Product Description

Faced with increasing global competition, every industry, business, and service organization is restructuring itself to operate more effectively. Cost-effectiveness and product reliability without excess capacity are the keys to successful activity in business, industry, and government, and these keys are the end results of methods engineering.

The 11th edition of Methods, Standards, and Work Design provides practical, up-to-date descriptions of engineering methods to measure, analyze, and design manual work. The text emphasizes both the manual components and the cognitive aspects of work, recognizing the gradual decline of the manufacturing sector and the growth of the service sector. 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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #343321 in Books
• Published on: 2002-07-19
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 768 pages

Book Info
Integrates the traditional elements of motion & time study with current topics in work design & ergonomics. DLC: Motion study.

About the Author
Was at Pennsylvania State University - Univ. Park Wife's name is Doris Niebel.

Customer Reviews

11th edition
I am one of the professors Dr. Seifert is talking about in his review. I continue to use this textbook in both graduate and undergraduate classes on job design. Every semester I search for a better alternative, but am unable to find it. I find this book to be helpful and a good reference that incorporates ergonomics, work design, and methods engineering. (I also use old versions of the lab book that contain very well-made forms.) This text contains the best discussion of time standards I have seen. The 11th edition contains a new chapter on cognitive work. This is a topic I have always discussed and am glad to see formal treatment of it in the new edition. As with any textbook, I do not use it as the sole source of information taught in the classroom and would not recommend it as a sole source. I use the topics in the text to launch discussions and research papers on systems theory, lean, cycle time, environmental, process improvement methodologies, ethics, and other issues for manufacturing and non-shopfloor applications. I find the book especially useful in the area of work design and time standards.

Students have found these skills useful in the workplace. Many of our students work in process improvement and lean implementations. They use these skills to reduce cycle time and balance the lines to meet the demands of customers. Good implementation of lean requires knowledge of how to balance a line to meet customer demand, identify constraints, reduce cycle time, eliminate waste, understanding and dealing with change, cost/benefit analysis, and a direct understanding the relationship between the customer demand and production rate. This text touches on or covers in detail these topics.

I find that the book appears to focus on machine and operator efficiency and utilization, has a primarily decompositional view of work, and concentrates mostly on shopfloor operations. Even with these drawbacks, the text gives the reader solid information on improving workplace design and reducing cycle time while improving worker safety and productivity. I use the discussion on machine and worker utilization to compare and contrast with other manufacturing philosophies, and to relate what the text is covering to more 'big picture' aspects. Other topics not included are a good discussion of maintenance operations and quality. I suggest using other sources to incorporate those topics. All in all, the book is not perfect. It is a very good reference book and text book.