IWorkAsDirected
Outa browns on 04/30/09
soberups;
Actually, the elemental allowances UPS uses were developed in exactly - albeit going one step further - the same way as your dental components friends used...the difference being that, instead of just timing one manager with a stopwatch, UPS timed literally scores (hundreds!) of actual employees (drivers, in the driver standards instance) performing an elemental action (i.e. - opening the bulkhead door, securing the seat belt, etc., etc.) and amalgamated them when called for; the on-road time-study observer simply counts the INSTANCES of those elements, and the time allowance (which, in most cases, have not changed in decades, simply because the elemental motions involved haven't changed either) for each instance is multiplied by the number of instances to develop the "allowed" time. Need to keep in mind that, to do a driver "time study", an observer doesn't even need a stopwatch (time board, whatever); it's only there to compare the actual time taken to what the "allowed" time is.
That said, the "allowed" time of the day of the study, from my experience, is remarkably accurate; most knowledgeable observers can go back (or at least they used to be able to!) and point out exactly where and how the driver lost and/or gained "time" compared to "allowed". Granted, when developed allowances (stop, travel, etc) are combined with multiple drivers in a unit, they can vary a bit. And, of course, the developed allowances are based on an average knowledgeable/skilled driver under average (not ideal, but not whacked-out, either) conditions.
Anyway, the point I'm getting at is that the way your dentistry friends perform their time study would be way too unsophisticated to deal with the conditions of UPS's work environment...unless the company (and its employees) would be willing to bear the expenses (and discomfort) of having a time study observer bird-dogging every employee every day.
Unfortunately, time studies are only done in Outer Space now, or la la land or ie land or whatever, when is the last time an ie person went onroad punch to punch and noted, traffic control devices, speed limit signs, steps to the door, etc.?????