Last month we looked at the process of doing time studies, when an observer records all activities, depending on the study's objectives. Clock time also may be recorded. Now, what happens with that information?
Non-productive personal activities include "Wash Hands," "Take a Phone Call" and "Get Coffee." At work, human beings attend to personal needs no matter what work they are doing. As a percentage of the workday, this turns out to be fairly consistent across most industries. Each information provider has done this research and uses it, as we will see later.
Non-productive job activities include "Read Estimate," "Get Tools" and "Rewind Air Hose." While necessary, these are not activities that actually repair the car. As a percentage of the job, these activities are also fairly consistent, increasing with job size.
Productive job activities are the hands-on tasks, including "Remove Bolt," "Drill Out Spot Welds" and "Apply Seam Sealer." Once concluded, the observer has a full list of tasks done to complete the repair. This is the most important part of the whole study.
In this list are tasks that already have labor values for "root" operations. For example, "Remove Wheel," "R&I Bulb," or "Install 6 Fender Bolts" may already have a "root" labor value that was previously determined for such common operations. Major operations include "R&I Bumper Assembly," "Replace Fender" and "Replace Water Pump," and they also may have a "root" labor value that includes basic tasks normally done.
Developing labor for a new part operation would start with a "base" labor value. This could be a combination of "root" labor amounts or a known labor amount from the same part on a similar vehicle. Now, with study information on the exact tasks done, this "base" labor is adjusted up or down according to observed differences.
For a simple example, assume a Fender replacement was studied. The Bumper, Headlamp and Splash Shield were removed first. The Air Intake was disconnected and 18 bolts were removed. Let's say the "base" Fender labor is defined as 2.0 with 12 attaching bolts.
Since this specific Fender has six more attaching bolts than the "base" one, labor would be adjusted upward for that. More labor would be added for the Air Intake if that is not in the "base" labor. If both Headlamp and Splash Shield are listed as "Included" in the procedure pages, their R&I labor would be part of the "base" labor and no additional labor would be added. If R&I Bumper is listed as "Not Included," a labor note could be added that would say something like, "After Bumper R&I," or Fender labor could be increased with a labor note that would say something like, "Includes Bumper R&I." These decisions depend mostly on the information provider's procedure pages and to some extent that specific vehicle's construction.
Next, tasks common to two or more parts on the job are also noted and tagged for possible overlap calculations.
Now, what if clock time is recorded? Information providers add their formulas for non-productive personal time and non-productive job time to observed clock time and make sure the result is consistent with similar operations. As a check to make sure labor amounts are reasonable, this is important but not primary. This calculation becomes primary when there is a new part or operation that has not been determined before (i.e. certain hybrid vehicle parts).
Developing labor values using only clock time studies and non-productive time formulas would require hundreds of studies on each single operation to normalize variables, including technician experience, tool availability and shop layout. With this being impossible, clock times are used as a good common-sense guide while labor amounts are developed from existing data and experience, including adjustment from actual studies in actual shops under actual working conditions when needed.
While not perfect or ideal, this makes sense for the large amount of vehicle and labor information you need today. For the most part it works well, but mistakes can still happen. Additional parts may need to be disconnected or removed, and replacement parts may change in the way they are sold. You are the first to notice these problems.
Please take the time to tell your information provider. Your time here helps get it right for everyone. It is about time after all.
"Our mind is of three categories: what we know, what we don't know, and what we don't know we don't know. Not knowing is unfortunate; not knowing that we don't know is tragic."
— W. Erhardt
Bruce Burrow, AAM started writing estimates over 30 years ago, has worked for most of the information providers, and, as an independent instructor for the last 10 years, has trained estimators all across North America. He is ASE Master certified and an instructor for the Automotive Management Institute. Send questions, ideas, and comments that you would like to see addressed here to [email protected] and stay tuned.
