A complete daily history was kept to give an accurate account of what went on in the test room as changes were introduced. The following is an excerpt from this history:
Monday, June 13, 1927
Operator 1A. Said she was tired today.
Operator 2A. Tired also and said her head ached.
Operator 3. Was asked if she thought she did more, less or about the same amount of work. Ans. “More, I’ m almost up to Operator 4 and I have a bigger relay.”
Operator 4. “I feel fine today, not tired or anything”.
Operator 5. “I’m tried today and sleepy”.
Tuesday, June 21, 1927
The foreman informed the group of their low activity for the past week. The weather was more favorable for work, cloudy and raining.
Operator 1A “I feel fine today. Just right for work”.
Operator 2A. “Today is fine for work”.
Operator 3. “I went to bed at 9 o’clock last night and feel O.K. Today”.
Operator 4. “I feel great today”.
Operator 5. “A day like this is much better for work than yesterday”.
Study 2 started with six questions:
(1) Do employees actually get tired out?
(2) Are rest pauses desirable?
(3) Is a shorter working day desirable?
(4) What are the attitudes of employed toward their work and toward the company?
(5) What is the effect of changing the type of working equipment?
(6) Why does production fall off in the afternoon?
To answer these questions 13 test periods were introduced.
The first test period made it possible to get an accurate measure of each girl’s production under typical work conditions. The second test period attempted to determine the effects of a change in work place upon production. The third period introduced a change in the method of payment; the six girls were paid directly according to the output of their own group, whereas previously they had been paid on the basis of the production of the entire group of about 100 operators.
In the fourth period two rest pauses of five minutes each were introduced. In the fifth, these rest pauses were increased to ten minutes. Period 6 had six rest pauses of five minutes each. In period 7 two rest pauses were given and a “free mid-morning lunch” was added. The morning rest was fifteen minutes and the afternoon one was ten minutes. Period 8 had working conditions similar to those in period 7, but the working day was a half-hour shorter. Period 9 was the same as period 8. But the work day was shortened another half-hour. Period 10 returned to the conditions in
TABLE Relay Assembly Test Room Data
