Gilbreth, Frank and Lillian, were a husband-and-wife team of American industrial engineers. They pioneered in the field of scientific management and improved a technique called time and motion study. In their search for “the one best way” to do any task, they evaluated factory employees, office personnel, and other workers. They introduced the use of motion-picture cameras to analyze how work was done. They sought to eliminate wasted motion, thus saving time and energy. The Gilbreths wrote a number of books, including Fatigue Study (1916) and Applied Motion Study (1917).
The Gilbreths had 12 children, and the family’s story is documented in the best-selling book Cheaper by the Dozen (1949), written by two of the children, Frank B. Gilbreth, Jr., and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey.
Frank Bunker Gilbreth was born on July 7, 1868, in Fairfield, Maine. He started an internationally successful contracting business in 1895. He married Lillian Moller in 1904, and they founded a management consulting firm in 1911. Frank Gilbreth died on June 14, 1924.
Lillian Evelyn Moller was born on May 24, 1878, in Oakland, California. She graduated from the University of California and earned a master’s degree there. In 1915, she earned a Ph.D. degree in psychology at Brown University. After her husband’s death, she took over their business and became a leading engineer. Lillian Gilbreth died on Jan. 2, 1972.
See also Taylor, Frederick Winslow .
