USING TIME STUDIES TO COMPUTE STANDARD TIME. Management Science Associates promotes its management development seminars by mailing thousands of individually composed and typed letters to various firms. A time study has been conducted on the task of preparing letters for mailing. On the basis of the following observations, Management Science Associates wants to develop a time standard for this task. The firm’s personal, delay, and fatigue allowance factor is 15%.
| OBSERVATIONS (MINUTES) | ||||||
| JOB ELEMENT | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | PERFORMANCE RATING |
| (A) Compose and type letter | 8 | 10 | 9 | 21^* | 11 | 120% |
| (B) Type envelope address | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 105% |
| (C) Stuff, stamp, seal, and sort envelopes | 2 | 1 | 5^* | 2 | 1 | 110% |
APPROACH \blacktriangleright Once the data have been collected, the procedure is to:
1. Delete unusual or nonrecurring observations.
2. Compute the average time for each element, using Equation (10-1).
3. Compute the normal time for each element, using Equation (10-2).
4. Find the total normal time.
5. Compute the standard time, using Equation (10-3).
Average observed time = \frac{Sum of the times recorded to perform each element}{Number of observations} (10-1)
Normal time = Average observed time × Performance rating factor (10-2)
Standard time = \frac{Total normal time}{1 - Allowance factor} (10-3)
