Defining Work Elements in a Time Study with Stopwatch

The objectives of this lesson are to review the basic time study procedure, clarify how to correctly divide a time study into different work elements, observe the most typical ones and the most appropriate break points, and describe the traditional way of recording times and operations that form the subsequent basis for calculating standard time. Time study or timing is a measurement technique used to record operation times of a work cycle, while simultaneously judging the work pace at which the operator is performing the activity. The objective is to analyze the data in order to determine the standard time required to execute the task according to a pre-established execution standard, that is, the method must be previously standardized. ## What is a Work Cycle Element? An element is a delimited part of a complete task that is selected to facilitate its observation, measurement, and analysis in a larger work cycle, which is a succession of several elements to perform this task. ## Why is it Convenient to Divide Work into Elements? For many reasons: 1. To separate, for example, productive time from unproductive time and evaluate it differently. 2. To evaluate the work pace with greater accuracy than if it were an entire complete work cycle. Element by element, we can judge if there are changes in pace or not. 3. To recognize different types of elements that we will now classify, isolate those that cause special fatigue in the operator, and be able to supplement them appropriately. 4. To standardize and verify the method more easily and extract its times, especially of cyclical elements, and also to be able to catalog acyclical or frequency elements. ## Different Types of Elements in an Industrial Time Study Thus, we can, roughly, differentiate between elements: 1. Repetitive or cyclical that appear in all work cycles 2. Casual or acyclical or frequency. For example, cleaning chips that accumulate every n cycles. Obtaining material that has run out when the box is empty. Etc. Likewise, elements can be more constant or more variable. This is another reason to, in fact, divide the work cycle into elements. ## Where to Define the Work Elements of a Cycle The different elements should be easily identifiable, with clearly defined beginning and end, so that they can be recognized by oneself or by another analyst who might perform another batch of timing at another time. They should be as brief as possible, but not excessively so. That is, the minimum would be five or six seconds, since we must not forget that in addition to timing, the work pace will be assessed at the same time. To facilitate this control, it is convenient, if possible, to place short elements next to longer ones, as it helps the analyst to recover from the stress of timing. It is convenient to separate manual from mechanical, constant from variable. It is convenient to take advantage of sounds to make the separation of elements in a time study easier, for example, when there is a click. It is always preferable to place the cutting element in touching something that is unequivocal, rather than in leaving something, which seems to be a bit more equivocal. Finally, it is essential to observe several cycles before timing to adequately define the work elements and make sure that they will occur in the order we have defined. ## Video of a Work Process: View questionnaire Complete lesson Next lesson Restart lesson ## Possible Decompositions of the Cycle into Elements: In the case of a short cycle, in which the elements into which we could decompose it will not have significant differences in terms of the allowances applied to each element, it would be correct to divide it into more elements or not. In the case that the work to be measured involved elements in which there was manual handling of loads and in others not, we should separate them and treat them differently. ## Exercise: https://youtu.be/Pq3iFSpyqUY ## Conclusion Mastering industrial time study techniques is essential for any professional seeking to optimize production processes. The systematic application of these methods not only improves operational efficiency but also significantly contributes to cost reduction and increased business competitiveness. Remember that precision in measurement and rigorous data analysis are the basis for establishing reliable time standards that drive continuous improvement in your organization.