and operators are reasonably receptive and tolerant
towards Method Study, the introduction of Time Study is viewed with much
more suspicion. The general view of Time Study by supervisors and
operators who have not experienced Time Study is that it is a means of
speeding up the process with the operator working harder. For this reason, it
is important to ensure that everyone affected by Time Studies should be given
full information, and no studies commence until agreement has been reached
by all concerned, especially Trade Unions.

10.2 The Work Study Officer should ask the Foreman to select the workers to be
studied when he is making Time Studies in the Foreman’s department. He
should stress that he wishes to take Time Studies on a number of
representative workers, all of whom should be as far as possible average
qualified workers. The Foreman should choose the workers because he
knows the workers who are nervous and who are unsuitable for study work.

10.3 When general agreement has been reached between all the interested
individuals, including the management, trade union representatives, and
workers, the Work Study Officer should always adhere to the following
procedure:

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10.3.1 On first entering a department seek out the foreman and explain the
object of the study and the approximate time of starting and finishing
the study. Request the foreman to select an operator who will be
suitable for study work, and then the Work Study Officer should be
formally introduced to the operator by the foreman.

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10.3.2 Always be polite, well mannered and friendly to all operators, without
being too familiar or condescending. Listen with attention to anything
the operator may have to say.

10.3.3 Ask the individual operator’s permission to take a study before

commencing (even though there has been group agreement there
may be individuals who do not wish to be studied, and in any case,
there are times when it is not convenient to the willing operator).

10.3.4 Having obtained agreement, ask the operator to try to ignore your
presence and work at his or her normal pace.

10.3.5 Stand in full view of the operator, but outside his or her normal path of
movement.

10.3.6 At the conclusion of the study, thank the operator for co-operating, and
tell him or her that the study is finished. Alternatively, if further study is
required, state that you will be coming back later.

10.4 If the Work Study Officer is sincere, honest, tactful, courteous and
understanding, he will overcome the initial suspicion or the supervisors and
workers. He will gain their respect, and his work will bring benefit to the
management, workers and ultimately to the consumer.

11. PRE- REQUISITES OF ALL WORK MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES

With the exception of Activity Sampling in which relatively unskilled observers can be used,
the following pre-requisites always apply:

11.1 DEFINED TASK

The work for which a time is required must be clearly stated. This is usually done in a
Work Specification which will be explained later.

11.2 SPECIFIED METHOD

All aspects of the job which affect the time such as tools, layout, method etc., must
also be clearly stated in the Work Specification.

11.3 QUALIFIED OBSERVER

With the exception of Activity Sampling all Work Measurement techniques require the
observer to be fully trained on courses run by reputable training organisations. In
many of these techniques trained observers are required to produce evidence of their
competence and are required to undergo periodic checks to ascertain whether their
standards have drifted. Drift is the Achilles Heel of Work Measurement.

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11.4 QUALIFIED WORKER

See 3.3 and 3.4 of this lesson.

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