Work measurement is the application of techniques which is designed to establish the time for an average worker to carry out a specified manufacturing task at a defined level of performance.
[1] It is concerned with the duration of time it takes to complete a work task assigned to a specific job.
In the process of setting standards it may be necessary to use work measurement: To compare the efficiency of alternative methods.
The time standards, once set, may then be used: To provide information on which the planning and scheduling of production can be based, including the plant and labour requirements for carrying out the programme of work and the utilisation of available capacity.
To provide information on which estimates for tenders, selling prices and delivery promises can be based.
To set standards of machine utilisation and labour performance which can be used for any of the above purposes and as a basis for incentive schemes.
To provide information for labour-cost control and to enable standard costs to be fixed and maintained.
Definition of break points k. Recording media One of the most critical requirements for time study is that of elemental breakdown.
Elements should be easily identifiable, with definite beginnings and endings so that, once established, they can be repeatedly recognised.
Relaxation allowance, on the other hand, has to be taken into account in every computation, whether the job is a simple manual one or a very complex operation requiring the simultaneous control of several machines.
Activity sampling is a technique in which a large number of instantaneous observations are made over a period of time of a group of machines, processes or workers.
The first generation of PMT systems, MTM1, were very finely detailed, involving much analysis and producing extremely accurate results.
It normally embraces the total components of the job, including work content, preparation and disposal time, any contingencies etc., all estimated in one gross amount.
This technique has been developed to permit speedy and reliable assessment of the duration of variable and infrequent jobs, by estimating them within chosen time bands.
The work measurement concept has evolved from the manufacturing world but has not been fully adopted yet to the global shift to the service sector.
This difficulty makes it hard to calculate the Break-Even Point between raising worker output, which minimizes labor costs but increases customer Waiting Times and reduces service quality.
Dr. Isaac Balayla & Professor Yissachar Gilad from the Technion, Israel, developed the Balayla (Balaila) Model which overcomes most of the above-mentioned difficulties, by taking a multi-domain approach: 1) The model deploys a series of indicators for a correlation between output and Waiting Times.
2) the model determines the best Break-Even point by comparing the operational cost of an additional worker with the economical benefit caused by the decrease in WT.