January 3, 2013 - J

[6:45 ; I arrive]
[7:00 ; I begin Job 1, a v-cut test]
[7:45 ; I begin Job 2, a fabric job, 120 small pcs]
7:53 ; J arrives
[8:00 ; I begin Job 3, a v-cut job - 72 pcs]
8:00-8:20 ; gratuitous cleaning
8:30-8:47 ; phone
[8:47-8:48 ; management in area - MW]
8:53ish -9:00 ; See NOTE 1
[8:54-8:56 ; management in area - HP]
9:00 ; "starts" on first and only job - see NOTE 2
9:08-9:17 ; phone
[9:20-9:21 ; management in area - HK]
9:31- ? ; phone
9:38-9:42 ; phone
[9:46-10:06 ; break, I am not in area to observe]
? - 10:21 ; wandering
10:28-10:34 ; Note 3 @ 67%
10:44-10:50 ; phone
[10:45 ; I begin Job 4 - large fabric, 1 pc]
[11:15 ; I begin Job 5 - large fabric, 160 pcs - see NOTE 4]
11:38-11:41 ; wandering
11:41- ? ; phone
[11:44-12:08 ; lunch, I am not in the area to observe]
12:08-12:19 ; wandering
12:26- ? ; sitting
[12:27-12:42 ; bathroom, I am not in the area to observe]
? -12:52 ; sitting/phone
[12:53-12:54 ; management in area - MW]
1:00-1:10 ; sitting
1:12-1:19 ; management in area - HK, MW]
[1:23-1:24 ; management in area - MW]
1:23-2:01 ; wandering - NOTE 5
2:05-2:15 ; phone
2:22-2:24 ; phone
2:34-2:40 ; sitting
2:44-2:51 ; sitting/phone
2:51-3:52 ; wandering - NOTE 6
3:52-3:55 ; sitting
[3:56 ; I leave the building]


If the terms used seem confusing, you might read this.

NOTE 1: A bit before this, J is doing something involving an already finished job, looking it over, re-packaging it, something, I dont really know.

NOTE 2: So here's how the one job J did all day went down:
9:00 ; got table with uncut boards
9:20 ; first board on table
9:24 ; first board actually cut!
9:28 ; second board cut
9:37 ; fourth board cut
10:00 ; seven boards cut
12:08 ; 26 boards have been cut
1:30 ; 34 boards have been cut
3:00 ; 37 boards have been cut
Several things should be noted here: A) it took about 50 seconds to process a board, and no more than that to empty the table and reload, so say it should take about 2 minutes per board. S, who is no great worker himself, also worked on an identical job. He started at around 11:00 and stopped around 3:00 with 41 boards done.

NOTE 3: Sometimes, J doesnt work more, but goofs off smarter. He alternates between working and not, so that it becomes difficult to track him unless you watch him at all times. He's not goofing off non-stop, but he's not really working, either. I've struggled with how to document this, and I think I came up with a decent system: during a given time period, I look over at J at random and ask this question when I do - Is he working, yes or no? I am allowed to note this no more than once a minute, and at the end of a time period, I calculate the percentage of times I've seen him goofing off versus the whole number of observations within that time, which gives me a goof-off "rate". This eliminates (or at least lessens) the subjectivity of my estimates of the level of his malingering.
I dont actually use this much this day.

NOTE 4: This is the same job J was doing the entire day before (staying until after 8:00 pm), on the same machine, with a helper to catch the pieces. He did no more than I did, probably less, though it's hard to tell since he didnt log his work. He might have been more productive had he not been staring at his phone nearly every time looked over at him. I rather pitied his poor helper.

NOTE 5: where ever J went, he went there in his car, and returned with food, which he spent the next 15 minutes or so eating in the department.

NOTE 6: I saw J leave the building through the side door, and re-enter that way an hour later, looking rather stunned or groggy. His car didnt seem to move, so I wonder if he was outside sleeping in it?