Motion Study
A Method for Increasing the Efficiency of the Workman

INTRODUCTION When the editor of a live journal hears of some new development in the field to which his paper caters, he is neglecting his duty if he does not make every possible effort to secure a powerful article by the highest author- ity on that development for his readers. Some months before “Motion Study” first appeared in the columns of Industrial Engineering, we heard that Mr. Gilbreth had, by some method or other, made wonderful records in the construction of buildings and other engineering works. We were curious to know how this had been accomplished, and sought an interview. We then learned that for years Mr. Gilbreth had been studying the actions of his workmen, the conditions surrounding their work, and all the other variables which go to help or hinder them in the actual construction work. He had paid particular atten- tion to the motions made by a given man, say a brick- layer, in getting a brick from the pile made by the tenders to its final resting place in the wall. He had discovered how the number of these motions could be cut down, by having the brick brought to the bricklayer in a different way than usual, by placing them in a somewhat more convenient position, by arranging the scaffolding in an improved manner, and by various other little changes, xi