Nilsson Associates
12-22-2006, 07:58 AM
Doing A Time Study of Labor Hours for Lawn Care and Landscape Work
Nilsson Associates Toll Free 866-280-2252
www.nilssonbooks.com (http://nilssonbooks.com/)
Factor in all variables when figuring work times .... because you're looking for averages and coming up with (standards) that you can use to bid the jobs with and assign the work to your crews. Here are some thoughts on that.
These methods of collecting information was the basis for creating my Labor Time Data Handbook of Standard Work Times (http://nilssonbooks.com/job_bidding_pricing.htm#Labor Time Data Handbook) of man hours needed to perform the work. Included in my time study was all sorts of grounds maintenance and landscaping installation tasks and work that is normally done by landscaping and lawn care service companies. I timed things like Mowing, edging, trimming, pruning, snow plowing, ice control, tree planting, mulch, aeration, slit seeding, shrub beds, hardscapes, blowing leaves, lawn chemical applications, spring and fall cleanups, seed, installing sod, water gardening, flowers, and over 500 common job tasks (http://nilssonbooks.com/job_bidding_pricing.htm#Labor Time Data Handbook)to numerous to mention. I timed the different work tasks using many different types and sizes of power equipment was used during the timing trials for edger, trimmers, riding mower, walkbehind, weed eater, tractor, ztr, chainsaws, loaders, trucks, trailers, sprayers, hydroseeders, spreaders and the usual equipment of running a green industry company.
The following are the steps to take and each one when included in the "mix" of factors when you gather and calculate your work times will each in their own way improve the accuracy of times you arrive at. Granted that doing a meaningful time study is extremely time consuming to do but in the long run will prove helpful to any owner who does not want to just use "guesswork" when bidding jobs.
1. Time different workers - fast, medium and slow doing the same task.
2. Time the work under different temps - expect times to be slow when it's real hot, faster work done when temps drop, but trail off badly when temps drop real low.
3. Time the same work using different sized mowers and equipment. That's very important because mowing is about 50% of the work (http://nilssonbooks.com/job_estimating_package.htm) in most grounds maintenance contracts ... so accuracy is paramount for bidding purposes.
4. Time the work on diff days of the week ... Saurdays & Sundays are bad days as a rule. Monday sometimes starts slow, Tuesday a little better, Wednesday better, Thursday okay, Friday gets slower than Thursday or Wednesday.
5. Time the (same) work during periods ... dry, wet, hot & cool
6. TIme the same work during different times of the (same day) starting in early am usually a little pokey, gets better as time goes on till about one hour from shutdown for the day.
If you don't factor in all these variables you can get some very misleading job times. I did numerous time studies (http://nilssonbooks.com/about_the_author.htm) as Financial Controller doing Accounting working for large Corporations that needed accurate production work times for Pricing and Job Cost Purposes and can tell you from experience that the same work should be timed with all the above variables and that a great number of tests need to be taken for the same identical same work.
If you don't use great care in time studies, you can go off half cocked and always be wondering why your crews didn't compete the work within the time frames you used. Also the real danger is to use your inaccurate times when you bid the work. If your times are too fast ... or too slow ... you'll lose out. They need to be true standards. True standards are based on good testing methods and procedures and then statistical approaches applied and considered as well.
What you discover and how do you know you have good times? Your fastest workers will BEAT your time standards and your slowest workers will not live up to them. Now the question comes down to .... your mix of workers. Question - how average is your workforce? If you don't know the answer to that question then you have a problem. That too needs to be factored in. How do you find out if they are average? you need to time each worker - fast and slow to make sure you know the difference then you can and should factor in ONE MORE vital piece of info into your time mix .... what is my average worker capable of doing time wise and are those times going to "cut it" in the real world.
Click here for more information (http://nilssonbooks.com/job_bidding_pricing.htm#Labor Time Data Handbook) about Nilsson's Labor Time Studies at the Nilsson Bookstore or call Toll FREE for more info 1-866-280-2252
Other resources ...
Sales Boosters (http://nilssonbooks.com/sales_booster_package.htm)
Job Estimating Package (http://nilssonbooks.com/job_estimating_package.htm)
FREE Job Pricing Guidelines (http://nilssonbooks.com/free_job_guidelines.htm)
New Business Startup Package (http://nilssonbooks.com/just_getting_started.htm)
Complete Operations Management System (http://nilssonbooks.com/coms_package.htm)
When it comes to pricing lawn and landscape jobs nobody has more industry pricing information than Nilsson Associates. Nilsson's Job Price Guides covers lawn care job bidding & estimating landscaping job bids for commercial & residential customers. Get more customers. Price estimates & bids, grounds services, landscaping pricing estimates , estimating & bid the price seasonal work, year around commercial estimate contracts, best price per square foot, best grounds maintenance & landscaping job to bid & pricing, price of lawn care, lawn mowing price, aeration pricing, lawns, commercial landscape job bid estimates, maintenance estimating & pricing, mulching prices, pricing chemicals, weeding & aerating pricing, fertilizer prices, prices for organic fertilizer, pricing weeds in beds, pricing pruning & trimming trees & shrubs, pricing commercial & residential snow plowing, hardscape pricing, pricing hydroseeding, irrigation service estimates for commercial & residential, pricing seeding lawns, pricing lawn sod, prices for slit seeding lawns, pricing edging lawn beds, spring cleanup prices, pricing fall cleanups, hourly price of pressure washing walks & patios, pricing trees, stump grinding prices, price for gutter cleaning, lawn dethatching price, price for shoveling snow, pricing salting, price sanding.
For more information about Pricing Click Here for FREE Job Pricing Guidelines (http://nilssonbooks.com/free_job_guidelines.htm)
Click here for: Labor Time Data Handbook (http://nilssonbooks.com/job_bidding_pricing.htm#)
Nilsson Associates Toll Free 866-280-2252
www.nilssonbooks.com (http://nilssonbooks.com/)
Factor in all variables when figuring work times .... because you're looking for averages and coming up with (standards) that you can use to bid the jobs with and assign the work to your crews. Here are some thoughts on that.
These methods of collecting information was the basis for creating my Labor Time Data Handbook of Standard Work Times (http://nilssonbooks.com/job_bidding_pricing.htm#Labor Time Data Handbook) of man hours needed to perform the work. Included in my time study was all sorts of grounds maintenance and landscaping installation tasks and work that is normally done by landscaping and lawn care service companies. I timed things like Mowing, edging, trimming, pruning, snow plowing, ice control, tree planting, mulch, aeration, slit seeding, shrub beds, hardscapes, blowing leaves, lawn chemical applications, spring and fall cleanups, seed, installing sod, water gardening, flowers, and over 500 common job tasks (http://nilssonbooks.com/job_bidding_pricing.htm#Labor Time Data Handbook)to numerous to mention. I timed the different work tasks using many different types and sizes of power equipment was used during the timing trials for edger, trimmers, riding mower, walkbehind, weed eater, tractor, ztr, chainsaws, loaders, trucks, trailers, sprayers, hydroseeders, spreaders and the usual equipment of running a green industry company.
The following are the steps to take and each one when included in the "mix" of factors when you gather and calculate your work times will each in their own way improve the accuracy of times you arrive at. Granted that doing a meaningful time study is extremely time consuming to do but in the long run will prove helpful to any owner who does not want to just use "guesswork" when bidding jobs.
1. Time different workers - fast, medium and slow doing the same task.
2. Time the work under different temps - expect times to be slow when it's real hot, faster work done when temps drop, but trail off badly when temps drop real low.
3. Time the same work using different sized mowers and equipment. That's very important because mowing is about 50% of the work (http://nilssonbooks.com/job_estimating_package.htm) in most grounds maintenance contracts ... so accuracy is paramount for bidding purposes.
4. Time the work on diff days of the week ... Saurdays & Sundays are bad days as a rule. Monday sometimes starts slow, Tuesday a little better, Wednesday better, Thursday okay, Friday gets slower than Thursday or Wednesday.
5. Time the (same) work during periods ... dry, wet, hot & cool
6. TIme the same work during different times of the (same day) starting in early am usually a little pokey, gets better as time goes on till about one hour from shutdown for the day.
If you don't factor in all these variables you can get some very misleading job times. I did numerous time studies (http://nilssonbooks.com/about_the_author.htm) as Financial Controller doing Accounting working for large Corporations that needed accurate production work times for Pricing and Job Cost Purposes and can tell you from experience that the same work should be timed with all the above variables and that a great number of tests need to be taken for the same identical same work.
If you don't use great care in time studies, you can go off half cocked and always be wondering why your crews didn't compete the work within the time frames you used. Also the real danger is to use your inaccurate times when you bid the work. If your times are too fast ... or too slow ... you'll lose out. They need to be true standards. True standards are based on good testing methods and procedures and then statistical approaches applied and considered as well.
What you discover and how do you know you have good times? Your fastest workers will BEAT your time standards and your slowest workers will not live up to them. Now the question comes down to .... your mix of workers. Question - how average is your workforce? If you don't know the answer to that question then you have a problem. That too needs to be factored in. How do you find out if they are average? you need to time each worker - fast and slow to make sure you know the difference then you can and should factor in ONE MORE vital piece of info into your time mix .... what is my average worker capable of doing time wise and are those times going to "cut it" in the real world.
Click here for more information (http://nilssonbooks.com/job_bidding_pricing.htm#Labor Time Data Handbook) about Nilsson's Labor Time Studies at the Nilsson Bookstore or call Toll FREE for more info 1-866-280-2252
Other resources ...
Sales Boosters (http://nilssonbooks.com/sales_booster_package.htm)
Job Estimating Package (http://nilssonbooks.com/job_estimating_package.htm)
FREE Job Pricing Guidelines (http://nilssonbooks.com/free_job_guidelines.htm)
New Business Startup Package (http://nilssonbooks.com/just_getting_started.htm)
Complete Operations Management System (http://nilssonbooks.com/coms_package.htm)
When it comes to pricing lawn and landscape jobs nobody has more industry pricing information than Nilsson Associates. Nilsson's Job Price Guides covers lawn care job bidding & estimating landscaping job bids for commercial & residential customers. Get more customers. Price estimates & bids, grounds services, landscaping pricing estimates , estimating & bid the price seasonal work, year around commercial estimate contracts, best price per square foot, best grounds maintenance & landscaping job to bid & pricing, price of lawn care, lawn mowing price, aeration pricing, lawns, commercial landscape job bid estimates, maintenance estimating & pricing, mulching prices, pricing chemicals, weeding & aerating pricing, fertilizer prices, prices for organic fertilizer, pricing weeds in beds, pricing pruning & trimming trees & shrubs, pricing commercial & residential snow plowing, hardscape pricing, pricing hydroseeding, irrigation service estimates for commercial & residential, pricing seeding lawns, pricing lawn sod, prices for slit seeding lawns, pricing edging lawn beds, spring cleanup prices, pricing fall cleanups, hourly price of pressure washing walks & patios, pricing trees, stump grinding prices, price for gutter cleaning, lawn dethatching price, price for shoveling snow, pricing salting, price sanding.
For more information about Pricing Click Here for FREE Job Pricing Guidelines (http://nilssonbooks.com/free_job_guidelines.htm)
Click here for: Labor Time Data Handbook (http://nilssonbooks.com/job_bidding_pricing.htm#)