The following is a description of one particular method of the time study and reward payment following out the principles described in Part I. This particular case is one which has been introduced into two engineering factories in England.

It must be understood that the methods described are not necessarily those which apply in all factories. Only the basic principles have been described in Part I., and only one particular method of application is described in Part II. Almost every shop will have its special details, its individuality, and different trades will differ widely in the carrying out of the principles. Manufacturing machinery, laying bricks, sewing shirts, shaving, etc., cannot all be brought under one exact scheme. But all must have time study and reward payment in proportion to efficiency as a foundation on which to build a superstructure of sound economical business management with satisfactory labour conditions.

There will be an occasional repetition of points dwelt upon in Part I., but this is in order that the detailed description will be complete in itself.

(a) Routing the Work.

When an order is received for a certain quantity of any article, the first thing to do is to make a drawing of the article, and, following on that, all the operations to be done on it are studied in the drawing office.

The kind of metal is decided on; which operation must be done first and which next; which machine each operation must be done on; how many operations can be done on one machine and with one setting up of the article; which tools to use; how fast the machines must run; what speed and depth of cut is best; what cutting compound to use, etc.

Then a time study is made of the job as it goes through the various operations on each machine.

It depends on the nature of the work how this study is made. On automatic machines the output depends largely on the speeds of the machines and the moving of the turret, and these can be calculated from the countershaft speeds, the gears, and the cams. On other work, however, where each job has to be set up and taken down, and where tools have to be brought into position by hand, it is necessary to watch all the processes and movements carefully, so as to discover the best and quickest way of doing it.

On hand work it is the same, but there is more scope for motion study—that is, moving the job and working on it with the least number of movements.

A good average worker is chosen, and is paid time and a quarter during the study.

After the job has been done a few times in order that the worker may become familiar with it, to see that the tools and speeds are satisfactory, and to cut out useless motions, the time study is made, every detail being observed carefully.

The reason for separating the job into its details or elements is in order to see that each detail receives careful attention, for only in this way can the best method of doing the job be found. The essence of the system is that the best methods shall be found for all the details, and the record thus obtained puts all the workers on the same basis.

It must be particularly noted that the time study is not for the purpose of driving the worker. The study of the job is really a process study, and method after method is tried until the best way of doing the work has been determined. Then, and then only, the time is taken—not for purpose of driving to get a shorter time, but to record the actual time in which the work has been done under certain special conditions. The process study, together with the time recording, form what is called the "time study," which is a permanent record of all the circumstances under which the job has been done, including the time taken, so that when the job has to be repeated all the conditions are known accurately and immediately. This should be borne in mind both by the worker and the employer.

(b) The Time Study.

A time study sheet is filled in with the general information connected with the job, and also a dimensioned sketch of the article in the finished condition. (If necessary, a sketch or the dimensions of the article before machining are also given.)

Methods of tool setting are given, and also description and details of fixing any jigs, carriers, clamps, etc.

Each element of the operation, from picking it up and putting it on the machine bed to taking it off when finished, is put in a column in sequence on the left side of the sheet. Even an element which requires only a few seconds to perform is entered separately.

There are several columns for entering the times of the elements, one column for each complete operation.

The time study engineer stands where he may see every motion of the machine and every movement of the hand. The stop-watch is mounted on the same board as the time study sheet, so that they can be held in one hand while the times are jotted down with the other.

The watch is set to 0, and the figure is entered against the first element. When the operation begins, the watch is started, and at the end of the first element the time is noted and set down. The watch is not stopped, and therefore each element time consists of the watch reading of the last element subtracted from the reading of the element under consideration. For instance:

Time Study Reading.

It will be seen that the watch is not stopped until the end of the complete operation, and therefore the last reading indicates how long the operation has taken; it is the sum of all the elements.

If anything happens which is not a part of the operation—for instance, if a tool needs replacing owing to accident or becoming dull too quickly, or if a belt breaks—the watch is stopped, and when the operation begins again it is started and goes on from the point where it stopped.

During the timing, observations are made to determine whether any part of the operation may be done in a quicker or easier way, or whether any element is taking longer than it ought to do.

It must be particularly noted that there is a distinct difference between time study and time recording. Any job, the slowest or fastest in the whole factory, may be time-recorded by merely observing the time with a stop-watch, but this is not a time study.

When several sets of figures have been obtained, the number of sets depending on the circumstances, the timing part of the study is over.

The figures are now examined. The time of each element is obtained as described in the example. In noticing the times of any one element, times which are much less or much greater than the others are eliminated, and the average of the remaining times is taken. Then all these averages are added together, and the average time of the complete operation is thus obtained.

This time is considered to be the fastest time in which the operation can be done. It is not actually the fastest for two reasons. One is that any time so obtained may be improved on when the worker becomes thoroughly used to the job, and the other is that a good average worker is chosen for the time study; therefore a first-class man can improve on the time obtained.

But it is considered to be the fastest time, and we will call it the base time.

Now, this time has been obtained under exceptional circumstances. When a man is working on a time study job—that is, with the knowledge that he is on trial, so to speak, and with the time study engineer timing and observing every detail and motion—he works faster than usual. There is no opportunity for little breaks, or rests, or breathing spaces; it is hard slogging all the time. The time study engineer does not intend it to be so, but by the nature of the circumstances that is what happens, and no man can keep this up for long.

It is quite evident, therefore, that this time cannot be reached regularly by every worker, and this is taken into consideration when determining the standard time—i.e., the time in which the job should be done by the average worker.

To obtain the standard time an allowance is made on the base time. This allowance depends on the nature of the work, a higher allowance being made for jobs that need a good deal of handling than for jobs that are nearly all cutting, because cutting is independent of the worker.

The way to arrive at the allowance is to examine the recorded figures, and add together all the cutting times and then all the handling times. An allowance of about 10 per cent. is usually given on the cutting times, and from 15 per cent. to 50 per cent., or even more, on handling times. The cutting times depend on the machinery, and that is why a smaller allowance is given for them.

(c) Fixing Standard Time.

This standard time is the basis of the Reward System, and is therefore the most important time. It is so fixed in relation to base time that every worker put on that work should be able to reach it after a little practice. If he does so, he is said to have reached an efficiency of 100 per cent.

A worker who reaches continuously 100 per cent. is a high efficiency man.

This efficiency should always be reached by a worker who follows the instructions and works diligently.

Reward begins, however, considerably before this point is reached, because it may be necessary for a worker to be on a job some time before he reaches a high efficiency. Again, sometimes one worker is naturally slower than another; and although his work is good, he can reach 100 per cent. efficiency only by special effort. There would be little encouragement if reward did not begin until the worker had reached 100 per cent. efficiency.

For these reasons, and as an incentive to every man to become as highly efficient as possible, reward begins when the worker reaches 75 per cent. efficiency.

This means that an allowance of 33? per cent. is given on the standard time or standard production, and this new figure is called "reward time" or "reward production" because it is the point where reward begins.

The following examples will make the matter clearer:

Let us assume that the time in which the job can be done is found by the time study to be 12 hours; this is the base time, and can be reached or even exceeded under favourable circumstances, because in the first place it has already been reached during the time study, and in the second place the worker on the time study was a good average man, so that a first-class man should be able to do the job in quicker time.

Now, suppose the job needs a good deal of handling. In such a case the time will be increased by, say, 25 per cent. in order to obtain the standard time; 25 per cent. of 12 hours is 3 hours, so that the standard time is 12 + 3 = 15 hours. Therefore, if the worker does the job in 15 hours, he has reached 100 per cent. efficiency, which is the point to be aimed at. It should always be attained by every worker who follows the instructions accurately and works diligently, while a good worker should always be able to do it in less time.

The point when reward begins is arrived at by adding 33? per cent. to the standard time—that is, 15 hours with 33? per cent. of 15 hours added; 33? per cent. of 15 is 5, and 15 + 5 = 20 hours. Reward is earned, therefore, when the job is done in anything less than 20 hours.

It will be seen that, while it is quite possible to do the job in 12 hours or even less, yet if the job be done in anything under 20 hours reward is earned.

What amount of reward? Well, suppose the job rate is 36s. This means that the job is given to a worker whose day wage is about 36s. per week. This is 9d. an hour on a 48-hour week. Suppose the work is done in 16½ hours. As the standard time is 15 hours, the job has taken longer than standard time; it is 1½ hours longer than standard. But, as the reward time is 20 hours, it has been done in 3½ hours less than reward time; in other words, 3½ hours have been saved on the job. The worker gets paid for all the time he saves = 3½ hours at 9d. per hour; total reward 2s. 7½d. So that for his 16½ hours' work he gets his day wage of 9d. per hour (= 12s. 4½d.) + a reward of 2s. 7½d. —that is, 15s. in all. In other words, he earns 11d. per hour instead of 9d. per hour.

His efficiency is 91 per cent., but efficiency calculation will be mentioned later.

Let us now examine another case, a small part job. We will assume that the time study shows a production of 40 of these small parts per hour.

We have now shifted from times to quantities. The base quantity is 40 per hour, that number being the greatest number produced by a good average worker in 1 hour under favourable circumstances. The standard quantity will, of course, be less than this, and, as such work would probably be done on an automatic machine with practically no hand work, an allowance of 10 per cent. is made on the base quantity in order to obtain the standard quantity. Ten per cent. of 40 is 4; therefore the standard quantity is 40-4 = 36. This is the quantity the worker ought to produce continuously if he is diligent and attends to the machine properly.

As before, reward begins at an earlier point than standard. That is to say, if a smaller quantity than 36 be produced reward is earned, but a certain minimum quantity must be produced before reward begins. This minimum quantity is called "reward production," and begins at 75 per cent. of the standard production. (36 × 75)/100 = 27·0, and this is the reward production for one hour, reward being paid on any excess above this.

Let us assume that a worker is 6 hours on this work, and in that time produces 220 pieces. The reward quantity is 27 per hour, and for the 6 hours is 27 × 6 = 162. The job rate is, say, 24s., because this work would be done by unskilled or partially skilled labour. This is 6d. per hour, and if the worker produces 27 or less pieces per hour that is what he receives. If he produces more than 27 per hour, he gets paid at the rate of 6d. per 27 for the excess, this being equivalent to being paid for all the time saved.

The production in 6 hours is 220; the reward quantity for that time is 162, and the standard quantity 216. It is seen that efficiency in this case is over 100 per cent., because 220 is 4 more than standard. Reward is paid on 220-162 = 58, and payment is made at the rate of 6d. for each 27. If we divide 58 by 27, and multiply the result by 6d., this will give the amount of reward—namely, 1s. This is the reward for 6 hours' work, and is 2d. per hour, so that the worker gets 8d. per hour instead of 6d.

Efficiency is about 102 per cent.

The following shows these examples in tabular form:

The foregoing examples are of average workers. The following is an example of what a good worker can do, and, as the method of calculation is given above, a tabular statement is all that is necessary:

The result is not an exceptional one.

(d) The Instruction Card.

After the time study has been made, an instruction card is made out for the job. On this card all the particulars are given—how to do the job, the sequence of operations, the tools to be used, the base, standard and reward times or productions, the job rate, and any other necessary information.

It is by acting in accordance with the instructions on the card that the worker can reach standard time regularly, and the foreman or setter-up and the superintendent are always ready to assist the worker in every way to attain this result.

If the operator finds he cannot reach standard time by diligent work and following the instructions, he should always inform the superintendent, in order that the matter may be investigated.

(e) Spoiled Work.

The question of spoiled work must be taken into account. It is almost impossible for all the work produced to pass inspection. Machines may not work quite right; tools become dull; material is not always the same; workers sometimes get careless.

How is this spoiled work to be dealt with?

It would be quite unfair to make the worker responsible for bad work which was due to no fault of his. It would be equally unfair for him to get paid for bad work which was due to his own carelessness or neglect.

When work is inspected, and some of it found to be bad, it is not difficult as a rule to find where the fault for this bad work lies. If it is due to bad material or bad machining, the question arises of how far the worker is to blame. He should stop his machine and call the attention of the foreman to any fault of tools or material. If too deep a cut be taken, or if a part be badly worked by hand tools, this is the worker's fault.

Work which is spoiled by the worker or by his neglect is deducted from his gross production, and his reward is reduced accordingly.

It is quite possible that, if a large amount of bad work be produced, and the worker's total production be not very high, the amount to be deducted is greater than the amount of reward. In such a case nothing is deducted from his day wage, and nothing is held over to be deducted from reward earned in a later week. For instance, suppose a worker receives a day wage of 36s. per week. Then suppose his total production would bring him a reward of 10s., but that deductions on account of spoiled work amounted to 8s. His wages for that week would be 36s. + 10s. = 46s.—less 8s. = 38s. net. Now, if reward due to total production was 6s., and spoiled work amounted to 10s., then if spoiled work were deducted in full he would get 36s. + 6s. =42s.—less 10s. = 32s. net (namely, 4s. less than his day wage). But this is never done. He gets his full 36s., and the 4s. is cancelled altogether. Each week is taken entirely by itself, and the day wage for the week is always guaranteed, whatever happens in connection with the work or the reward.

If any of the spoiled work be rectifiable, this does not interfere with the deduction. It means that, in order to make the article pass inspection, more work, more inspection, and more supervision, must be done on it.

(f) Allowances.

It happens quite frequently that stoppages occur during the progress of the work. For instance, the worker may have to wait for material; the driving belt may need tightening; tools may need changing at odd times not recorded in the instructions; metal may be hard or bad, thereby necessitating a reduction in speed—and so on.

All these things result in a reduction in the quantity of articles produced, and none of them is due to the fault of the operator.

In such cases the worker either clocks off or receives a day time allowance. He clocks off when his machine is actually stopped for fifteen minutes or more at one time. If he has several short stoppages, the foreman adds the times together and writes a day time allowance for the whole on the worker's operation card. If it be necessary to reduce the speed of the machine on account of hard metal, bad material, tools not tempered correctly, or anything that tends to lower production without actually stopping the machine, a day time allowance is made and written on the operation card; or in some cases the standard time is increased, thus giving a longer time in which to do the job.

Clocking and day time allowances mean that this time is deducted from the time on reward. For example, suppose the machine is stopped for 1 hour during a job that has the standard time of 7 hours, and suppose the time from start to finish is 8½ hours. The 1 hour is subtracted from the 8½ and is paid for at day rate, the time for the job being calculated to be 7½ hours.

If during the week there are day time allowances of 7 hours, then there are 41 reward hours and 7 day time hours.

The effect of making day time allowances is to increase the reward, as will be seen from the following example:

Assume that during 20 hours 500 small pieces are produced, and that the machine stops 4 hours out of the 20. If the production be spread over the whole 20 hours and reward production be 24 per hour, the reward quantity is 20 × 24 = 480. Reward is therefore paid on 500-480 = 20 pieces. If the 4 hours be deducted, the net time on reward is 16 hours, not 20, and the reward quantity for the 16 hours is 16 × 24 = 384. Reward is paid on 500-384 = 116 pieces, instead of 20. Let the job rate be 8d. per hour. Then, as the reward production is 24 per hour, this means that the worker receives 8d. for each 24 pieces; the reward on 20 pieces at 24 for 8d. = 6½d., while the reward on 116 pieces = 3s. 3d. This shows how important it is to get the proper day time allowances. The 4 hours are, of course, paid for at the worker's day rate.

(g) Efficiency Calculation.

Efficiency is the percentage ratio between the time it takes to do the job and the standard time. Or, if we are dealing with quantities, the percentage ratio between the quantity actually produced in a certain time and the standard quantity which ought to be produced in that time.

The standard time or standard quantity is considered to be 100 per cent. efficiency, as we have seen.

If the standard time for a job be 12 hours, and the worker does it in 12 hours, his efficiency is 12/12 × 100 = 100 per cent. Suppose he does the job in less than 12 hours, then it is quite clear that his efficiency is more than 100 per cent. Say he does it in 10 hours; his efficiency is (12 × 100)/10 = 120 per cent. If he takes longer than standard time, his efficiency is less than 100 per cent. Say he does it in 15 hours; his efficiency is (12 × 100)/15 = 80 per cent. Reward time is 12 + 33? per cent. of 12 = 12 + 4 = 16 hours. Suppose the worker takes the reward time of 16 hours to do the job; his efficiency is (12 × 100)/16 = 75 per cent. This efficiency is the ratio between reward time and standard time, and that is why we say the efficiency point for reward is 75 per cent.

Rule I.—In order to calculate efficiency on a time basis, the standard time must be multiplied by 100 and the result divided by the actual time.

In dealing with small parts, the basis is the standard quantity per hour—in other words, the quantity which ought to be produced in one hour in order to reach 100 per cent. efficiency.

If the standard quantity per hour be 20, and the worker is on the job 8½ hours, then the standard quantity for that time is 20 × 8½ = 170. If the worker produces 170, his efficiency is (170 × 100)/170 = 100 per cent. Suppose he produces 200 in the time, then his efficiency is more than 100 per cent., because he has produced more than the standard quantity. His efficiency is (200 × 100)/170 = 117·5 per cent. If, on the other hand, he produces less than 170, say 150, his efficiency is (150 × 100)/170 = 88·25 per cent.

Rule II.—In calculating efficiency by this method, it is evident that the quantity produced in a certain time must be multiplied by 100 and divided by the standard quantity for that time.

If a definite number of articles are to be machined, the whole quantity may be looked upon as a single job. For instance, suppose there are 3,000 pieces to be produced, and standard quantity is 150 per hour. Then the standard time for the whole quantity is 3000/150 = 20 hours. Reward time will be 20 + 33? per cent. of 20 = 20 + 6? = 26? hours. Efficiency may now be worked out by the first method.

Efficiencies are, of course, calculated on the net time—that is, on the total time of the job after day time and other allowances have been deducted.