MOTION STUDY APPLICATIONS

the business of every manager of every foreman and every worker is to turn out the greatest quantity of quality products in the shortest possible time this never-ending search for easier and better methods of doing the day's work is not a job for specialists alone but requires the complete cooperation of every member of the entire organization the principles of good work methods are so easy to understand and are so easy to apply that supervisors and workers alike are using them these days as never before did you ever stop to think that most work is done with the two hands and that all manual work consists of a relatively few fundamental motions which are performed over and over again perhaps you have noticed that get or pick up and place or put down are two of the most frequently used groups of motions in most cases get is followed by some news operation the get and use sequence occurs in many familiar operations such as driving a nail with a hammer and in using a wrench to tighten a bolt we see the get and use sequence again in using a fountain pen the sequences get pen right that is use pen put pen in holder although get and use represent two very common groups of motions they are not fundamental motions in themselves the fundamental motions can be studied by examining motion pictures of the operation the analyst is determining the fundamental motions in a mailing room job and he is recording the time for each motion the special clock in the lower left hand corner of the screen enables the analyst to accurately measure the time used by each hand to perform the various motions of the operation the analyst shown here is recording the time required for each motion using a special projector which permits running reversing or stopping the film for detailed examination of motion the very simple operation of signing a letter with a pen shows how a job may be divided into its fundamental motions this job was selected for the purpose of illustration and no attempt is made to simplify or improve the method here the motions are shown at normal speed but in the following illustrations the action will be slowed down to make it easier to identify the fundamental motion the first fundamental motion is transport empty the next fundamental motion is grasped the fingers closed on the pant transport loaded the pen is carried from the pen holder to the paper position the point of the pen is placed exactly where the signature is to appear use the pen is put to use the signature is written transport loaded the pen is carried back to the holder pre position the pen is placed in the holder this is pre position in as much as the pen is in proper position for use the next time release load the fingers let go of the pen transport empty the empty hand moves back to the letter now let's review the fundamental motions as they occur at normal speed transport empty grasp transport loaded position use transport loaded pre position release load transport empty it seems natural for most people when observing another person at work to notice the material the person is handling or the tools he is using rather than the motions he makes in doing the job after one becomes motion minded this situation is changed the observer then notices the motions made by the operators right hand and those made by the left hand the object of such analysis is to devise a method that will require the fewest and easiest motions possible a good illustration of this use of motion study to develop better work methods is found in the task of filling the 30 holes in a board with 30 wooden pins the holes are arranged in five rows of six holes to the row the pins are cylindrical cut-off square at one end and shaped with a bullet nose on the other the job is to fill the board as quickly as possible inserting the pin in the hole with the bullet nosed out in doing this most people would simply grasp a handful of Hinn's from the box and hold them with the left hand using the right to get the pins from the left one at a time and placed them in the holes by this method the right hand works effectively performing the desired job of filling the board with pins but the left hand is doing very little productive work most of the time it merely holds the pin the name of the fundamental motion for this is hole holding objects with one hand while the other hand works is inconsistent with one of the basic principles of motion economy according to this principle motions of the two arms should be made in opposite and symmetrical directions and should be made simultaneously thus if both hands were to work simultaneously getting and placing the pins in the holes the operator's efforts would be much more effective applying this principle the operation would be performed as you see it now the left hand hold has been eliminated and instead the left hand like the right now performs useful motions the two hands now work together in a symmetrical manner getting the pins and placing them in the holes in the board with the motions of the two hands identical the fundamental motions of the operation can be illustrated with either hand we will observe the motions of the right hand only transport empty the hand moves to the box of pin select the hen selects one tin from among all those in the box grasp the fingers close on the pin selected transport loaded the pin is carried to the board note that the pin is horizontal when grasped but vertical when inserted in the board it must therefore be positioned intensive as it is carried from the box to the board position the pin must be lined up directly above the hole before it can be inserted this also is positioned assemble the pin is inserted in the whole release load the fingers let go of the pin and one cycle is complete repeating these fundamental notions as they occur at normal speed we have transport empty select and grasp transport loaded with position in transit position assemble and release load now motions of the right and left hands are identical and two pieces are handled simultaneously both hands are now working productively whereas in the first method describe the left hand was holding pins most of the time and only the right hand was doing useful work here the operator is shown performing the same task by the old method on the left and by the improved method on the right the operator using the improved method shown on the right finishes first filling the board in 25 seconds whereas the old method requires 38 seconds the operator attempted to work at the same speed or tempo in both cases consequently the savings in time are due entirely to the better method and not to greater speed on the part of the operator excessive speed is no substitute for good work method the same principle of motion economy was applied in developing an improved method of folding paper targets used in packing frankfurters this is the old method of folding the carpet for scored die-cut slats are picked up and broken up the creases against the edge of the table in order to make them easier to fold as the end of each carton is folded one hand holds an end flap while the other hand positions and assembles the other class to it the nest of partially folded cartons is then turned around by the left hand while the right hand is idle the remaining ends of the cartons are folded and the empty cartons are disposed onto a conveyor where they are to be filled with frankfurters an improved method was developed using a fixture to help simplify the work the fixture holds one end flapped on either side of the carton in place permitting the two hands to position and assemble the other two flaps simultaneously notice that as in filling the pinboard the two hands worked symmetrically they position the carton into the fixture assemble the end flaps and together the two hands remove the folded carton from the fixture while the right hand disposes of the folded carton the left is grasping the next part since the fixture acts as a guide in shaping the carton it is no longer necessary to break the unfolded cartons as in the old method this saves time and effort with these several improvements the new method is so much easier than the old that the operator can now fold twice as many cartons in a given length of time another application of the principle was used in developing an improved method of filling small glass bottles with vitamin capsules in the old method the left hand gets an empty bottle and holds it the right hand scoops up the capsules with the counting paddle and pours a measured number of capsules into the bottles the left hand then places the filled bottle aside where it will be quart labeled and packed in a carton picking up another empty bottle the cycle is repeated in the improved method the operator first fills several wooden racks with empty bottles the right hand draws out a perforated slide which drops the correct number of capsules into each bottle the rack of filled bottles is placed aside where the bottles will be corked and packed in a carton and another rack of empty bottles is placed in the fixture eliminating the left hand hold and improving the workplace layout made this job so much easier that the operators output increased by four hundred eighty five percent the final illustration is taken from the office this operation consists of inserting four sheets of advertising materials into a mailing envelope in the original method the sheets are picked up one at a time with the right hand transferred to the left jogged and inserted into the envelope here the left hand is idle part of the time holds the sheets part of the time and works in effectively during the rest of the cycle the right hand also is idle part of the time just as in the case of the pinboard you will recognize the fundamental motions first transport empty through the pile of sheets select and grasp one sheet of paper transport loaded the sheet of paper is carried to the left hand position the sheet so that it can be grasped by the left hand release low the right hand releases the sheep and starts the cycle again by going to the next pile of sheets on the table during most of this time the left hand is merely holding the accumulated sheep in the improved method a simple wooden fixture enables the operator to pick up two sheets at a time with each hand two wooden blocks triangular in cross-section are attached to the plywood base the advertising leaflets are arranged with one stack on each side of each block using rubber finger stalls to facilitate grasping the operator can now pick up two sheets at a time with each hand the sheets are then drawn together and inserted in the envelope when the operator used the old method of filling envelopes picking up the sheets one at a time her production was 350 envelopes per hour however using the improved workplace layout and the better method she was able to fill 750 envelopes per hour more than doubling her previous output these several improvements in work methods were developed after analyzing the motions used in performing a test and then through applying the principles of motion economy in a common-sense way if your work seems too complex or too difficult try thinking of it in terms of the motions use begin by analyzing some one part of the job then try to devise a shorter and simpler way to do it selecting that part of the job which is repeated most frequently make a list of the motions required to perform it then after studying these motions see if you two can develop a simpler and easier method of doing the work