Time-and-Motion Study Recordings

What these recordings are

Industrial engineers record a job in order to measure and improve it. A study typically captures several cycles on video, splits each cycle into named elements, times every element, applies an analyst's performance rating and allowances, and ends with a recommended method and a standard time. Some studies go further and describe the job in predetermined motion-time terms.

MTM, Methods-Time Measurement, is one widely used family of those systems. The MTM Association, a non-profit founded in 1962 with more than 240 corporate members, describes MTM as a method standard for describing, evaluating and designing human work (MTM Association). Training materials describe it as breaking manual operations into basic motions such as reach, grasp, move, position and release, each with a predetermined time standard, expressed in time measurement units where 1 TMU is 0.00001 hour, or 0.036 s. Hierarchical task analysis is a sibling method used by ergonomists, described as a core approach with a long history of use (Stanton, 2006); see hierarchical task analyses.

Why a robotics buyer cares

• Step boundaries come free. Element start and end times are step labels that annotators would otherwise draw; see step segmentation annotation.
• Timing is attached. Element durations expose human pace and the spread between operators and cycles.
• A motion vocabulary exists. Basic-motion codes can seed an action taxonomy, loosely; they describe human motion, not robot primitives.
• Selection favors repeatable jobs. Studies are done on high-volume, repetitive tasks, which are also candidates for automation.
• Current and improved methods. Many studies record both, giving contrasting executions of the same job.

The analysis files themselves, without video, are covered in predetermined motion-time analyses; this page is about the recordings and the pair as one asset.

What a study package contains

Illustrative element breakdown

The values are synthetic and are not taken from any published MTM table.

Frame rate limits what video can resolve. One TMU lasts about 1.1 frames at 30 frames per second, so element boundaries can be placed at roughly TMU resolution but differences smaller than a frame cannot be seen. Ask for the frame rate and whether timestamps are real.

Who holds them

• Manufacturers' industrial engineering, lean and continuous-improvement teams. Keep studies for standard setting and line balancing, sometimes for years.
• Industrial-engineering, lean and ergonomics consultancies. Produce the study as work product; ownership depends on the engagement contract and is the usual blocker.
• Hosted work-analysis tools. Some plants store recordings with a software vendor, so the host's terms matter as well as the plant's.
• Licensed practitioners and training organizations. Hold practice studies, with learner-consent questions.

Related asset types have their own pages: standard work and job breakdown sheets, ergonomic assessment videos and, for warehouses, engineered labor standards. For the broader set of assembly footage, see assembly demonstration video.

What to request

# Illustrative only — synthetic study, identifiers and values
study_id: TS_plant033_0412
job: assemble_bracket_station_ST_20
method: {version: current, observed: 2025-03-11, analyst: ie_team}
video:
  clips: 12 cycles, 2 angles (front, overhead), constant 30 fps, timer overlay: none
  operators: [operator_A04 (experienced), operator_A09 (new)]
elements:
  - {id: E01, name: reach_to_tote, t_start: 0.00, t_end: 0.52, observed_s: 0.52}
  - {id: E02, name: grasp_part,   t_start: 0.52, t_end: 0.83, observed_s: 0.31}
analysis:
  rating: recorded per operator (analyst judgment)
  predetermined_time: MTM analysis, version recorded, totals in TMU
  allowances: recorded separately
excluded: [operator names, performance ratings tied to individuals, robot actions, forces]
rights: training and internal evaluation; consultancy and employee permissions attached

Also ask for the method version of each clip, the date, any cuts or cutaways, and whether the video shows the current method, the proposed method or a mix. Request the analysis in a machine-readable form, not only as a scanned report.

What this asset can and cannot support

Can support: step segmentation and timing labels; pace baselines by operator; contrasting methods for one job; a vocabulary to seed an action taxonomy; and prioritization of tasks by frequency and duration, the subject of task frequency for prioritizing procedures.

Cannot support:

• Forces and robot actions. Neither the video nor the analysis contains joint states, commanded motions or contact forces.
• Your camera's view. Analyst angles are chosen for timing, so hands may be partly hidden.
• Natural pace. Operators who know they are observed may work differently from normal.
• Robot timing. Modeled human times say little about what a robot will need.
• Coverage beyond the studied jobs. Only jobs picked for study are recorded.

Limitations and preparation

Older studies may be low resolution or stored in obsolete formats. Analyst vocabularies differ between sites and consultancies, so mapping to your taxonomy is a task. Ratings and times about named individuals are sensitive performance information. The video was likely recorded under a notice about measurement and improvement; whether it covers AI training and transfer to an outside company is a diligence question. If the plant has a collective bargaining agreement, ask whether it addresses time studies and recording. Some studies are worth re-recording instead; see existing footage vs commissioned recording.

Questions to ask suppliers

1. How many studies exist, for which jobs, and over what dates?
2. Is video retained for every study, and at what resolution and frame rate?
3. Do element timestamps refer to positions in the video, and are cuts or edits marked?
4. Which method does each clip show, current or proposed?
5. Which time-study or predetermined-time system and version were used, and are the analyses machine-readable?
6. Who owns the studies: the plant, a consultancy or a software host?
7. Do the ratings and times identify individual operators, and can they be pseudonymized or removed?
8. What notice or agreement covered the people filmed, and does it include licensing to an outside company?

Permissions and provenance

Three parties can hold rights: the plant, a consultancy that produced the analysis and the workers on camera. Time studies also produce performance information about individuals, which is a separate sensitivity from their image. See worker consent and identifiable people and, for the supplier side, contract manufacturers as data suppliers. Redaction reduces identifiability but does not supply permission that was never given.

Discuss your requirements

If you need video with timing, describe the jobs, analysis types and permitted uses to SourceX. SourceX investigates whether US businesses hold suitable studies, checks the data and the supplier's licensing permissions, and coordinates the license and delivery. A request does not guarantee a match; SourceX follows up about potential sources.

Start from the manufacturing and assembly hub or the humanoid training data guide. The manufacturing industry page and the catalog entry for video recordings give wider context.

Discuss your humanoid training-data requirements with SourceX

Sources

• MTM ASSOCIATION e. V. (Methods-Time Measurement) — MTM as a method standard, with predetermined time standards and the TMU definition.
• Hierarchical task analysis: Developments, applications, and extensions — a related task-decomposition method used in ergonomics.