Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1913-06-05
MOVIE MEASURES
WORKMEN'S TASK
Economical Way of Performing
Labor Found by a Novel
Invention.

The unintentional waste of time,
says the New York Press is said to
waste more business capital and
profits than any other cause, even in
Guiding loafing. Therefore work to be
profitable must be systematic. Hence
modern engineers engage in what is
termed motion study" in which, we
now have to record some improve
inents
| The number of motions made by a
workingman or q tool and the time
occupied in performing these motions
are, for the purpose of the study. nc
curately determined, so far as ncssi-
Bile. Heretofore the time element has
been controlled by means of stop
watch in the hands of a trained OBJ
| server-no easy task, when il is con-
sidered that very otter hundreds. ard
even thousands of motions and opera
lions must be studied and timed.
The more expensive the Study the
more likely are errors to creep IN.
In order to reduce the labor involved
| in these painstaking investigations,
and, above all, to eliminate the possi-
bility of error. Frank B. Gil5reth,
who has made a speciality of motion
study, has invented an entirely new
method, which consists in using a
moving picture machine i'll connection
with a special chronometer or Clock"
as it is termed in the parlance of sci-
entifie management.
Mr.. Gilbreth's special clock makes
ten revolutions a minute. It's dial
has 100 divisions, each of which,
hnn 60 Int
val of one one-thousandth of a min
ute.
In studying the motions required to
assemble a machine, for example, the
chronometer plays as important a
part as the object studied. 1t APP
pears prominently in every one of
the hundreds of pictures taken by
the moving picture machine. Along
side the chronometer, an ordinary T.
hour clock, which fixes the time of
day, is placed SO that in the moving
picture film complete information re-
garding the time study is included.
Every film reveals the successive
positions of workman in perform
ing each minute operation of the
task intrusted to him. The position
of the chronometer pointer in sue
eessive films indicates the length of
time between successive operations.
These films are studied under a
microscope and a careful analysis of
each operation is made to develop
the standard time for each. The in
terval between the successive films
in one study was a little under three
one-thousandths of a minute.
Obviously such accurate time studies
of minute and detailed operations
could hardly be made by means of a
stop-watch. Fine as the study was
it can be made much finer. Chro-
nometers can be used which make
one revolution in one thirtieth of a
minute, and the dials being divided
into hundredths it is possible to OBJ
tain time studies of greater refine
ment than at present appear neces-
sary
Micro motion study" is the name
which has been given to this method
of recording and studying minute mo-
tions or parts of motions. The film
is far more than a record of time
1t has been suggested that such a
film will serve as an instruction card,
WHlSH may NC SilidTSeu anu pdSSeu
from workman to workman to
teach the best methods of doing
work. A film shows a workman not
only what to do, but how to do it
to the last detail, and therefore it
teaches him what printed instruc-
tions and books can never impart
adequately. 1t also shows him the
time which the most skilled work.
men required for a given piece of
work, and which can be equalled if
that workingman's motions are
mimicked.
Any workman may for time de-
ceive an inexperienced efficiency en-
gineer by soldering" But the cam
era cannot be deceived. The film re-
cords faithfully every movement
made, and subsequent analysis and
study reveal exactly how many of
these movements were necessary and
how many were purposely slow or
useless. Hence by the elimination of
the useless movements a most eco
nomical method of performing a
given piece of work can be attained.