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Lilian Gilbreth evaluated scientific management from the view point of Psychology in the book "THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MANAGEMENT."
Important points made in the book are presented below.
CHAPTER I
DESCRIPTION AND GENERAL OUTLINE OF THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MANAGEMENT
Definition of Psychology of Management - Importance of the Subject - Purpose of this Book
Definition of Management. - Possible Psychological Studies of Management - Plan of Psychological Study Here Used - Conclusions to be Reached
Definition of Psychology of Management.
The Psychology of Management, as here used, means, the effect of the mind that is directing work upon that work which is directed, and the effect of this undirected and directed work upon the mind of the worker.
Psychology, in the popular phrase, is " the study of the mind."
It was not recognized that every man going out into the world needs all the knowledge that he can get as to the working of the human mind in order not only to give but to receive information with the least waste and expenditure of energy, nor was it recognized that in the industrial, as well as the academic world, almost every man is a teacher.
With the advent of "Scientific Management," and its demonstration that the best management is founded on laws that have been determined, and can be taught, the study of management in the class room as well as on the work became possible and actual.
By Scientific Management, it has demonstrated that the emphasis in successful management lies on the man, not on the work; that efficiency is best secured by placing the emphasis on the man,and modifying the equipment, materials and methods to make the most of the man. It has, further, recognized that the man's mind is a controlling factor in his efficiency, and has, by teaching, enabled the man to make the most of his powers. In order to understand this teaching element that is such a large part of management, a knowledge of psychology is imperative; and this study of psychology, as it applies to the work of the manager or the man aged, is exactly what the " psychology of management " is.
The psychology of, that is, the mind's place in management is only one part, element or variable of management; one of numerous, almost numberless, variables.
Purpose of This Book. It is scarcely necessary to mention that this book can hope to do little more than arouse an interest in the subject and point the way to the detailed books where such an interest can be more deeply aroused and more fully satisfied.
Definition of Management.
To discuss this subject more in detail
First: What is " Management "?
" Management," as defined by the Century Dictionary, is " the art of managing by direction or
regulation."
Successful management of the old type was an art based on no measurement. Scientific Management
is an art based upon a science, upon laws deducted from measurement. Management continues to be what it has always been, the art of directing activity.
Psychological Interest of the Terms.
Psychology could ask no more interesting subject than a study of the mental processes that lie back of many of these terms. It is most unfortunate for the obtaining of clearness, that new terms were not invented for the new ideas. There is, however, an excellent reason for using the old terms. By their use it is emphasized that the new thought is a logical out growth of the old, and experience has proved that this close relationship to established ideas is a powerful argument for the new science; but such terms as "task," "foreman," "speed boss," "piece-rate" and " bonus," as used in the science of management, suffer from misunderstanding caused by old and now false associations. Furthermore, in order to compare old and new interpretations of the ideas of management, the older terms of management should have their traditional meanings only. The two sets of meanings are a source of endless confusion, unwarranted prejudice, and worse. This is well recognized by the authorities on Management.
Plan of Psychological Study Used Here.
It has, therefore, seemed best to base the discussion that is to follow upon arbitrary divisions of scientific management, that is
1. To enumerate the underlying principles on which scientific management rests.
2. To show in how far the other two types of management vary from Scientific Management.
3. To discuss the psychological aspect of each principle.
Underlying Ideas and Divisions of Scientific Management.
These underlying ideas are grouped under nine divisions, as follows : 1. Individuality. 2. Functionalization. 3. Measurement. 4. Analysis and Synthesis. 5. Standardization. 6. Records and Programmes. 7. Teaching. 8. Incentives. 9. Welfare.
Conclusions to be Reached. These conclusions will include the following:
Psychology Evaluation of Scientific Management by Lilian Gilbreth - 1914
1. "Scientific Management" is a science.
2. It alone, of the Three Types of Management, is a science.
3. Contrary to a widespread belief that Scientific Management kills individuality, it is built on the basic principle of recognition of the individual, not only as an economic unit but also as a personality, with all the idiosyncrasies that distinguish a person.
4. Scientific Management fosters individuality by functionalizing work.
5. Measurement, in Scientific Management, is of ultimate units of subdivision.
7. Standardization under Scientific Management applies to all elements.
8. The accurate records of Scientific Management make accurate programmes possible of fulfillment.
9. Through the teaching of Scientific Management, the management is unified and made self-perpetuating.
10. The method of teaching of Scientific Management is a distinct and valuable contribution to Education.
11. Incentives under Scientific Management not only stimulate but benefit the worker.
12. It is for the ultimate as well as immediate welfare of the worker to work under Scientific Management.
13. Scientific Management is applicable to all fields of activity, and to mental as well as physical
work.
14. Scientific Management is applicable to self-management as well as to managing others.
15. It teaches men to cooperate with the management as well as to manage.
16. It is a device capable of use by all.
17. The psychological element of Scientific Management is the most important element.
18. Because Scientific Management is psychologically right it is the ultimate form of management.
19. This psychological study of Scientific Management emphasizes especially the teaching features.
20. Scientific Management simultaneously
a. increases output and wages and lowers costs.
b. eliminates waste.
c. turns unskilled labor into skilled.
d. provides a system of self-perpetuating welfare.
e. reduces the cost of living.
f. bridges the gap between the college trained and the apprenticeship trained worker.
g. forces capital and labor to cooperate and to promote industrial peace.
5. Standardization.
What is a standard?
Three phrases or dictionary meanings, the standard is a " unit of reference," "is a basis of comparison," and "it is a model" describe its usage in management, and are particularly emphasized by the use of the standard in Scientific Management.
I personally highlight first that it is a model. A standard is a model way of working presented.
The contribution of Taylor is in multiple areas and was described in detail in this article. Gilbreth also made very important contributions including the development of the charts now the main tools of industrial engineering.
In the flow process chart, five activities or operations are recorded.
Material processing - Inspection - Material Handling and Transport - Shop floor delays - Warehousing or Controlled storage
In each of the activities or operations, there is role for machines, tools and operators. The work of machines are operators has to be documented in detail to be examined and improved.
Taylor's contribution is very significant in study and improvement of machine work. His contribution to study of operators' work was developed into a more detailed procedure by Gilbreth.
Harrington Emerson highlighted the production planning steps which are relevant in eliminating shop floor delays. The Japanese contribution to industrial engineering starts with eliminating the delays caused by large lot sizes. It redesigned all other operations of the process to achieve smaller batch quantities and became world standard even for the current times.
Contribution of F.W. Taylor to Industrial Engineering
F.W. Taylor started his career as a worker. He observed and concluded that as a worker he could produce much more than others in the shop without any additional strain. That experience gave a direction to his managerial career. Because his career started in machine shop, he realized the importance of potential of the machine work system to give increased output. If the machine related work elements are not functioning properly, the operator is handicapped. With a good machine and machine work system, the belief of the worker in benefits of producing maximum output every day is also required. When Taylor began his work as a shop engineer or manager, taking care of machines and methods during operations was not emphasized. The activities are left to foremen and operators and they were doing it based on their experience, available thumb rules and trial and error methods in each shop. Taylor was impressed by the scientific method of collection of experimental data or observation data and developing theories and laws. Based on his experiments and observations, Taylor developed efficient methods of machine shop work. He also started observing the working of operators and collecting data. Based on his long years executive work and consulting work, Taylor explained the productivity improvement in multiple presentations he made in annual conferences of American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). Thus, it has to be reiterated again that Taylor developed both scientific study of machine work and man work for increasing productivity in the machine shop. He also developed machine time determination formulas to assist in machine work study. The stop watch time study of work operators was developed to find the best practices of experienced operators to develop science of human effort. Improvement in working time due to various changes proposed by industrial engineers/scientific managers can be validated by time study.
Taylor was involved in the activities of American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) from the very early years. In year 1886, when Henry Towne called for the study of management, accounting and economics by engineers, Taylor was present in the meeting and he participated in the discussion of cost accounting system proposed by Metcalf. Thus Taylor already had active participation in study of accounting, economics and productivity improvement.
In 1893, Taylor presented his first paper on cost analysis and cost reduction based on redesign of engineering elements. It was on redesign of belt system based on collection of data for 10 years on cost of the belting system. Thus Taylor laid the strong foundation for redesign of engineering components and systems based on the accumulated cost data and economic decision making.
Important points in "Notes on Belting" (1893)
In using belting so as to obtain the greatest economy and the most satisfactory results, the following rules should be. observed :
The chief consideration in design of belting in industry has to be how to get the maximum of work from belting ; while, in making up belting design tables, the two most important considerations — how to secure the minimum of interruptions to manufacture, and the maximum of durability — have to be given attention. The important consideration in making up design tables and rules for the use and care of belting is how to secure the least possible interruption to manufacture due to repairs or correction to be made to belts.
Belts should be made heavier and run more slowly than indicated by present theory and design rules for reducing the belt cost (first cost + maintenance) as well as the cost due to frequent interruptions to manufacture. According to data accumulated, by far the largest item in this account is the time lost on the machines while belts are being replaced and repaired.
As part of the cost study of belts, shifting and cone belts were compared. The important fact noticeable is the superiority of the shifting to the cone belts in every respect except the purchase price. But paying more at the time of purchase is beneficial as the operating and maintenance cost of substantially lower and hence to life time cost of shifting belts is low. The life of the shifting belts is on average three times that of the cone. The total cost of the shifting belts per year of service is less than that of the cone. After 8.8 years of life the total cost of maintenance and repairs of the shifting belts amounts to only 30.4% of the original cost, while with the cone belts the maintenance and repairs through a life of 6.7 years amounts to one and one-half times the first cost.
The interruptions to manufacture are nearly seven times as frequent with the cone as with the shifting belts. Each shifting belt required tightening or repairing on an average only 6 times during nine years, while the cone belts averaged 32 interruptions to manufacture in 0.7 years. The shifting belts having run on an average twenty-two months without tightening, while the cone belts ran only two and one-half months.
Summarizing, we may state that the total life of belting, cost of maintenance and repairs, and the interruptions to manufacture caused by belts, are dependent upon
(1) the " total load " to which they are subjected, more than upon any other condition ;
The most economical total load for belting must lie between 174 lbs. and 357 lbs. per square inch of section of belt. The average total load on belting should be 200 to 225 lbs. per square inch section of belt.
Six- and seven-ply rubber belts, and all double leather belts except oak tanned and fulled, will transmit economically a pull of 30 lbs. per inch of width to the rim of the pulley.
Oak tanned and fulled double leather belts will transmit economically a pull of 35 lbs. per inch of width.
The other conditions chiefly affecting the durability of belting are :
(2) Whether the belts are spliced, or fastened with lacing or belt hooks.
(3) Whether they are properly greased and kept clean and free from machinery oil.
(4) The speed at which they are run.
The most economical speed for belting is 4,000 to 4,500 feet per minute.
Subsequent to the presentation of papers on productivity gain sharing by Towne, and Halsey, Taylor presented his full productivity improvement systems that had three ideas in the paper on piece rate system. The precursor of industrial engineering department, elementary rate fixing department was proposed in this paper. This department has the responsibility of improving the machine, machine work and operator work and determine the time that is required to do various work elements. Time study to observe and record time taken to complete an element was proposed in this paper only. The improvement carried out in various engineering elements related to machine and machine work were briefly described in this paper.
Frederick Taylor's Elementary Rate-fixing Department (Industrial Engineering Department).
From the paper, Piece Rate System, 1895
The advantages of this system of management (Taylor's Piece Rate System) are :
The manufactures are produced cheaper under it.
The system is rapid in attaining the maximum productivity of each machine and man
The writer introduced a new system of management in the works of the Midvale Steel Company, of Philadelphia. It was employed in organization for past ten years with the most satisfactory results.
The system consists of a principal element: An elementary rate-fixing department (productivity department).
Elementary rate-fixing differs from other methods of making piece-work prices in that a careful study is made of the time required to do each of the many elementary operations into which the manufacturing of an establishment may be analyzed or divided. The times for elementary operations are recorded under various classified heads to facilitate retrieving them when needed.
The rate-fixing department has equal dignity and commands equal respect with the engineering and managing departments and is organized and conducted in an equally scientific and practical manner. It contributes value to the organization and justifies its existence and the expenses incurred including the salaries paid to the department personnel.
This elementary system of fixing rates has been in successful operation for the past ten years, successfully covering the wide a range of manufacturing activities. This new system came into existence in 1883. While he was the foreman of the machine shop of the Midvale Steel Company of Philadelphia, it occurred to Taylor the writer that a better system of fixing piece rates was possible and it would be beneficial to both firm and the employee. The ideas was that it was simpler to time each of the elements of the various kinds of work done in the place, and then find the quickest time in which each element could be done under proper planning and standardization. The time required for each job having various elements can be determined by summing up the total times of the best or lowest times of its component parts instead of searching through the records of former jobs and guessing or estimating the proper piece rate. Taylor, himself as the foreman practised this method of rate-fixing for about a year as it is the responsibility of the foreman. Then he recommended to his company management to set up the rate-fixing department. From then onwards, the department successfully set the piece-work prices that gave higher productivity.
This department far more than paid for itself from the very start. Over years more benefits were realized as methods of determining the maximum capacity of each of the machines in the place, and of making working-tables of cutting conditions were developed. Also the best methods of making and recording time observations of work done by the men and developing the best way of doing each element was determined. Also time-tables for starting and finishing jobs (schedules) were developed and daily task was given to each workman with the promise of a bonus or additional premium for exceeding the task given to him in a day.
The best results were finally attained in the case of work done by metal-cutting tools, such as lathes, planers, boring mills, etc., when a long and expensive series of experiments was made, to determine, formulate, and finally practically apply to each machine the law governing the proper cutting speed of tools, namely, the effect on the cutting speed of altering any one of the following variables : the shape of the tool (i.e., lip angle, clearance angle, and the line of the cutting edge), the duration of the cut, the quality or hardness of the metal being cut, the depth of the cut, and the thickness of the feed or shaving.
Due to the understanding of metal cutting through these experiments, the quality of the work was improved and the output of the machinery and the men was doubled, and in many cases trebled. At the start there was naturally great opposition to the rate-fixing department, particularly to the man who was taking time observations of the various elements of the work. But when the men found that the knowledge of the department was more accurate than their own, and the system provided them higher income permanently, the motive for hanging back or “ soldiering (deliberate slow work)” ceased, and with it the greatest cause for antagonism and war between the men and the management
The accurate knowledge of the quickest time in which work can be done, obtained by the rate-fixing department and accepted by the men as standard, is the greatest and most important step toward obtaining the maximum output of the establishment.
Of the two devices proposed for increasing the output of a shop, the differential rate and the scientific rate-fixing department, the scientific rate-fixing department is by far the more important. The differential rate is invaluable at the start as a means of convincing men that the management is in earnest in its intention of paying a premium for performing properly planned work or engineered work, and it at all times furnishes the best means of maintaining the top notch of production; but when, through its application, the men and the management have come to appreciate the mutual benefit of harmonious cooperation and respect for each other’s rights, it ceases to be an absolute necessity. On the other hand, the rate-fixing department, for an establishment doing a large variety of work, becomes absolutely indispensable. The longer it is in operation the more necessary it becomes.
To apply the knowledge gained through rate fixing deparment's work in various organizations with less cost, what is needed is a hand-book on the speed with which work can be done, similar to the elementary engineering hand-books. And the writer ventures to predict that such a book will, before long, be forthcoming. Such a book should describe the best method of making, recording, tabulating, and indexing time-observations, since much time and effort are wasted by the adoption of inferior methods (Taylor himself created the engineering knowledge to determine cutting speeds, feeds and depth of cut of machine tools).
The benefits of elementary rate-fixing including many indirect results.
The careful study of the capabilities of the machines and the analysis of the speeds at which they must run, before differential rates can be fixed which will insure their maximum output, almost invariably result in first indicating and then correcting the defects in their design and in the method of running and caring for them.
In the case of the Midvale Steel Company the machine shop was equipped with standard tools furnished by the best makers, and the study of these machines, such as lathes, planers, boring mills, etc., which was made in fixing rates, developed the fact that they were none of them designed and speeded so as to cut steel to the best advantage. As a result, this company has demanded alterations from the standard in almost every machine which they have bought during the past eight years. They have themselves been obliged to superintend the design of many special tools which would not have been thought of had it not been for elementary rate-fixing.
But what is perhaps of more importance still, the rate-fixing department has shown the necessity of carefully systematizing all of the small details in the running of each shop, such as the care of belting, the proper shape for cutting tools, and the dressing, grinding, and issuing swarf, oiling machines, issuing orders for work, obtaining accurate labor and material returns, and a host of other minor methods and processes. These details, which are usually regarded as of comparatively small importance, and many of which are left to the individual judgment of the foreman and workmen, are shown by the rate-fixing department to be of paramount importance in obtaining the maximum output, and to require the most careful and systematic study and attention in order to insure uniformity and a fair and equal chance for each workman. Without this preliminary study and systematizing of details it is impossible to apply successfully the differential rate in most establishments.
No system of management, however good, should be applied in a wooden way. The proper personal relations should always be maintained between the employers and men; and even the prejudices of the workmen should be considered in dealing with ]them.
Above all it is desirable that men should be talked to on their own level by those who are over them.
Each man should be encouraged to discuss any trouble which he may have, either in the works or outside, with those over him. Men would far rather even be blamed by their bosses, especially if the “ tearing out ” has a touch of human nature and feeling in it, than to be passed by day after day without a word and with no more notice than if they were part of the machinery.
The opportunity which each man should have of airing his mind freely and having it out with his employers, is a safety-valve ; and if the superintendents are reasonable men, and listen to and treat with respect what their men have to say, there is absolutely no reason for labor unions and strikes.
Taylor is the first person who wrote about a system to improve productivity in machine shop. He contributed to productivity science, productivity engineering and productivity management. It is important to study the productivity science developed by Taylor through his paper "The Art of Metal Cutting." Number of tables were shared with participants along with the paper presented in 1906. The folder containing tables is not yet available in the web space. We only have the paper. So, it may be difficult to follow the content. But we need to make an attempt to understand to the extent possible and develop similar content for other processes. Taylor did research on productivity improvement of machining in turning process for 26 years and provided number of relations between cutting variables and productivity. ELEMENTS AFFECTING CUTTING SPEED OF TOOLS IN THE ORDER OF THEIR RELATIVE IMPORTANCE
The cutting speed of a tool is directly dependent upon the following elements. The order in which the elements are given indicates their relative effect in modifying the cutting speed, and in order to compare them, we have written in each case figures which represent, broadly speaking, the ratio between the lower and higher limits of speed as affected by each element.
(A) The quality of the metal which is to be cut; i.e., its hardness or other qualities which affect the cutting speed.
Proportion is as 1 in the case of semi-hardened steel or chilled iron to 100 in the case of very soft low carbon steel.
(B) The chemical composition of the steel from which the V tool is made, and the heat treatment of the tool.
Proportion is as 1 in tools made from tempered carbon steel to 7 in the best high speed tools.
(C) The thickness of the shaving; or, the thickness of the spiral strip or band of metal which is to be removed by the tool, measured while the metal retains its original density (uncut thickness); not the thickness of the actual shaving, the metal of which has become partly disintegrated.
Proportion is as 1 with thickness of shaving 3/16 of an inch to 3.5 with thickness of shaving 1/64 of an inch.
(D) The shape or contour of the cutting edge of the tool, chiefly because of the effect which it has upon the thickness of the shaving.
Proportion is as 1 in a thread tool to 6 in a broad nosed cutting tool. ,
(E) Whether a copious stream of water or other cooling medium is used on the tool.
Proportion is as 1 for tool running dry to 1.41 for tool cooled by a copious stream of water.
(F) The depth of the cut; or, one-half of the amount by which the forging or casting is being reduced in diameter in turning.
Proportion is as 1 with 1/2 inch depth of cut to 1.36 with 1/8 inch depth of cut.
(G) The duration of the cut; i. c., the time which a tool must last under pressure of the shaving without being reground.
Proportion is as 1 when tool is to be ground every 1.5 hour to 1.207 when tool is to be ground every 20 minutes.
(H) The lip and clearance angles of the tool.
Proportion is as 1 with lip angle of 68 degrees to 1.023 with lip angle of 61 degrees.
(J) The elasticity of the work and of the tool on account of producing chatter.
Proportion is as 1 with tool chattering to 1.15 with tool running smoothly.
A brief recapitulation of these elements is as follows:
(A) quality of metal to be cut: 1 to 100;
(B) chemical composition of tool steel: 1 to 7;
(C) thickness of shaving: 1 to 3.5;
(D) shape or contour of cutting edge: 1 to 6;
(E) copious stream of water on the tool: 1 to 1.41;
(F) depth of cut: 1 with 1/2 inch depth to 1.36 with 1/8 inch depth of cut;
(G) duration of cut: 1 with 1.5 hour cut to 1.20 with 20-minute cut;
(H) lip and clearance angles: 1 with lip angle 68 degrees to 1.023 with lip angle of 61 degrees;
(J) elasticity of the work and of the tool: 1 with tool chattering to 1.15, with tool running smoothly.
A. QUALITY OF METAL BEING CUT
THE EFFECT OF THE QUALITY OF THE METAL BEING CUT UPON CUTTING SPEED
we made great numbers of experiments upon the effect of the quality of the metal being cut upon the cutting speed.
SYSTEMATIC CLASSIFICATION OF STEEL FORGINGS AND CASTINGS ACCORDING TO THEIR CUTTING SPEEDS
It is of great importance to connect this numerical scale of hardness (which varies by the common rate of 1.1) directly and permanently with certain qualities of metal and with cutting tools of definitely known cutting properties. As a basis for accomplishing this we would state that Class No. 13 upon this scale corresponds to a cutting speed of 60 feet per minute, for a standard cut of 20 minutes duration when a high speed inch tool of the chemical composition of tool No. 27 is used, taking a depth of cut of inch and feed of inch.
Our experiments indicate also that Class No. 13 represents a speed of 99 feet (in round numbers 100 feet) for the best high speed tool (Folder 20, Tool No. 1), running under the same conditions as
stated in paragraph.
Using this data as a basis, our scale of "hardness classes" for metals can be connected with other shapes of tools and other qualities of tool steel, other depths of cut, and other thicknesses of feed, by reference to the various tables and formula given throughout this paper.
In using this classification it will be noted that the best modern high speed inch tool, if cutting metal belonging to Class 1 would have a cutting speed of 316 feet per minute with a standard inch depth of cut and inch feed; and such a metal as this would be much softer than any steel which is cut in a machine shop.
For what we call a hard steel forging of about the quality of a hard locomotive tire, a cutting speed of 45 feet corresponds to Class 21 and 1/4, while a soft steel having a cutting speed of 198 feet corresponds to Class 5 and 3/4.
THE EFFECT OF THE QUALITY OR HARDNESS OF STEEL FORGINGS UPON THE CUTTING SPEED
There are three important elements which affect the hardness or the cutting properties of steel forgings:
a Their chemical composition.
b The thoroughness with which the metal is forged, that is, the amount that the cross-section of the ingot has been reduced in making the forging and the forging heat.
c The subsequent heat treatment which the forging receives, that is, whether it has been laid down to cool in the air, annealed, or oil hardened, and the exact temperatures of annealing and the rapidity of cooling.
It may be said, however, that for steel containing 0.40 per cent of carbon or less, the percentage of carbon is a fairly reliable guide to the hardness or cutting speed.
The physical properties of steel constitute a fairly accurate guide to its cutting speed; and these properties are best indicated by the tensile strength and percentage of stretch and contraction of area obtained from standard tensile test bars cut from such a position in the body of the forging as to represent its average quality and then broken in a testing machine.
A study of this table, however, will show that in general the cutting speeds grow slower as the percentage of carbon in the steel to be cut grows greater. In general, also, it will be noted that the cutting speed becomes slower as the tensile strength of the metal becomes higher, and that the cutting speed grows faster as the percentage of stretch increases.
He explained the shop management in a large paper.
Shop Management
The art of management has been defined, "as knowing exactly what you want men to do, and then seeing that they do it in the best and cheapest way.'" No concise definition can fully describe an art, but the relations between employers and men form without question the most important part of this art.
It is safe to say that no system or scheme of management should be considered which does not in the long run give satisfaction to both employer and employee, which does not make it apparent that their best interests are mutual, and which does not bring about such thorough and hearty cooperation that they can pull together instead of apart.
What the workmen want from their employers beyond anything else is high wages, and what employers want from their workmen most of all is a low labor cost of manufacture.
These two conditions are not diametrically opposed to one another as would appear at first glance. On the contrary, they can be made to go together in all classes of work, without exception, and in the writer's judgment the existence or absence of these two elements forms the best index to either good or bad management.
The possibility of coupling high wages with a low labor cost rests mainly upon the enormous difference between the amount of work which a first-class man can do under favorable circumstances and the work which is actually done by the average man.
Both installing and maintaining favorable circumstances and identifying and developing first class men are the responsibility of managers only. No doubt each individual employee is an important contributor to the production process and his enthusiasm every day is required and has to be promoted by the society as well as the organization managers, his initial selection and education/training and development for higher responsibilities are all duties of managers.
Industrial Engineering Described in Shop Management by F.W. Taylor
Taylor developed his shop management and productivity improvement theories initially in machine shops and later extended to other industrial activities. In production systems where machine is the important working component, the large increase in output is due partly to the actual physical changes, either in the machines or small tools and appliances.
Modern engineering can almost be called an exact science; each year removes it further from guess work and from rule-of-thumb methods and establishes it more firmly upon the foundation of fixed principles. Productivity improvement engineering will also become exact science.
In the case of a machine shop doing miscellaneous work, before each casting or forging arrives in the shop the exact route which it is to take from machine to machine should be laid out. An instruction card for each operation must be written out stating in detail just how each operation on every piece of work is to be done and the time required to do it, the drawing number, any special tools, jigs, or appliances required, etc. Before the four principles of productivity improvement through task allotment and management can be successfully applied it is also necessary in most shops to make important physical changes It is the first principle actually. The work of the machine has to be standardized, meaning it has to be planned for maximum productivity. All of the small details in the shop, which are usually regarded as of little importance must be thoroughly and carefully standardized; such. details, for instance, as the care and tightening of the belts; the exact shape and quality of each cutting tool; the establishment of a complete tool room from which properly ground tools, as well as jigs, templates, drawings, etc., are issued under a good check system, etc.; and as a matter of importance (in fact, as the foundation of scientific management) an accurate study of unit times required for each machine tool operation must be made by one or more men connected with the planning department, and each machine tool must be standardized and a table or slide rule constructed for it showing how to run it to the best advantage.
Modern engineering proceeds with comparative certainty to the design and construction of a machine or structure of the maximum efficiency with the minimum weight and cost of materials, while the old style engineering at best only approximated these results and then only after a series of breakdowns, involving the practical reconstruction of the machine and the lapse of a long period of time. Industrial engineering has to provide completion times for various machine tasks as well as manual tasks like design of machine elements.
Modern Engineering and Modern Shop Management - F.W. Taylor
The conditions standardization principle of task management (standardized conditions of "machine") is a necessary preliminary, since without having first thoroughly standardized all of the conditions surrounding work, for productivity management under task management or differential piece rate systems.
Task Work - Some More Thoughts - F.W. Taylor http://nraoiekc.blogspot.com/2013/08/task-work-some-more-thoughts-fw-taylor.html
Machine Tool Time Estimation Methods
Methods employed in solving the time problem for machine tools.
As a machine shop has been chosen to illustrate the application of such details of scientific management as time study, the planning department, functional foremanship, instruction cards, etc., the description of the methods employed in solving the time problem for machine tools has to be included at least briefly.
Methods employed in solving the time problem for machine tools
This issue was already explained in art of metal cutting above.
Time Study - 1903 Explanation by F.W. Taylor - Process Time Reduction Study
The time study should be minute and exact. Each job should be carefully subdivided into its elementary operations, and each of these unit times should receive the most thorough time study.
The art of studying unit times is quite as important and as difficult as that of the draftsman. It should be undertaken seriously, and looked upon as a profession. It has its own peculiar implements and methods, without the use and understanding of which progress will necessarily be slow, and in the absence of which there will be more failures than successes scored at first.
Mr. Thompson has developed what are in many respects the best implements in use, and with his permission some of them will be described. The blank form or note sheet used by Mr. Thompson, contains essentially:
(1) Space for the description of the work and notes in regard to it.
(2) A place for recording the total time of complete operations--that is, the gross time including all necessary delays, for doing a whole job or large portions of it.
(3) Lines for setting down the "detail operations, or units" into which any piece of work may be divided, followed by columns for entering the averages obtained from the observations.
(4) Squares for recording the readings of the stop watch when observing the times of these elements. If these squares are filled, additional records can be entered on the back. The size of the sheets, which should be of best quality ledger paper, is 8 3/4 inches wide by 7 inches long, and by folding in the center they can be conveniently carried in the pocket, or placed in a case (see Fig. 3, page 153) containing one or more stop watches.
This case, or "watch book," is another device of Mr. Thompson's. It consists of a frame work, containing concealed in it one, two, or three watches, whose stop and start movements can be operated by pressing with the fingers of the left hand upon the proper portion of the cover of the note-book without the knowledge of the workman who is being observed. The frame is bound in a leather case resembling a pocket note-book, and has a place for the note sheets described.
To obtain accurate average times, for any item of work under specified conditions, it is necessary to take observations upon a number of men, each of whom is at work under conditions which are comparable. The total number of observations which should be taken of any one elementary unit depends upon its variableness, and also upon its frequency of occurrence in a day's work.
In making time observations, absolutely nothing should be left to the memory of the time study man. Every item, even those which appear self-evident, should be accurately recorded.
It is a good plan to pay a first-class man an extra price while his work is being timed. When work men once understand that the time study is being made to enable them to earn higher wages, the writer has found them quite ready to help instead of hindering him in his work. The division of a given job into its proper elementary units, before beginning the time study, calls for considerable skill and good judgment. If the job to be observed is one which will be repeated over and over again, or if it is one of a series of similar jobs which form an important part of the standard work of an establishment, or of the trade which is being studied, then it is best to divide the job into elements which are rudimentary. In some cases this subdivision should be carried to a point which seems at first glance almost absurd.
The first move before in any way stimulating them toward a larger output was to insure against a falling off in quality.
Bicylcle Ball Inspection Case Study - F.W. Taylor - As Described in Shop Management
Time study for all operations done by the various machines.
This information is best obtained from slide rules, one of which is made for each machine tool or class of machine tools throughout the works; one, for instance, for small lathes of the same type, one for planers of same type, etc. These slide rules show the best way to machine each piece and enable detailed directions to be given the workman as to how many cuts to take, where to start each cut, both for roughing out work and finishing it, the depth of the cut, the best feed and speed, and the exact time required to do each operation.
In the metal working plant which we are using for purposes of illustration a start for productivity improvement can be made at once along all of the following lines:
First. The introduction of standards throughout the works and office.
Second. The scientific study of unit times on several different kinds of work.
Third. A complete analysis of the pulling, feeding power and the proper speeding of the various machine tools throughout the place with a view of making a slide rule for properly running each machine.
Fourth. The work of establishing the system of time cards by means of which ultimately all of the desired information will be conveyed from the men to the planning room.
To illustrate: For nearly two and one-half years in the large shop of the Bethlehem Steel Company, one speed boss after another was instructed in the art of cutting metals fast on a large motor-driven lathe which was especially fitted to run at any desired speed within a very wide range. The work done in this machine was entirely connected, either with the study of cutting tools or the instruction of speed bosses. It was most interesting to see these men, principally either former gang bosses or the best workmen, gradually change from their attitude of determined and positive opposition to that in most cases of enthusiasm for, and earnest support of, the new methods. It was actually running the lathe themselves according to the new method and under the most positive and definite orders that produced the effect. The writer himself ran the lathe and instructed the first few bosses. It required from three weeks to two months for each man.
Train Foremen and Operators in High Productivity - F.W. Taylors
The first of the functional foremen to be brought into actual contact with the men should be the inspector; and the whole system of inspection, with its proper safeguards, should be in smooth and successful operation before any steps are taken toward stimulating the men to a larger output; otherwise an increase in quantity will probably be accompanied by a falling off in quality.
The inspector is responsible for the quality of the work, and both the workmen and speed bosses must see that the work is all finished to suit him. This man can, of course, do his work best if he is a master of the art of finishing work both well and quickly.
Next choose for the application of the two principal functional foremen, viz., the speed boss and the gang boss, that portion of the work in which there is the largest need of, and opportunity for, making a gain.
The gang boss has charge of the preparation of all work up to the time that the piece is set in the machine. It is his duty to see that every man under him has at all times at least one piece of work ahead at his machine, with all the jigs, templates, drawings, driving mechanism, sling chains, etc., ready to go into his machine as soon as the piece he is actually working on is done. The gang boss must show his men how to set their work in their machines in the quickest time, and see that they do it. He is responsible for the work being accurately and quickly set, and should be not only able but willing to pitch in himself and show the men how to set the work in record time.
The speed boss must see that the proper cutting tools are used for each piece of work, that the work is properly driven, that the cuts are started in the right part of the piece, and that the best speeds and feeds and depth of cut are used. His work begins only after the piece is in the lathe or planer, and ends when the actual machining ends. The speed boss must not only advise his men how best to do this work, but he must see that they do it in the quickest time, and that they use the speeds and feeds and depth of cut as directed on the instruction card. In many cases he is called upon to demonstrate that the work can be done in the specified time by doing it himself in the presence of his men.
It is of the utmost importance that the first combined application of time study, slide rules, instruction cards, functional foremanship, and a premium for a large daily task should prove a success both for the workmen and for the company, and for this reason a simple class of work should be chosen for a start. The entire efforts of the new management should be centered on one point, and continue there until unqualified success has been attained.
If, however, the management begins by analyzing in detail just how each section of the work should be done and then writes out complete instructions specifying the tools to be used in succession, the
cone step on which the driving belt is to run, the depth of cut and the feed to be used, the exact manner in which the work is to be set in the machine, etc., and if before starting to make any change they have trained in as functional foremen several men who are particularly expert and well informed in their specialties, as, for instance, a speed boss, gang boss, and inspector; if you then place for example a speed boss alongside of that workman, with an instruction card clearly written out, stating what both the speed boss and the man whom he is instructing are to do, and that card says you are to use such and such a tool, put your driving belt on this cone, and use this feed on your machine, and if you do so you will get out the work in such and such a time, I can hardly conceive of a case in which a union could prevent the boss from ordering the man to put his driving belt just where he said and using just the feed that he said, and in doing that the workman can hardly fail to get the work out on time. No union would dare to say to the management of a works, you shall not run the machine with the belt on this or that cone step. They do not come down specifically in that way; they say, "You shall not work so fast," but they do not say, "You shall not use such and such a tool, or run with such a feed or at such a speed."
However much they might like to do it, they do not dare to interfere specifically in this way. Now, when your single man under the supervision of a speed boss, gang boss, etc., runs day after day at the given speed and feed, and gets work out in the time that the instruction card calls for, and when a premium is kept for him in the office for having done the work in the required time, you begin to have a moral suasion on that workman which is very powerful. At first he won't take the premium if it is contrary to the laws of his union, but as time goes on and it piles up and amounts to a big item, he will be apt to step into the office and ask for his premium, and before long your man will be a thorough convert to the new system. Now, after one man has been persuaded, by means of the four functional foremen, etc., that he will earn more money under the new system than under the laws of the union, you can then take the next man, and so convert one after another right through your shop, and as time goes on public opinion will swing around more and more rapidly your way.
Personal Relations Between Employers and Employed - F.W. Taylor
The remarkable system for analyzing all of the work upon new machines as the drawings arrived from the drafting-room and of directing the movement and grouping of the various parts as they progressed through the shop, which was developed and used for several years by Mr. Wm. II. Thorne, of Wm. Sellers & Co., of Philadelphia, while the company was under the general management of Mr. J. Sellers Bancroft. Unfortunately the full benefit of this method was never realized owing to the lack of the other functional elements which should have accompanied it.
Taylor authored "Scientific Management" in 1911 and it was focused totally on the study and improvement of human effort as in this paper, Taylor specifically highlighted waste of human effort and ways to prevent it.
Importance of System for Efficiency - F.W. Taylor
President Roosevelt in his address to the Governors at the White House, prophetically remarked that "The conservation of our national resources is only preliminary to the larger question of national efficiency."
The whole country at once recognized the importance of conserving our material resources and a large movement has been started which will be effective in accomplishing this object.
We can see our forests vanishing, our water-powers going to waste, our soil being carried by floods into the sea; and the end of our coal and our iron is in sight. But our larger wastes of human effort, which go on every day through such of our acts as are blundering, ill-directed, or inefficient, are less visible, less tangible, and are but vaguely appreciated.
We can see and feel the waste of material things. Awkward, inefficient, or ill-directed movements of men, however, leave nothing visible or tangible behind them. And for this reason, even though our daily loss from this source is greater than from our waste of material things, the one has stirred us deeply, while the other has moved us but little.
It is only when we fully realize that our duty, as well as our opportunity, lies in systematically cooperating to train and to make this competent man, to be on the road to "true" national efficiency.
The first object of any good management system must be that of developing first-class men; and under systematic management the best man rises to the top more certainly and more rapidly than ever before.
The paper "Scientific Management" has been written:
First. To point out, through a series of simple illustrations, the great loss which the whole country is suffering through inefficiency in almost all of our daily acts.
Second. To try to convince the reader that the remedy for this inefficiency lies in systematic management, rather than in searching for some unusual or extraordinary man.
Third. To prove that the best management is a true science, resting upon clearly defined laws, rules, and principles, as a foundation. And further to show that the fundamental principles of scientific management are applicable to all kinds of human activities, from our simplest individual acts to the work of our great corporations, which call for the most elaborate cooperation. And, briefly, through a series of illustrations, to convince the reader that whenever these principles are correctly applied, results must follow which are truly astounding.
This paper was originally prepared for presentation to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. The illustrations chosen are such as, it is believed, will especially appeal to engineers and to managers of industrial and manufacturing establishments, and also quite as much to all of the men who are working in these establishments. It is hoped, however, that it will be clear to other readers that the same principles can be applied with equal force to all social activities: to the management of our homes; the management of our farms; the management of the business of our tradesmen, large and small; of our churches, our philanthropic institutions our universities, and our governmental departments.
The system developed, implemented and advocated by Taylor is based on four principles of scientific management.
The Principles of Scientific Management
Under scientific management managers assume new burdens, new duties, and responsibilities never dreamed of in the past. The managers assume, the burden of study and recording of work by workmen and then of classifying, tabulating, and reducing this knowledge to rules, laws, and formulae which are immensely helpful to the workmen in doing their daily work. In addition to developing a science in this way, the management takes on three other types of duties which involve new and heavy burdens for themselves.
These new duties are grouped under four heads:
First. They develop a science for each element of a man's work, which replaces the old rule-of.-thumb method.
Second. They scientifically select and then train, teach, and develop the workman, whereas in the past he chose his own work and trained himself as best he could.
Third. They heartily cooperate with the men so as to insure all of the work being done in accordance with the principles of the science which has been developed.
Fourth. There is an almost equal division of the work and the responsibility between the management and the workmen. The management take over all work for which they are better fitted than the workmen, while in the past almost all of the work and the greater part of the responsibility were thrown upon the men.
Under scientific management the "initiative" of the workmen (that is, their hard work, their good-will, and their ingenuity) is obtained with absolute uniformity and to a greater extent than is possible under the old system.
It is this combination of the initiative of the workmen, coupled with the new types of work done by the management, that makes scientific management so much more efficient than the old plan.
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More detailed description of Taylor's contribution
Frank B. Gilbreth, the construction engineer and contractor, who conceived the "Motion Study" Principles (techniques for manual productivity improvement) once visited a British-Japanese Exposition. There a demonstration of polishing shoes was being held to help the sales of Japanese shoe polish.
Casually walking and talking with his friend, Gilbreth stopped to view the shoe polish wrapping demonstration. Gilbreth watched for a few moments, then simply said, "They are really skilled, but they could produce more." He timed the fastest girl and without hesitation, ascended the platform. He found she was being paid on a piecework basis and said, "I’m going to tell you how to earn more money, but you must follow my instructions." He changed the location of her supplies and showed her how to wrap and set aside more efficiently. He timed her again after several cycles. When he rejoined his friend he said, "When she gets the hang of it she’ll be making twice her former earnings."
That is an example of the applied results of using Gilbreth’s Motion Study Principles. Industrial Engineers used these guiding rules throughout the United States. Gilbreth said if his Motion Study Principles had not been previously applied to any manual work, by their application the productivity would be doubled or more.
In the late 1940’s, James S. Perkins, an Industrial Engineer, on a research assignment for the Western Electric Company, was at the University of Iowa, where he met Mrs. Gilbreth, who was a speaker at the Industrial Engineering Conference there. She visited with him and reviewed his research. Gilbreth’s film studies, research and conclusions, preserved by James Perkins extend into many diverse areas:
•Motion and Fatigue Study
•Skill Study
•Plant Layout and Material Handling
•Inventory Control
•Production Control
•Business Procedures
•Safety Methods
•Developing Occupations for the Handicapped
•Athletic Training and Skills
•Military Training
•Surgical Operations
Gilbreth developed the route model technique to improve the flow of materials (material transport operation) in manufacturing operations. When he first developed it, Gilbreth said that several of his engineering friends, at an engineering meeting, laughed themselves to death, but that it was quickly accepted by Plant Managers. He found that by its use, the layout distance was often cut by 75% and product processing time was reduced substantially. Further, plant productivity was usually increased by 15 to 25%. Gilbreth is much more known for his work human effort improvement and his wife, a psychologist also took interest in scientific management and produced research on it. Dr. Lilian Gilbreth also became a professor of industrial engineering.
Gilbreth’s cyclegraph technique, to learn about skill, was one of his significant contributions. He demonstrates this technique in the film and also shows the three-dimensional model he made from the pictures of a drilling operation. He said, "The expert uses the motion model for learning the existing motion path and the possible lines for improvement. An efficient and skillful motion has smoothness, grace, strong marks of habit, decision, lack of hesitation and is not fatiguing."
Gilbreth's motion study was described by Taylor in his book "Scientific Management."
"Time and Motion Study" or "Motion and Time Study" based on the motion study theory of Gilbreth became a prominent subject of industrial engineering. Therefore, human effort engineering has significant presence in industrial engineering. Machine work study is a neglected area in industrial engineering. Product industrial engineering and process industrial engineering have to be developed in industrial engineering curriculum to adequate levels. Practice of product industrial engineering and process industrial engineering will give more opportunities and more consistent and reliable output from industrial engineers (Narayana Rao K.V.S.S.).
Standards and standardization as a basis for efficiency was strongly advocated by him. Nearly two hundred companies adopted various features of the Emerson Efficiency system, which included production routing procedures, standardized working conditions and tasks, time and motion studies, and a bonus plan which raised workers' wages in accordance with greater efficiency and productivity [Guide].
Managerial aspects of efficiency improvement has to be learned from the reading of Emerson's book.
