Motion Study
A Method for Increasing the Efficiency of the Workman

VARIABLES OF THE MOTION 77 that, other things being equal, the less number of foot- pounds of work done by the workman, the smaller percent- age of working hours he must devote to rest to overcome fatigue. It is therefore of great importance in obtaining the largest possible output that the work shall be so arranged and the workman so placed that he can do his work with the least possible amount of foot-pounds of work done per unit of output accomplished. This is where the philan- thropic employer has often been rewarded without know- ing it. In his desire to make conditions such that the workman was most comfortable while working, he re- duced the number of foot-pounds of work to that which was absolutely necessary to do the work. He surrounded the workman with conditions that enabled him to have no fatigue, except that which was acquired from the motions of the work itself. He made conditions such that the workman was enabled to overcome the fatigue from his motions in the quickest possible time. (See Fig. 23.; Inertia and Momentum Overcome There are two ways by which the amount of inertia and momentum may be reduced. i. By standardizing surroundings and equipment so that the inertia and the momentum are limited to practi- cally that of the materials, and not the materials plus arms and body.