Case 1

• Explain work sampling. Discuss some applications of work sampling in both manufacturing and service organizations.

Work sampling is used to find out the proportions of total time spent on the various activities that make up a task or job. They are used to determine tolerances applicable to the work, to evaluate the
use of the machines and to establish production standards. This same information can be obtained through time study procedures.

App: To determine the time the worker will spend on any activity or task.
To determine the unproductive and / or productive time of people, machines and operations.
The magnitude of the lost time and the causes that produced it.
personal or group performance.
The effective time during which the equipment is used.
The time of preparation and removal of tools and set-up of the machines.
The number of people or machines that are necessary to carry out a task.
Determination of standard times of non-repetitive operations and long cycles

Case 2

• In a work-sampling study an administrative assistant was found to be working 2,700 times in a total of 3,000 observations made over a time span of 240 working hours. The employee’s output was
1,800 forms. If a performance rating of 1.05 and an allowance of 15 percent are given, what is the standard output for this task?

Output during this period = 1,800 forms

Answer:
effective time worked = (2700 * 240)/3000 = 216
The standard result for this task is 6.9 forms per hour
Actual time per form = (216*60)/1800 = 7,2 minutes

Normal time = 7,2 * 1,05 = 7,56 minutes

Estándar time = 7,56 * 1,15 = 8,694 minutes per form

Standar output = 60/8,694 = 6,9 forms per hour

 Case 3

• In a work-sampling study, what sample size should be used to provide 95 percent probability that the processing time of a single order form has an error of 0.05 minute? There is no estimate of the
clerical staff’s proportion of productive time.

n= (z/e)^2*(p*q)

z= 1.96 Answer:
e= 0.05
p= 0.5
The sample size that should be used to provide a 95 percent probability that the processing time for a single form should have an error of 0.05 minutes
q= 0.5
is 384.
n= 384.2

Case 4

• A part-time employee who rolls out dough balls at a pizza restaurant was observed over a 40-hour period for a work-sampling study. During that time, she prepared 550 pieces of pizza dough. The
analyst made 50 observations and found the employee not working four times. The overall performance rating was 1.10. The allowance for the job is 15 percent. Based on these data, what is the
standard time in minutes for preparing pizza dough?

Output during this period = 550 piece Observaciones 50

40
Hrs
Effective time worked = (46 * 40)/50 = 36,8 Activo 92%
Inactivo 8%
Actual time per piece = (40*60)/550 = 4,36 minutes Calificacion 1.1
Asignación 15%
Normal time = 4,36 * 1,10 = 4,8 minutes
Answer:
Estándar time = 4,8 * 1,15 = 5,5 minutes per piece
The standard time in minutes to prepare the pizza dough is 5.5 minutes per piece
Standar output = 60/5,5 = 11 pieces per hour
 Case 5

How many observations should be made in a work sampling study to obtain an estimate within 10 percent of the proportion of time spent changing tools by a production worker with a 99 percent
probability?
n= (z/e)^2*(p*q)

z= 2.32 Answer:
e= 0.1
p= 0.5
The sample size that should be used to provide a 95 percent probability that the processing time for a single form should have an error of 0.05 minutes
q= 0.5
is 384.
n= 134.6

Case 6

An analyst made the following observations about whether customer service representatives were busy (B) or idle (I):

Observation 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Busy or idle B B I B I B B B I B B B B I B B B B B 1
estimate the actual percentage of idle time to within 6 percent with a
confidence of 90 percent?

B 15 I 5
75% 25%
Z= 1.645 Answers:
n= (z/e)^2*(p*q) e= 0.06 a. The percent of idle time is 25.
p= 0.25 b. To obtain a confidence percentage of 90%, at least 141 observations are required
q= 0.75

n= 140.9
 Case 7

A job in an insurance office involves telephone conversations with policyholders. The office manager estimates that about half of the employee’s time is spent on the telephone. How many observations
are needed in a work sampling study to estimate that time percentage to within 6 percent and have a confidence of 98 percent?

50% 50%
Z= 2.326 Answer:
n= (z/e)^2*(p*q) e= 0.06
p= 0.5 To obtain a confidence percentage of 98%, at least 376 observations are required
q= 0.5

n= 375.7

Case 8

• In an initial survey designed to estimate the percentage of time air-express cargo loaders are idle, an analyst found that loaders were idle in 6 of the 50 observations.
a. What is the estimated percentage of idle time?
b. Based on the initial results, approximately how many observations would you require to estimate the actual percentage of idle time to within 5 percent with a confidence of 95 percent?

Z= 1.96 Answer:
n= (z/e)^2*(p*q) e= 0.05
p= 0.12 a. The estimated percentage of idle time is 12%.
q= 0.88
b. The observations require to estimate the within 5% and confidence de 95% is 162.
n= 162.3
 Case 9

Design a schedule of work sampling observations in which eight observations are made during one eight-hour day (use 0:00 to 7:59). Using Random number table, read the last digit going down
column 4 for hours (e.g., 1 7 4 4 6 . . .), and read across row 3 from left to right in sets of two for minutes (e.g., 47 15 24 86 . . .). Arrange the times chronologically.
Random number table

Portion of a random number table

ObservationHour Ramdon Num

Ramdon Min Ramdom NumRamdom Min Hour
1 0 1 47 8 1 0 9:00
2 1 7 15 9 1 47 9:47
3 2 4 24 10 1 56 9:56
4 3 4 27 11 3 38 11:38
5 4 6 26 14 4 24 14:24
6 5 3 38 15 4 27 14:27
7 6 1 56 16 6 26 16:26
8 7 1 0 17 7 15 17:15
 Case 10

The manager of a large office intends to conduct a work sampling of the time the staff spends on the telephone. The observations will be taken over a period of 50 workdays. The office is open five
days a week for eight hours a day (use 0:00 to 7:59). Although the study will consist of 200 random observations, in this problem you will be asked to determine times for 11 observations. Use random
numbers from Random number table.
a. Determine times for 11 observations. For days, read sets of two-digit numbers going across row 4 from left to right (e.g., 16 32 15 46 . . .), and do the same in row 5.
b. For hours, read one-digit numbers going down, using the first digit of column 1 (e.g., 6 4 3 1 . . .).
c. For minutes, read two-digit numbers going up column 4 using the first two digits (e.g., 30 46 10 . . .), and then repeat for the second two digits going up column 4 (e.g., 95 66 39 . . .).
d. Arrange the combinations chronologically by day, hour, and minute.
e. Assume March 1 is a Monday and that there are no holidays in March, April, or May. Convert your observation days to dates in March, April, and May.
Random number table

Portion of a random number table

Observaciones Alea Días Alea HorasAlea Min Alea Días Alea Horas Alea Min fecha hora
1 16 6 30 11 0 44 Lunes 15 de marzo 8:44
2 32 3 46 15 4 10 Viernes 19 de marzo 14:10
3 15 4 10 16 6 30 Lunes 22 de marzo 16:30
4 46 1 37 18 2 18 Miercoles 24 de marzo 10:18
5 19 3 2 19 3 2 Jueves 25 de marzo 11:02
6 50 7 23 19 7 40 Jueves 25 de marzo 17:40
7 18 2 18 23 2 21 Miercoles 31 de marzo 10:21
8 44 2 26 32 3 46 Martes 13 de abril 11:46
9 11 0 44 44 2 26 Jueves 29 de abril 10:26
10 23 2 21 46 1 37 Lunes 03 de mayo 9:37
11 19 7 40 50 7 23 Viernes 07 de mayo 17:23

Hora Hora hábil

0 8
1 9
2 10
3 11
4 14
5 15
6 16
7 17
 Case 11

A work sampling study is to be conducted on rush-hour traffic (4:00 p.m. to 6:59) five days per week. The study will encompass 40 days.
Determine the day, hour, and minute for 10 observations using the following procedure and Random number table:

a. Read two-digit numbers going down the first two digits of column 5 (e.g., 46 20 38 . . .), and then down the second two
digits of that column (e.g., 27 93 56 . . .) for days.
b. For hours, read one-digit numbers going from left to right across row 1 and then across row 2. (Read only 4s, 5s, and 6s.)
c. For minutes, read two-digit numbers going down column 6, first using the last two digits (e.g., 87 17 64 . . .), and, after
exhausting those numbers, repeat using the first two digits of that column (e.g., 83 46 00 19 . . .).
Arrange your times chronologically by day, then hour, and then minute.

Hour Observations Day Hour Minute Day, Hour y minute

1 1 4 44 lunes 4:44
4 2 11 4 37 lunes 4:37
5 3 20 6 17 viernes 6:17
6 4 21 5 38 lunes 5:38
5 21 6 57 lunes 6:57
6 23 4 18 miércoles 4:18
7 27 5 52 martes 5:52
8 38 6 8 miércoles 6:08
9 39 4 18 jueves 4:18
10 40 5 7 viernes 5:07