1. Pick up screw and transport Same
2. Position on block Same
3. Pick up leather washer and transport Same
4. Position on screw Same
5. Pick up new bracket and transport Pick up assembled
bracket; lay aside
6. Position bracket on block Same
7. Pick up flat washer and transport Same
8. Position on screw Same
9. Pick up lock washer and transport Same
10. Position on screw Same
11. Pick up nut and transport Same
12. Start nut on screw Same
13. Position driver Same
14. Tighten nut Same
15. Position driver to 2nd nut Same
16. Tighten nut Same
17. Release driver and move assembled
bracket 2 in. forward on block Same
The new set-up consists of a hardwood block, shaped to fit one side of
the bracket when assembled, and nailed to the bench. The open-end wrench
was replaced by a screw-driver with a socket wrench to fit the acorn
nut, suspended on a spring in front of the operator. The miscellaneous
containers for holding the small parts were replaced by a supply of
sheet-metal duplicate trays, so that the various parts could be located
in the most convenient position. (This arrangement was not used in the
accompanying illustrations because it obscured the view.)
In a word, then, the number of elements was decreased by one-third--and
practically all of the elements in the new method require less time than
the similar or corresponding element in the old method. The distance of
travel for stock has been shortened, parts are grasped more easily,
better and faster tools are provided, effort is decreased, and both
hands are productively employed.
Need the imagination be stretched to the breaking point to see how a job
involving the work not of one man, but of several, may be similarly
organized and similarly improved?
A second illustration will serve to show the application to group work
(see "Motion Study Applied to Group Work," by J. A. Piacitelli, _Factory
and Industrial Management_, April, 1931, page 626).
The operation studied here involved cycles of approximately eleven
seconds' duration, performed by a group of seven men. The material
handled consisted of rolls of roofing weighing about 50 lbs. each. Many
of the elements in the cycle were obviously fatiguing. The rolls had to
be lifted, during transfers from one worker to another, and rolled along
a horizontal runway. The trucker lifted the completed roll and placed it
on his truck. While the rate of production was limited by process and
speed of equipment, the chance to cut cost and fatigue prompted the
study.
Examine the equipment layout before the study was made (it is shown on
page 124), and follow the operation. A roll of roofing paper
approximately 8 in. in diameter and 36 in. long was wound about the
mandrel of a winding machine by one of the workers. The roll was taken
off and passed to another worker who wrapped a sheet of paper about it
and pasted it in place. When the roll was wrapped, he had to lift the
roll, turn and deposit it on the runway. The next man inserted a bag of
nails, a can of cement and an instruction sheet into the core of the
roll. To do this, he was forced to turn and bend almost to floor level
to get his supplies.
Next the roll was passed along to two men who, from opposite sides of
the runway, placed protectors and muslin caps on the ends of the roll.
It was then rolled along to another man who placed gummed paper bands
about the ends and pushed the roll to the end of the runway where the
trucker placed it on a truck and wheeled it into storage.
[Illustration: EQUIPMENT LAYOUT BEFORE STUDY]
[Illustration: EQUIPMENT LAYOUT AFTER STUDY]
The movie camera, which is gradually finding wider industrial use in the
search for the "one best" method, was used to record the work of this
group. It supplied not only a photographic record of the working place
and surrounding conditions, but also a simultaneous record of time and
method employed by each worker regardless of speed. It was then possible
to study overlapping cycles and to analyze the methods to the desired
degree of accuracy--and thus to transfer parts of the cycle of one
operator to that of another, thus effecting a better distribution of
work and shortening the cycle of the person on whom the production of
the group depends--thereby increasing the productivity of the entire
group.
These analyses showed immediately an unequal distribution of work.
Again, from the equipment layout made after the study, let us follow
through and see what changes were effected.
First the wrapper was freed from turning and lifting the roll from his
table by the introduction of an elevator which lifted the roll to an
inclined runway. The roll then moved from place to place by gravity
when released by foot-operated trips. The pasting problem was solved by
using a trough the length of the paper, open on the bottom and equipped
with squeegee lips like the mucilage bottle on your desk. A pile of
wrapping paper with the far edges of the sheets inserted under the
trough supplied a pasted sheet every time one was drawn toward the
operator. The trough was covered with a hinged plate which permitted the
roll to pass over it to the elevator. It was found, by eliminating the
fatiguing elements in this man's work and simplifying his cycle of
motions, that the time would be so reduced that he could easily take
over the work of the man who placed the cement and nails in the core of
the roll. The instruction sheet was placed in the roll by the winder,
who had ample time for this additional task. The pile of sheets was
placed at his right under a date stamp so that he could date each sheet
and slip it into the roll just before it stopped.
Simplifying the cycle of the men who placed the caps on the ends of the
roll enabled them to take over with ease the work of the man who had
placed the gummed-paper bands around the ends. Thus each man capped and
banded his own end, whereas formerly the bander had had to assume an
awkward and fatiguing position to reach the far end. And last, by
placing a redesigned truck at the end of the incline, the completed
rolls landed in the truck, and the trucker was able to care for two
machines.
The method finally established was recorded on instruction sheets, and
the existing premium was modified to provide additional incentive.
Although, as stated at the outset, the rate of production was limited by
the machine, substantial savings resulted from the study. Production has
been maintained with 4-1/2 men instead of 7; fatigue has been greatly
lessened; cost has been reduced about 26 per cent; average earnings of
the group have increased about 19 per cent.
Thus the search for the "one best" method becomes an important factor in
organizing the work.
We might go on and show how this group work was organized in accordance
with our two fundamentals, but the purpose of introducing this
illustration and the one preceding it was, after all, to show that the
_principal's_ responsibility, after deputizing work, ends only when he
has shown the _deputy_ the most effective method of doing it.
Besides, we must hasten on to the task of handling the "help." We have
seen that the entire FABRIC OF MANAGING rests upon the knack of
ORGANIZING; that organizing the work must be preceded by PLANNING; and
that planning must be based upon ANALYSIS. And now, having organized, we
must learn how to handle the "help"--which is a task met in every job
involving managing.
And what job, big or small, does not involve MANAGING?