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Frank Bunker Gilbreth was an American engineer, consultant, and author known as an early advocate of scientific management and a pioneer of time and motion study, and is perhaps best known as the father and central figure of Cheaper by the Dozen

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While serving in the U.S. Army during World War I, he was assigned to find a quicker and more efficient way to assemble and disasseble small arms. According to Claude George (1968), Gilbreth reduced all motions of the hand into some combinations of 17 basics motions. Gilbreth named the motions therbligs, "Gilbreth" spelled backwards with the th transposed. He used a motion picture camera that was calibrated in fractions of minutes to time the motions workers made.

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1910-1924

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" Motion Study"

American industrial engineers, Frank and Lillian Gilbreth pioneered the use of photography and film s 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).

figure 1: Chrono-cyclograph of champion golfer

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).

Video 1: Chrono-cyclograph

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).

figure 2: Wire Model of foreman on drill press

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.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDg9REgkCQk

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" Motion Study" American industrial engineers, Frank and Lillian Gilbreth pioneered the use of photography and film s 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.

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The first known light painting photographs were made way back in 1914, when Frank and Lillian Moller Gilbreth used small lights and long exposure photos to capture the motion of workers. Subjects ranged from handkerchief folders to bricklayers. The photos weren’t meant as art, but were instead made to help develop ways to increase employee output and simplify job tasks.

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The first known light painting photographs were made way back in 1914, when Frank and Lillian Moller Gilbreth used small lights and long exposure photos

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Frank Gilbreth was the first person to ever create a light painting image. He created the image to study the movements of workers in what he called “Work Simplification Studies”. By attaching a small light to the workers hands and tools he used the open shutter of a camera to trace their movements.

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Kheel Center, Cornell University Library

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.authors[].name
Kheel Center, Cornell University Library

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.authors[].name
Kheel Center, Cornell University Library

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.authors[].name
Kheel Center, Cornell University Library