Industrial Engineering:

Definations:

Work study: Work study is a generic term for those techniques, particularly method study
and work measurement, which are used in the examination of human work in all its
contexts, and which leads systematically to the investigation of all the factors which
affect the efficiency and economy of the situation being reviewed, in order to effect
improvement.

Method study: is the systematic recording and critical examination of existing and
proposed ways of doing work, as a means of developing and applying easier and more
effective methods and reducing costs.

Work measurement: is the application of techniques designed to establish the time for a
qualified worker to carry out a specified job at a defined level of performance.

Short notes:

Outline process chart: The outline process chart would bear against each symbol, beside
and to the right of it, an abbreviated description of what is done during the operation or
inspection. Outline process chart which gives an overall view of the entire process is
designed to give a quick understanding of the work which must be done to produce a
given product. It makes possible a study of the operations and inspections so that the
best sequence may be developed. The analyst questioning on the outline process chart
may discover significant cost reductions by combining or eliminating certain operations
and inspections.

Flow process chart: A flow process chart is a process chart setting out the sequence of the
flow of a product or a procedure by recording all events under review using the
appropriate process chart symbols.

Flow process chart- man type: A flow process char which records what the worker does.
Flow process chart- material type: A flow process chart which records how material
is handled or treated.
Flow process chart- equipment type: A flow process chart which records how
the equipment is used.

In many situations, the worker movements need to be recorded to ascertain whether

wasteful movements exists and to find the most effective way of carrying out the activity.
The common tools that are used for the purpose are:
a) String diagram.
b) Flow process chartman type.
c) Travel chart.
d) Multiple activity charts.
The man type of flow process chart was defined as: a flow process chart which records
what the worker does.

Travel chart is a tabular record for presenting quantitative data about the movements of
workers, materials or equipment between any number of places over any given period of
time.

Multiple activity chart is a chart on which the activities of more than one subject (worker,
machine or item of equipment) are each recorded on a common time scale to show their
interrelationship.

String diagram: The string diagram is a scale plan or model on which a thread is used to
trace and measure the path of workers, materials or equipment during a specified
sequence of events. String diagram is a useful tool for recording the distance traversed by
a working area.
Construction of the string diagram involves the following steps:
Step 1: Preparing a study sheet. The worker under consideration is followed and the
different points in the working areas he covers are noted down in a study sheet. The
recording of movements is continued till a representative picture of the workers
movements is obtained. This implies that the movements are noted down for enough
number of cycles so as to capture the actual work cycle in terms of the journey made by
the worker with their representative frequencies.
Step-2: Drawing a scale plan of the working area. Once the study sheet is prepared, the
next step is to draw a scale plan of the working area. Machines, benches, stores and all
other points at which calls are made by the workers are drawn to the scale together with
doorway, pillars etc. that affect the paths of movements. The plan is then attached to a
softwood or composition board and pins are driven firmly at every stopping point. The
heads of the pins are allowed to stay clear of the surface by about 1 cm. Pins are driven in
at all turning points on the route.
Steps-3: Combining steps 1 & 2 to construct the final diagram. In the final step, a
measured length of thread is taken and tied round the pin at the starting point of the
movements. It is then led around the pins at the other points of call in the order noted in
the study sheet till all the movements as noted in step 1 have been covered. The resulting
diagram is the string diagram.

The two-handed process chart is a process chart in which the activities of a workers
hands (or limbs) are recorded in their relationship to one another.
The symbols of process chart are as follows:

HOLD
STORAGE

OPERATION is used for the activities of grasp, position, use, release, etc. of a tool,
component or material.

TRANSPORTis used to represent the movement of the hand (or limb) to or from
the work, or a tool, or material.

D DELAYis used to denote time during which the hand or limb being charted is idle
(although the others may be in use).

INSPECTION is used to denote inspection.

--The term storage is not used in connection with the two- handed process chart.
Instead, the symbol is redesignated as hold and is used to represent the activity of
holding the work, a tool or materialthat is , when the hand being charted is holding
something.
Micromotion study: In certain types of operation, and particularly those with very short
cycles which are repeated thousands of times ( such as the packing of sweets into boxes
or food cans into cartons), it is worth while going into much greater detail to determine
where movements and efforts can be saved and to develop the best possible pattern of
movement, thus enabling the operative to perform the operation repeatedly with a
minimum of effort and fatigue. The techniques used for this purpose frequently make use
of filming, and are known collectively as micromotion study.
The micromotion group of techniques is based on the ideas of dividing human activity
into divisions of movements or groups of movements (known as therblings) according to
the purpose for which they are made.
The divisions were devised by Frank B.Gilberth, the founder of motion study; the word
therblig is an anagram of his name. Gilbreth differentiated 17 fundamental hand or
hand and eye motions, to which an eighteen has subsequently been added. Each therblig
has a specific color, symbol and letter for recording purposes.

Simo Chart (Defination): A simo chart is a chart, often based on firm analysis, used to
record simultaneously on a common time scale the therbligs or groups of therbligs
performed by different parts of the body of one or more workers.

The Simultaneous motion cycle chart in short known as simo chart is the micromotion
form of the man type flow process chart. Because simo chart are used primarily for
operations of short duration, often performed with extremely rapidity, it is generally
necessary to compile them from films made of the operation which can be stopped at any
point or projected in slow motion. It will be seen that the movements are recorded against
time measured in winks (1 wink = 1/2000 minute).
Equipments used for time study:
The first group represents those which are to be used at site i.e. during the data collection.
i) A stop-watch ii) A study board iii) time study forms
While the second group representing those which are used as supplementary ones, not
carried to the site always, includes i) Small calculator ii) a reliable clock with a seconds
hand, iii) set of measuring instruments such as tape, steel rule, micrometer, spring
balance and tachometer (to measure rotational speed) .

Working conditions or working environment:

This include
Temperature, humidity, Adequacy of lighting, noise, ventilation, fumes, dust, dirt,
wet, etc.

Qualified worker: One who is accepted as having the necessary physical attributes, who
possesses the required intelligence and education, and who has acquired the necessary
skill and knowledge to carry out the work in hand to satisfactory standards of safety,
quantity and quality.

Representative worker: A worker whose skill and performance is the average of a group
under consideration. He is not necessarily a qualified worker.

Classification of elements:
i) A repetitive element an element which occurs in every work cycle of the job like the
element of picking up a past prior to assembly operation, the element of locating a
workplace in a holding divide; and putting aside a finished component for assembly.
ii) An occasional element
iii) A constant element
iv) A variable element
v) A manual element
vi) A machine element
vii) A governing element
viii) A foreign element
( refer from page-201 by pal)

Cycle time is the total time taken to complete all the elements in a work cycle.

Different types of allowances are:

i) Relaxation allowances: Relaxation allowance is an addition to the basic time

intended to provide the worker with the opportunity to recover from the
physiological and psychological effects of carrying out specified work under
specified conditions and to allow attention to personal needs. The amount of
allowance will depend on the nature of the job.
Relaxation allowances have two major components; fixed allowances and variable
allowances.
Fixed allowances are composed of
a) Allowance for personal needs. (Common figures applied by many enterprises range
from 5 to 7%).
b) Allowances for basic fatigue. (A common figure is 4% of the basic time).
Variable allowances are added to fixed allowances when working conditions differ
markedly form those stated above, for instance because of poor environmental
conditions that cannot be improved, added stress and strain in performing the job in
question, and so on.

ii) Delay:
Delay can be caused due to several reasons, it can be Machine delay, in sewing floor delay
can be due to change in thread, delay due to change in style.

Delay due to change in thread:

The thread need to change , as different color thread to be used. The time involved in
changing the thread will vary from factory to factory and from style to style.

Delay due to change in style:

Where style variation occurs at regular intervals, and the style may be on the line for e.g. 1
day to 7 days , it is normal to provide a style allowance.

Machine delay is the most common.

All work which involves machinery will be subject to delays and which will vary with the
complexity of the machinery and the label of maintenance.

iii)OTHER ALLOWANCES are

Contingency allowances: A contingency allowance is a small allowance of time which
may be included in a standard time to meet legitimate and expected items of work or
delays, the precise measurement of which is uneconomical because of their infrequent or
irregular occurrence.

Policy allowance: A policy allowance is an increment, other than bonus increment,

applied to standard time (Or to some constituent part of it, e.g. work content) to provide
a satisfactory level of earnings for a specified level of performance under exceptional
circumstances.

Special allowances: may be given for any activities which are not normally part of the
operation cycle but which are essential to the satisfactory performance of the work.

Work sampling:
Defination: Work sampling is a method of finding the percentage occurrence of a certain
activity by statistical sampling and random observations.
Work sampling was first used by L.H.C. Tippett in the British textile industry, and it was
introduced into this country under the name of ratio delay in 1940. Work sampling is a
work measurement technique in which large numbers of instantaneous observations are
made at random intervals over a specified period of time of a group of workers, machines
and process. Each observation records the state of the system observed, the percentage of
observations recorded for a particular activity or delay over the specified period is a
measure (estimate) of the percentage of time during which that activity or delay occurs.
This estimate resembles closely to the actual situation if the specified time interval is
taken to be very long.

Simple example of work sampling:

The work sampling procedure in its simplest form consists of making observations at
random intervals of one or more operators or machines and noting whether they are
working or idle. If the operator is working, he or she is given a tally make under
working if idle; the worker is given a tally mark under idle. The percentage of the
day that the worker is idle is the ratio of the number of idle tally marks to the total
number of idle and working tally marks.
There are 36 working observations and 4 idle observations, or a total of 40 observations.
In this e.g. the percentage of idle time is 4 / 40 x 100 = 10%.
Working time is 36 /40 x 100 = 90%. If this study covered one operator for an 8- hour
day, the results would indicate that the operator was idle 10% or 48 minutes of the day
and was working 90% or 432 minutes of the day.
state tally Total
Working IIII IIII IIII IIII IIII IIII IIII IIII IIII 36
Idle IIII 4

PMTS (Predetermined motion-time system):

Time study is the most common form used in our industry for quota setting or establishing
production standards for new styles before the style goes into production.
However, there are other ways also that are used to set quotas, these other ways are known
as Predetermined Motion-time system where the engineers sets up a specific method to
be used based on these fundamentals of motions and the time value is calculated for the
motions specified.

So predetermined motion-time system contains the standard time for each motion.
There are a number of motion-time systems, few of them are (GSD) general sewing data,
(MTM) method time measurement.

The basic concept behind all predetermined motion time system is within the practical
limits.
i.e the time require by all 100% efficient worker to perform true fundamental motion are
constant.
PTS (Predetermined time standards)/ Synthetic time standards:
A Predetermined time standard (PTS) is a work measurement technique whereby times
established for basic human motions (classified according to the nature of the motion and
the conditions under which it is made) are used to build up the time for a job at a definite
level of performance.
PTS are advanced techniques aiming at defining the time needed for the performance of
various operations by derivation from pre-set standards of time for various elementary
motions involved in such operations and not by direct observation and measurement.
PTS systems in other words are techniques for synthesizing operation times from the
standard time data for basic elementary motions comprising the operation.

Advantage of PTS systems:

a) In a PTS system one time is indicated for the basic elementary motions
irrespective of where it is performed whereas in a stop-watch time study a
sequence of motions constituting a particular operation is studied. Further the PTS
systems which avoid both rating and direct observations invariably lead to more
consistent standard times arrived at relative to their counterpart, i.e. stop-watch
time study based on direct observation.
b) An estimating of cost of production before starting of production also facilitates
rational estimating, tendering and budgeting.
c) PTS systems are usually simple, easy to apply and are very fast particularly for
operations having very short repetitive time cycle; the most common e.g. being
the assembly works in the Electronic industry.

Disadvantage of PTS systems:

a) The existence of a vary large number (about 200) and of a variety of systems
often results in confusion which is further increased by the fact that many of such
systems are of a proprietory nature. Diiferent systems have often a widely varying
analysis and description of operations and often fail to recognize certain important
aspects.
b) Another point of criticism is centered around the misconception that PTS systems
eliminate the need of a stop-watch since Machine time, process time and waiting
time are not amenable to treatment by PTS system.

Business Process Reengineering:

Michael Hammer defines re-engineering as the fundamental rethinking and radical
redesign of business process to achieve dramatic improvement in the critical
contemporary measures of performance such as cost, quality, service and speed.
The approach to re-engineering aims at customer focus. Once the business has been
re-engineered the management thinking would be oriented towards customer satisfaction.
The focus would shift from the management of the company to the management of
corporate relations between the management, the suppliers and customers.

For initiating business re-engineering, one is required to make some very basic and
fundamental changes in ones conventional thinking. The business is re-engineered
through process re-engineering and the business has a number of processes, which
together produce the business results. We concentrate on the process and not on the
task when it comes to re-engineering.
Basic elements of business process are:
Motivation to perform
Data gathering, processing and storing.
Information processing.
Checking, validating and control.
Decision making.
Communication.

A business process defined for re-engineering has a clear cut start and end resulting
into a business result.

Productivity:
Productivity is based on the relationship between inputs and outputs and is a measure of
performance towards an established goal, i.e. the final expected out put or outcome.

The concept of productivity is getting the maximum and valuable out put from,

Each machine & method.

Each employee

Each shift/day/month/year

Each working space or working unit.

Each material given as input , and etc etc.

Input:
Input may be one of the variables that go into the operation of a firm such as time, money ,
labour , materials, space and training.

Output:
Out put is final resultant product after the input.

Ranjan Kumar Saha.

Associate Prof.
NIFT-Mumbai.