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Book PrefaceBACKGROUND
Faced with increasing competition from all parts of the world, almost every industry, business, and service organization is restructuring itself to operate more effectively. Downsizing is becoming a trend. Each segment of these organizations must increase the intensity of its cost reduction and quality improvement efforts while working with a reduced labor force. Cost-effectiveness and product reliability without excess capacity are the keys to successful activity in all areas of business, industry, and government. And cost-effectiveness with improved quality under restricted plant capacity is the end result of methods engineering, equitable time standards, and improved employee motivation through the introduction of modern management reward systems.
Also, as machines and equipment grow increasingly complex and semi- if not fully automated, it is increasingly important to study both the manual components and the cognitive aspects of work. The operator must perceive and interpret large amounts of information, make critical decisions, and control these machines both quickly and accurately. In recent years, jobs have shifted gradually from manufacturing to the service sector. In both sectors, there is increasingly less emphasis on gross physical activity and a greater emphasis on information processing and decision making, especially via computers and associated modern technology. The same efficiency and work design tools are the keys to productivity improvement in any industry, business, or service organization, whether in a bank, a hospital, a department store, a railroad, or the postal system. Furthermore, success in a given product line or service leads to new products and innovations. It is this accumulation of successes that drives hiring and the growth of an economy.
The reader should be careful not to be swayed or intimidated by some of the relatively new jargon offered as a cure-all for an enterprise’s lack of competitiveness. Often these fads destroy sound engineering and management procedures that, when properly utilized, represent the key to continued success. Today we hear a good deal about re-engineering, use of cross-functional teams, etc., as business leaders reduce cost, inventory, cycle time, and nonvalue activities. However, experience in the past few years has proven that cutting people from the payroll just for the sake of automating their jobs is not always the wise procedure. The authors, with many years of experience in more than 100 industries, strongly recommend the application of sound methods engineering, realistic standards, and equitable wage payment as the keys to success in both manufacturing and business.WHY THIS BOOK WAS WRITTEN
The objectives of the 11th edition have remained the same as for the 10th: to provide a practical, up-to-date college textbook describing engineering methods to measure, analyze, and design manual work. The importance of ergonomics and work design as part of methods engineering is emphasized, not only to increase productivity, but also to improve worker health and safety and, thus, company bottom-line costs. Far too often, industrial engineers have focused solely on increasing productivity through methods changes and job simplification, resulting in overly repetitive jobs for the operators and increased incidence rates of musculoskeletal injuries. Any cost reductions obtained are more than offset by the increased medical and Workers Compensation costs, especially considering today’s ever-escalating health care costs.What’s New in the Eleventh Edition
A new Chapter 7 on the cognitive aspects of work, information processing, and the human-computer interface has been included. The concepts in this chapter are increasingly important given the steady decline of manufacturing jobs in the U.S. and an increase in the importance of the service sector. Additional examples and case studies showing applications with the service industry (see Chapter 14) have been provided. Some topics of lesser importance or those that have been supplanted by technological changes have been reduced in scope. For example, Chapters 10 and 11 of the 10th edition, focusing on Standard Data and Formula Construction, have been combined in this edition, since these functions can now be accomplished using one of the many software packages available on the market today. Approximately 10-15% more examples, problems, and case studies have been added. The eleventh edition still provides a continued reliance on work sampling, time study, facilities layout, and various flow process charts for students entering the industrial engineering profession and serves as a practical, up-to-date source of reference material for the practicing engineer and manager.HOW THIS BOOK DIFFERS FROM OTHERS
Most textbooks on the market deal strictly either with the traditional elements of motion and time study or with human factors and ergonomics. Few textbooks integrate both topics into one book, or for that matter, one course. In this day and age, the industrial engineer needs to consider both productivity issues and their effects on the health and safety of the worker simultaneously. Few of the books on the market are formatted for use in the classroom setting. This text includes additional questions, problems, and sample laboratory exercises to assist the educator. Finally, no text provides the extensive amount of online student and instructor resources, electronic forms, current information, and changes as this edition does.ORGANIZATION OF THE TEXT AND COURSE MATERIAL
The eleventh edition is laid out to provide roughly one chapter of material per week of a semester-long introductory course. Although there are a total of 18 chapters, Chapter 1 is short and introductory, much of Chapter 7 on cognitive work design may be covered in other human factors courses, and Chapter 15 on standards for indirect and expense work may not need to be covered in an introductory course, leaving only 15 chapters to be covered in the semester.
A typical semester plan, chapter by chapter, might be as follows:Chapter | Lectures | Coverage | | | | 1 | 1 | Quick
introduction on the importance of productivity and work design, with a bit
of historical perspective | 2 | 3 | A
few tools from each area (Pareto analysis, job analysis/worksite guide,
flow process charts, worker–machine charts) with some quantitative
analysis on worker–machine interactions. Line balancing may be covered in
other courses. | 3 | 3 | Operation
analysis with an example for each step. | 4 | 4 | Full,
but can gloss over basic muscle physiology and energy
expenditure. | 5 | 4 | Full | 6 | 4 | Basics on illumination, noise, temperature, and, perhaps, two other
topics as desired. Safety and
OSHA may be covered in another course. | 7 | 3 | Coverage
depends on instructor’s interest | 8 | 3 | Three
tools: value engineering, cost-benefit analysis, and cross-over charts;
job analysis and evaluation, and interaction with workers. Other tools may
be covered in other classes. | 9 | 2-3 | Basics
of time study. | 10 | 1 | One
form of rating. | 11 | 2 |
First
half of the allowances that are well established. | 12 | 1-2 | Coverage
of standard data and formulas depends on instructor’s
interest. | 13 | 3 |
Only
one predetermined time system in depth. | 14 | 2 | Work
sampling. | 15 | 1 | Coverage of indirect and expense labor standards depends on
instructor's interest. | 16 | 2 | Overview and costing. | 17 | 2 | Daywork and standard hour plan. | 18 | 3 | Learning curves, motivation, and people
skills. |
The recommended plan covers 44-46 lectures. Some instructors may wish to spend more time on any given chapter, for which additional material is supplied, e.g., work design (Chapters 4–7), and less time on traditional work measurement (Chapters 8–16) or vice versa. The text allows for this flexibility.SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL AND ONLINE SUPPORT
The eleventh edition of this text continues to focus on the ubiquitous use of personal computers as well as the Internet to establish standards, conceptualize possibilities, evaluate costs, and disseminate information. .A website, hosted by the publisher at http://www.mhhe.com/niebel-freivalds, furthers that objective by providing the educator with extensive online resources. The site includes an updated instructor’s manual with electronic copies of necessary forms, additional practice problems, case studies, and suggested laboratory exercises. DesignTools version 3.0, a ready-to-use software program for time study, work sampling, standard data, costing, etc., appears on the site as well. A special new feature of the website is the addition of QuikTS, a time study data collection program. The program may be downloaded via hot synch to a Palm device (m105 or higher) and used to collect time study data. The data is then uploaded directly to the time study form on DesignTools for easy and accurate calculation of standard time.
The book’s website also links to a web site hosted by the author at: http://www2.ie.psu.edu/Freivalds/Personal/text.htm, which provides instructors with on-line background material, including electronic versions of the forms available in the instructor’s manual. Student resources include practice exams and solutions. Up-to-date information on any errors found or corrections needed in this new edition appear on this site as well. Suggestions received from individuals at the universities, colleges, technical institutes, industries, and labor organizations that regularly use this text have helped materially in the preparation of this eleventh edition. Further suggestions are welcome, especially if any errors are noticed. Please simply respond to the OOPS! button on the Web site or by e-mail: axf@psu.edu. As with any Web site, this one will also continually evolve. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I wish to acknowledge the late Ben Niebel for providing me with the opportunity to contribute to his well-respected textbook. I hope the additions and modifications will match his standards and continue to serve future industrial engineers as they enter their careers. Thanks to Dr. Dongjoon Kong, University of Tennessee, for devoting so much of his time at Penn State on programming DesignTools. Finally, I wish to express my gratitude to Dace for her patience and support.
--Andris Freivalds
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2003 McGraw-Hill Higher Education