Hello,
I am Raju Prasad, by profession an Industrial Engineer. I have been in this field since the inception of my career in Industrial Engineering. Coming to the point... Time and method study... It's a work measurement technique. Most industries in India measure work and define their norms by using stopwatch techniques. It is widely accepted by Indian industries as well. To measure any work, it should be followed by both Method Study and Time Study.
In Method Study,
The present method of doing work is analyzed based on nature and is divided into elements based on the following criteria:
1. Work has to be selected.
2. It has to be recorded.
3. It has to be examined.
4. A new method to do work is to be developed.
5. The new method is to be installed.
6. Lastly, everyone is trained, and it is to be maintained.
In Method Study, the following things can be analyzed with a view to improving work:
1. Workplace Layout.
2. Ergonomical Factors.
3. Man and Material movement.
4. Body motions.
5. Flow of man, material, and information pattern.
6. Sequence of operation and activity.
7. Type of material handling equipment used.
8. Necessary tools and accessories used by associates.
Once it is performed in a much systematic way, one can move to work measurement study by stopwatch.
In Time Study, it is followed by the below activities:
1. Work has to be selected.
2. An average Worker/Associate has to be selected.
3. Department head and supervisor are informed.
4. Work is divided into various motions or elemental activities.
5. Based on cycle continuous or split reading of stopwatch can be taken.
6. The number of readings can be taken based on sample size or cycle time of work content as per ILO Guidelines.
7. Once it has been recorded based on personal judgment (Considering skill, speed, and accuracy of work), the person can be rated. You can use ILO Guidelines for Rating methods (Ideal fellow is considered 100 Percent Pace rating). As per British Guidelines, 100 pace means walking 4 miles distance in 3.5 minutes.
8. After rating, one will get the total recorded time - X minutes.
9. Recorded time is multiplied by the rating factor, and one can get Basic Time. Basic time = Recorded time * Rating factor. For example, if the recorded time is 5 minutes and the rating is 80%, then the basic time will be = 5 * 0.8 = 4 minutes.
10. Once the basic time is derived, one can add allowances as per workplace arrangement, type of industry, and nature of work.
Allowances can be like... Fatigue allowances, Personal allowances, Contingency allowances, Delay allowances, Special allowances, etc. Generally, as per industry practice, one can give Personal allowance as 5% of basic time and Fatigue 4% of basic time, Contingency 2% of basic time and subsequently delay one.
11. To arrive at the Standard time of a particular activity or work, Basic time is summed up with allowance time. The formula for the same is as below... Standard time = Basic time + Allowances.
As far as cycle time is considered for a shift for a particular product or activity, all limitations have to be added. In many cases, for example, apart from doing a specific activity or assembly of any product, a worker has to do other cyclic activities like walk to collect material, time for TPM activities, walk to collect bins from the store department. Based on the frequency and intensity of activities, it has to be derived in percentage and added with Standard time to arrive at actual production cycle time.
This time has to be added on Job cards or routing of any product.
On the other side, as far as shift capacity is concerned, other times like lunchtime, Tea Break, Other breaks, and OEE have to be considered to arrive at the particular shift or capacity of equipment.
Hope this much data is enough to clear all your doubts. In case you need more help, you can reach me at rajuprasad12@yahoo.com or you can give me a call on my cell - 9913697915.
Good luck.
Regards,
Raju Prasad