Frank and Lillian Gilbreth
“ Motion Study”
American industrial engineers, Frank and Lillian Gilbreth pioneered the use of photography and film as a means to further scientific management. As members of the Taylor Society and avid supporters of Frederick Taylor, the Gilbreths are credited for shifting the direction of Taylorist theories to a more “scientific” one. Developing a new method to research efficiency also known as micro-motion study, the Gilbreths diverged with Taylor’s stopwatch method (time study) which advocated for increased speed, and instead focused on reducing unnecessary motion. In his book Bricklaying Systems, Frank Gilbreth promoted the method of motion study by recounting how he was able to reduce the number of actions taken by the workers from eighteen to four and a half. Instead of relying on recounting of personal observations required in the Taylor work study, the Gilbreths used the more verifiable records created by film. Using the modern tools of photography, the Gilbreths created permanent documents supporting scientific management (figure 1).
Micro-motion study was carried out using a hand-cranked motion-picture camera ,a gridded background, and a microchronometer. Placing the worker in front of a black-and-white grid, Frank Gilbreth would capture the task at hand. Carefully correlating the time elapsed using the microchronometer with the motions of the task, motions deemed inefficient or superfluous could be edited out or made more efficient. In later experiments, the addition of a light globe to the worker’s hand would allow for the tracking of hand movements during a specified task (video 1).
The traced motion of the hands in the photograph would then be translated into a physical model that allowed for a three-dimensional spatial analysis (figure 2).
By utilizing the gridded background to translate movement from the two-dimensional medium to a model, the micro-motion studies became an important precedent for the architectural handbooks to be published in the 1930s and 40s and the study of ergonomics. Jane Callaghan, one of the authors of Measuring Space and Motion , observed the micro-motion studies while acting as an assistant to Lillian Gilbreth. Callaghan then employed the micro-motion studies to define envelopes of space for household activities in order to create “composite space-shape”. The envelopes for activities (figure 3) became the basis for John Hancock Callendar’s buildings standards for architectural design.
After the death of Frank Gilbreth in 1924, Lillian Gilbreth went on to continued to promote the doctrines of efficiency but was largely remained in industry close to home economics.
References:
Mees, Bernard. “The Oxford Handbook of Management Theorists.” Mind, Method, and Motion: Frank and Lillian Gilbreth (2013): n. pag. Oxford Handbooks Online. Web. 16 Feb. 2017.
Cupers , Kenny , ed. Use matters: an alternative history of architecture. New York: Taylor & Francis Ltd, 2014. Print.
