Popular Science Monthly 



583 



A Motion- Study Stopwatch Which Does 

 Its Own Computing 



IN the factory and other industrial 

 estabhshments where accurate data 

 are demanded as to costs and the 

 time of mechanical operations 

 is required, the stop-watch has 

 become as much a part of the 

 equipment of the plant as the 

 engine or motor which drives the 

 machinery. For a long time the 

 ordinary stop-watch 

 which was designed for 

 the race-track was em- 

 ployed. It answered 

 the purpose, but after 

 it had been used the 

 real work began. It 

 was necessary to enter 

 into a more or less 

 lengthy computation in 

 order to arrive at the 

 output per hour or day. 



There has been re- 

 cently introduced into 

 this country, from the 

 factory of a Swiss 

 watch-maker, a time- 

 study watch by which 

 it is possible to arrive 

 at the conclusion di- 

 rectly without resorting to the use of paper 

 and pencil or even undertaking any men- 

 tal calculation. It answers the demands 

 of the professional rate-setter as well as 

 the factory manager who wants only a 

 reasonably close approximation. The 

 dial is divided into tenths and hundredths 

 and in addition to these desirable fea- 

 tures, it contains figures spaced two- 

 hundredths of a minute apart to indicate 

 at any point of elapsed time exactly 

 what the corresponding output per hour 

 is. If the hand is stopped over .36 of a 

 minute, the reading directly under it 

 shows that the output is 167 per hour. 



In the manufacturing business it is 

 often desirable to know exactly what 

 time is required in the perf(jrmance of a 

 particular piece of work. When an em- 

 ployee sees that the stop-watch is being 

 held on him he will often lag so as not to 

 set too swift a pace for himself. By the 

 use of this watch it is possible to de- 

 termine accurately the exact time si)ent 

 in "loafing" and that actually required 

 to perform the operation. Assuming 



that an employee performs a certair. 

 group of movements in an elapsed time 

 of eleven minutes, a part of which time 

 is known to have been wasted. The 

 observer will follow up his first 

 observation with another, stop- 

 ping the watch during the frac- 

 tions of the minute which the em- 

 ployee wastes by unnecessary 

 movements or loafed time; the 

 result obtained will be the actual 

 time required for the 

 performance of the task 

 under imvestigation. 

 The watch is started 

 and stopped by the 

 movement of the slide 

 on the edge of the 

 watch. For rapidly cal- 

 culating time in effi- 

 ciency tests, this watch 

 cannot be equaled. 



A Suitcase on Wheels 

 "DORTERS and am- 



With this watch the workman can 

 fill out his time sheets accurately, 

 and allow for an exact counting of 

 time cost, which before has been an 

 uncertain quantity in auditing 



bitious boys are 



wishing that some 

 kind censor would 

 prohibit the manu- 

 facture of a new suit- 

 case carrier, for should the use of this 

 ingenious device spread broadcast, the 

 familiar cry, "Carry your bag, Mis- 

 ter?" will become a thing of the past. 



A pair of 

 wheels is set 

 on a stand- 

 ard that ma\' 

 be quickly 

 fastened to a 

 suitcase, as 

 shown in the 

 illustration. 

 An extra 

 handle is at- 

 tached to the 

 end of the 

 case, and the 

 bag is wheel- 

 ed along the 

 ground with 

 no more ex- 

 ertion than is 



required to No need to hire a red- 

 . ' I . . capped porter if you 



wtieel a ricl- have wheels like these 

 crlessbicycle. on your suitcase 



