Direct Stopwatch Time Study

Time study is a structured process of directly observing and measuring time required for completing a manual or machine work. Its done with the help of a timing device to establish the time required for completion of the work by a qualified worker, when working at a defined level of performance. The name ‘direct stopwatch time study’ got its name since we are directly watching the work and conducting time study using stopwatch.

Materials Required for conducting direct stopwatch time study are stopwatch, recording booklet/sheet and pen. We can also directly enter time in to spreadsheet using laptop.

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Procedure

The first step to conduct a successful direct stopwatch time study is to select the operator to be studied. This step is applicable in the cases where more than one operator are performing the same task.

The operator should know all the knowledge related his work. Also, he should have developed skill in doing his job from his experience. We can consult with the supervisor of the section in selecting the operator with the above said criteria.

Record information about the standard operating practices, operations performed, equipment with which the operation is done, condition of the machine, quality required and the working conditions.

The second step involves breaking the entire operation into smaller elements or activities. This can be done by clearly defining the break point of each activity or element. Higher the number of activities split, higher is the accuracy of time study.

The activities are then timed using a stopwatch.

The recorded readings is called observed time.

We need to take some no of observations for considering the variation in the operation. From the observed times, remove outliers and take average of the observed times, so that we get the average of observed time for an activity or element.

In the next step we will convert observed time to Normal time.

Calculation of Normal time

Normal time = Observed time x Rating Factor.

We can use rating technique for calculating rating factor. Rating means gauging and comparing the performance or pace rate of a worker, against a standard performance level, set by the time study analyst.

The analyst observes the performance, compares it with the standard performance and arrive at a rating factor.

Rating Factor = Observed Rating / Standard Rating

Standard rating will be 100 always.

Observed rating will be above or below 100, according to the performance of the operator.

If the operator performs better than the standard performance the observed rating will be above 100, and it will be scaled according to the performance. If the operator perform below standard performance, rating factor will be below 100.

For knowing more about rating, please read a special article on ‘Rating in Time and Motion Study‘

Direct stopwatch time study example

A direct stopwatch time study needs to be conducted at a Workshop for machining of a particular job in a lathe. John is relatively inexperienced in this work and has only been at the organisation for 6 months, whereas Mark has been at this organisation for more than 20 years and is skilled at the particular said job.

The time study analyst first approaches John for taking time sample. Suppose John finishes machining of job in 12 minutes. The analyst gives a rating factor of 80. Then the normal time will be,

Normal Time = Observed Time x Rating Factor

The normal time of John will be 12 x (80/100) = 12 x 0.8 = 9.6 minutes.

Similarly, the Time study analyst approaches Mark for time study analysis. Mark being a skilled worker completes the job in 8 minutes. The analyst gives a rating factor of 120 to Mark.

The normal time of Mark will be 8 x (120/100) = 8 x 1.2 = 9.6 minutes.