Therbligs -- an Innovation of the Past Term Paper

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Therbligs -- an Innovation of the Past Assembly Line With Still-Practical Applications Today

What is the problem; one might be tempted to ask, with apportioning the workday according to simple units of seconds and hours, when measuring worker efficiency? Why is there a need to create another system of measurement in respect to motion as well as to time? The concept of Therbligs a study of worker efficiency not in relation to time, but in relation to motion, provides the answer.

The concept of Therbligs was born during the turn of the 20th century, a century that oversaw the birth of the modern factory and also the modern motion picture. It was with the help of this latter invention that John and Lillian Galbraith could embark upon their study of human kinesthetic behavior in the former. Thus, although term "Therbligs" may "sound like a new computer term or some obscure part of the human anatomy," these Therbligs in fact comprise a fairly old system for analyzing the motions involved in performing a task, almost as old as the modern industrial age of assembly lines. The Gilbraiths' identification of and isolation of individual worker motions, as well as moments of delay in the process, was designed to root out unnecessary or inefficient motions and to utilize or eliminate even split seconds of wasted time. (Ferguson, 2000)

Thus concept of the Therblig was born around 1908 and it is constantly being refined and tested by ergonomics experts even today.

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The concept's birth was generated by the enabling of systematic motion study to take place by using micro-motion stop study of movie film. The Gilbreths were able to examine the smallest of motions by watching filmed depictions of workers. Then, they isolated the individual motions and plotted such "Therbligs" on a Simo Chart (Simultaneous Motion Chart) along with the time each motion took. "The sequences of motions of each hand were plotted, as was a foot, if used for pedal controls. Then, by examining the charts, one could determine which Therbligs were taking too long. One could also isolate individual motions that could be eliminated by rearranging the step-by-step procedures of the work. (Ferguson, 2000) Through the use of such study, the Gilbreths identified periods of delay caused be either the tool….....

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