Methods, Standards, & Work Design [Hardcover]

Benjamin Niebel (Author), Andris Freivalds (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0072468246 | ISBN-13: 978-0072468243 | Publication Date: July 19, 2002 | Edition: 11

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.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

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

Product Details

• Hardcover: 768 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Science/Engineering/Math; 11 edition (July 19, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0072468246
• ISBN-13: 978-0072468243
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #675,841 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 11th edition, August 30, 2002

By 

Mary E. Johnson (Fort Worth, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Methods, Standards, & Work Design (Hardcover)

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.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars 1955 Concepts in 1999 Edition, October 7, 2000

By 

Brice W Seifert (Mississippi State University, MS) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Methods, Standards, and Work Design (Hardcover)

This antiquated textbook is still used at colleges and universities throughout the United States. The first edition of this book was published in 1955 and, after nine more editions, appears largely unchanged in its mentality. Specifically, the textbook is written for a time when corporations had legions of industrial engineers who did nothing but detailed and tedious time and motion studies. Unfortunately, today's dynamic manufacturing environment renders many of the authors' techniques impractical or even financially hazardous. For example, it emphasizes the need to maximize machine utilization (even if the machine is not considered a bottleneck operation). Practices like these lead to excessive inventory and sub-optimization of the collective manufacturing process. In summary, I believe this textbook does a great disservice to those manufacturing firms that have achieved dramatic productivity gains through the application of lean manufacturing techniques.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars 1955 Concepts in 1999 Edition, October 7, 2000

By 

Brice W Seifert (Mississippi State University, MS) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Methods, Standards, and Work Design (Hardcover)

This antiquated textbook is still used at colleges and universities throughout the United States. The first edition of this book was published in 1955 and, after nine more editions, appears largely unchanged in its mentality. Specifically, the textbook is written for a time when corporations had legions of industrial engineers who did nothing but detailed and tedious time and motion studies. Unfortunately, today's dynamic manufacturing environment renders many of the authors' techniques impractical or even financially hazardous. For example, it emphasizes the need to maximize machine utilization (even if the machine is not considered a bottleneck operation). Practices like these lead to excessive inventory and sub-optimization of the collective manufacturing process. In summary, I believe this textbook does a great disservice to those manufacturing firms that have achieved dramatic productivity gains through the application of lean manufacturing techniques.