Motion Study
A Method for Increasing the Efficiency of the Workman

72 MOTION STUDY The inroads of concrete, both plain and reinforced, how- ever, have changed conditions, and the bricklayer himself is, more than any other one factor, the cause of many cases of substitutions of concrete for brick. The architecture of any country is determined by the relative cost of building materials in place, and the history of the world shows that the way to get the most of any one thing used is to make it the lowest in price. The one thing that will reduce the price of brickwork more than any other is to reduce the cost of the motions. After the laws underlying motion study have all been applied, the cost of motions can still be reduced from one- third to one-half by separating the motions of the brick- layer into at least two classes, such as, for example: i. Those that require skill. 2. Those that require nothing but strength, endurance, and speed. Those that require skill should be divided into several classes, according to the amount of skill required; those that chiefly require skill should be handled by mechanics, and those that chiefly require strength, endurance, and speed should be handled by specially trained laborers. This is the only way to enable brickwork to compete with concrete, when all of the architects, engineers, owners, and contractors shall have learned the full possibilities of concrete. It will be urged that such division of the work of bricklaying will lower the genera] skill of the bricklayers