1

Micro Motion Study:

Micro motion study provides a valuable technique for making minute analysis of those
operations that are short in cycle, contain rapid movements and involve high production over a
long period of time. For example, sewing of garments and assembling small parts.

It is a technique for recording and timing an activity. It consists of taking motion pictures of the
operation with a clock in the picture (or with a video camera running at a known speed. The film
is a permanent record of the method and the time and is always ready to be examined when
needed.

• Applicable for operations with very short cycles which are repeated thousands of times.

• Goes into greater details to determine where movements and efforts can be saved and to
develop the best possible patterns of movements.

• Enables operators to perform the operation repeatedly with minimum effort and fatigue.

• The technique used for this typically involves filming the operation and hence is known
as micromotion study.

• Examples of operators studied could be cashier in the bank – routine job of taking
payment slips from customer and issuing cash!

Micromotion study as an Aid in Improving Methods

The procedure of making a micro motion study consists of:

1 . Filming the operation to be studied.
2 . Analyzing the film.
3 . Charting the results of the analysis.
4. Developing the improved method.
The speed of the camera used ranges from 960 to 1000 frames per minute. But faster cameras
may be used to study very fast hand motions or complex operations. The pictures should be
enlarged many times to facilitate the analysis of the motions. Micromotion study should be used
when it is economical to do so (short cycle highly repetitive operations, large volume
production, or operation performed by a large number of workers).
 2

Purpose of Micro motion study:

In addition to its primary use for job-analysis work the following purpose may be considered:
(i) To study the inter-relationship among the members of a work group.
(ii) To study the relationship between an operator and the machine which he operates.
(iii) To obtain the time for an operation.
(iv) To establish a permanent record of the method of doing a job.
(v) To assist in training the workers to understand the meaning of motion study and to enable
them to apply motion
(vi) To assist in finding the preferred method of doing the work.
(vii) Economy principles in a professional way.
The usual procedure of performing a micro-motion study is to take motion picture of the
operations, analysis the film and to prepare a SIMO chart from the results of the film analysis. In
analyzing the film, very small time values (commonly 1/2000 minute) may be obtained by
reading a clock (micro-chronometer) that appears in each of the motion pictures.

The film is analyzed by breaking the job cycle into micro motions or therbligs which indicate the
basic body motions of the workers.

Memo motion Study

In memo motion study, camera is placed with a view over the whole working area which
operates at 60 or 100 frames per minute or 1 or 2 pictures/second against the regular 24
frames/sec. Thus it is bale to provide the overall view of movements rapidly, using which
industrial engineer can find out general pattern of movements soon. Industrial engineer also
detects and eliminates the larger movements which gives rise to wasted effort while accomplish
an activity.

In addition to its use in industrial operations, it is used to study many other operations such as
check-in operations as airline counters, the manner in which customers select items in the store,
traffic flow on highways, and in banks. It costs less than micro motion study (only costs 6% of
the cost of a micro motion study.

Cycle graph and Chrono cycle graph:

These techniques of analyzing the paths of motion made by an operator were developed by the
Gilbreths. To make a cycle graph, a small electric bulb is attached to the finger, hand, or any
other part of the body whose motion is to be recorded. By using still Photography, the path of
light of bulb (in other words, that of the body member) as it moves through space for one
 3

complete cycle is photographed by keeping the working area relatively less illuminated. More
than one camera may be used in different planes to get more details. The resulting picture (cycle
graph) shows a permanent record of the motion pattern employed in the form of a closed loop of
white continuous line with the working area in the background. A cycle graph does not indicate
the direction or speed of motion.

It can be used for

 Improving the motion pattern and

 Training purposes in that two cycle graphs may be shown with one indicating a better
motion pattern than the other.

The Chrono cycle graph is similar to the cycle graph, but the power supply to the bulb is
interrupted regularly by using an electric circuit. The bulb is thus made to flash. The procedure
for taking photograph remains the same. The resulting picture (Chrono cycle graph), instead of
showing continuous line of motion pattern, shows short dashes of line spaced in proportion to
the speed of the body member photographed. Wide spacing would represent fast moves while
close spacing would represent slow moves. The jumbling of dots at one point would indicate
fumbling or hesitation of the body member. A chrono cycle graph can thus be used to study the
motion pattern as well as to compute velocity, acceleration and retardation experienced by the
body member at different locations.

The world of sports has used this analysis tool, updated to video, for extensively the purpose of
training in the development of from and skill.
4
5
6
 7

This is a revision of Industrial Engineering Terminology, the American National Standards

Institute (ANSI) Standard Z94.0-1989, published in 1990. The original standard was published
in 1972. This revision has been widely circulated for review and was approved as an American
National Standard by ANSI in 1998.

References:

1.http://syque.com/quality_tools/toolbook/Survey/do.htm

2. Courses at IITR/IITM