TABLE OF CONTENTS Time study is used to determine time standards (targets) for planning, costing, scheduling, hiring, productivity evaluation, pay plans, and the like. Time standards may be determined by a number of different time study techniques: (1) They can be based on historical records of time taken in the past to perform the task. These calculations of historical times can be based on straight arithmetic averages or sophisticated statistical analyses. (2) Another technique (sometimes called reasonable expectancies) is use of estimates by an individual knowledgeable of the time that it would take a qualified operator working at an acceptable performance level to do the job. (3) A third technique is predetermined times. Here the tasks are analyzed as to the work content and then predetermined times for the work segments are summed up to get the total time for the task. (4) The fourth and most often used technique is stopwatch time study.
Stopwatch time study is the most popular method of work measurement. It was first developed by Frederick W. Taylor before the turn of the twentieth century. It is now used worldwide to determine the time required to do work.
This chapter will discuss the basic principles and practices for setting fair, consistent stopwatch standards.
Time study may be defined as follows: Time study is a procedure used to measure the time required by a qualified operator working at the normal performance level to perform a given task in...
