Gilbreth, Frank and Lillian

Frank (July 7, 1868 – June 14, 1924) and Lillian (May 24, 1878 – January 2, 1972) Gilbreth were each forward thinkers in manufacturing in the early 20^th century.

Frank Gilbreth

Lillian Gilbreth

They were closely linked to time and motion studies and created a set of 17 motions they could uniquely identify during work. This set of motions, which included things like transport, grasp, and hold, are called “therbligs” which is a near-reversal of their last name. Categorizing motions like this helped to streamline observations for time and motion studies.