Repetitive Work

In 1918 the neurologist and psychiatrist, Walther Poppelreuter, introduced a “work display time system”. His goal was “to make good workers out of initially poor ones by instructing them”.

The director of a “mental institution for gunshot wounds to the head”, he was concerned with assessing the working capacity of patients with brain lesions. He later applied his method more broadly to the improvement of work processes.

In industry, work was planned by means of time and work studies so that it would be done efficiently. The USA was a pioneer in this field. The Taylor System, named after Frederic Winslow Taylor, had the reputation, however, of unduly taking advantage of workers. Poppelreuter, on the other hand, wanted to prevent the “harmful overuse of the individual” and increase productivity for future work.