complex. This, however, is not always the case──as, for instance,
in the case of a manufacturing concern selling its product through
local agents. Frequently the territory over which sales are made is
divided along state lines, and a _District Agent_ appointed for each
state. These, in turn, appoint the _Local Agents_. This necessitates
an organization of hundreds of local agents, supervised by state or
district agents, and these in turn by a _General Agent_. Thus a very
large organization is built up for disposing of the product.
[Illustration: Fig. 2. Chart Illustrating Plan of Organization of a
Typical Manufacturing Plant. Showing channels of authority connecting
officials and departments.]
Another plan is the employment of _Traveling Canvassers_, each having
a certain territory to cover, who make their reports to either state
or district agents, or to the general agent located at a central
point──sometimes at the factory, but not necessarily so.
As competition becomes stronger and net profits smaller, the problem
of marketing the product becomes more and more important; greater and
more complex selling organizations are necessary; and the expense of
selling increases. The advertising organization, or what has come to be
known as the _Publicity Department_, is a most important adjunct to the
modern manufacturing business; and large amounts of money are annually
expended in its maintenance.
In the case under consideration, the selling of the product is in
charge of a _Sales Manager_, who has as his office staff the _Publicity
Manager_; the _Preliminary Engineer_, and the draftsmen and estimators
who assist him; the _General Salesman_, who is in reality the personal
assistant to the Sales Manager; and the _Credit and Collection Clerk_.
The _Publicity Manager_, sometimes called the _Advertising Manager_,
has charge of all advertising of whatever kind, demonstrations at
expositions and at agencies, and, in fact, all work that may be
properly comprised under the term "publicity"──that is, keeping the
public informed as to the product of the company and its adaptability
to meet the needs of the public in the special lines it manufactures.
The _Preliminary Engineer_ is in charge of such engineering matters
as are necessary upon new work, or work upon which the Sales Manager
desires to estimate. It frequently happens that considerable designing
and drawing are necessary in this connection, previous to definite
orders being given or contracts signed. It often happens that the
product of the concern must be changed in certain details so as to
adapt it to the uses of various customers, to the different local
conditions under which it is to be used, and to the various purposes
for which it is to be used. In case an order is given and contracts
signed, the preliminary drawings thus produced become a part of the
transaction, and are used by the Production Department in getting out
the machinery to fill the order.
The purpose of the _Credit and Collection Office_ is to canvass the
financial standing of customers and prospective customers; to make
collections when necessary to do so; and generally to advise the
Sales Manager on these important matters. The official in charge of
this office is frequently called the _Credit Man_, and must be a
person of peculiar ability in his special line in order to protect
the concern from fraud, imposition, and financial losses when dealing
with customers of commonly unknown or doubtful financial ability and
standing.
The Production Division is under charge of the _Factory Manager_,
who has for his personal assistant a _Production Engineer_ or
_Superintendent_, who plans the productive scheme of the factory
and supervises the departmental distribution of the work and the
shop operations necessary for the routine work upon it. In a large
manufacturing establishment, the Production Engineer will be at the
head of a considerable force of draftsmen and clerks comprising
what is sometimes called the _Planning Department_, which arranges
all operations, shop routine, time schedules, premium rates, and
similar matters. The Factory Manager will also have the usual office
assistants, and have direct control of the _Purchasing Department_, the
_Time and Cost Department_, the _General Store─Room_, and the _Shipping
Room_. In some concerns the Time and Cost Department is a part of the
Planning Department, as the records of this department cover nearly
every kind of information required for the Time and Cost systems.
All other departments of the factory are divided into two general
classes. The first comprises the general departments, as follows:
The Engineering Department, or Drafting Room.
The Experimental and Development Department.
The Power Plant, for both the generation and the distribution of power.
The Iron and Brass Foundries.
The Forge Shop and Cutting─Off Rooms.
The Carpenter Shop (including sometimes the Flask Making and Repairing
Departments).
The Paint Shop and Painters' Supply Room.
The Transportation Department for shops and yards.
These are under the supervision of the General Superintendent, who has
charge of all mechanical matters except those strictly pertaining to
production or to the actual manufacturing of the product.
[Illustration: Fig. 3. Chart Showing Official Channels of Communication
and Authority from Superintendent to Workmen in a Typical Manufacturing
Establishment.]
The second general class is that of Production, and will ordinarily
consist of the following departments:
The Planing Department, including shapers and slotters.
The Drilling and Boring Department, including vertical, horizontal,
and radial drills and boring machines.
The Heavy Turning Department, including lathes of less than 24─inch
swing.
The Milling Machine Department, including horizontal, vertical, and
special milling machines, profile machines, etc.
The Gear─Cutting Department, for the making of all classes of gears.
The Grinding Department, including cylindrical, disc, and surface
grinding.
The Polishing Department, which includes polishing, buffing, etc.
The Assembling Department, in which parts (usually comparatively
small) are assembled in groups of related parts and stored, pending
the final erection of the machines.
The Erecting Department, in which the entire machine is erected and
usually tested, and inspected, receiving the final painting and other
finishing work ready for shipping.
Should the character of the product be such as to require it, there
will be also a Plating Department, usually located adjoining the
Polishing Department.
This class of departments will be under the direct supervision of the
_Production Superintendent_.
Each department is in charge of a _Foreman_, who is responsible for
the discipline, the work, and the efficiency of the force under him.
Frequently the department is large enough to require one or more
assistant foremen. Under these may also be _Gang Bosses_, each of whom
will have a small force of employees, called _gangs_, for whose work
and efficiency he is responsible.
=Shop Management.= Referring to the Chart, Fig. 2, it will be
noticed that the rectangular figures representing different offices,
departments, or officials are connected by lines. These are commonly
called _lines of authority_, and a careful study of them will show in
what manner and through what channels the orders of an official pass to
the employees for whose work he is responsible.
Tracing these lines from the head of the establishment through the
various offices and officials to the different departments, we get a
fundamental idea of _Shop Management_.
This system will be rendered somewhat simpler by reference to
the Chart, Fig. 3, which shows the path or official channel of
communication and authority from the Superintendent down to the
workmen. It also emphasizes the fundamental idea of all official
business passing through the officials in charge of intermediate
departments.
Thus, if the Factory Manager desires a certain thing done, he does
not give the order to one of the workmen, nor to a foreman, but to
the Superintendent. The Superintendent will give his orders to the
foreman of the department wherein the work is to be done. If this is a
department in which there are gang bosses, the Foreman will give his
orders to the proper gang boss, who will select a suitable workman, or
as many of them as may be necessary, and instruct them as to the work,
and will personally see that it is performed promptly and in the proper
manner. When the work is completed, he will report the fact to the
foreman, who will in turn report to the Superintendent, who informs the
Factory Manager that his orders have been executed.
This process may seem unnecessarily complicated, and in consequence it
is sometimes referred to as _red tape_. It is, however, necessary to
have a well─defined and properly understood system and channel for all
routine business, some of the reasons for which are as follows:
_First_──it has been said that "no man can serve two masters," and
this is quite true in all questions of shop management. Every loyal
workman has learned by precept and tradition to look to his immediate
superior for all orders and instructions relating to his work, and he
naturally and properly resents any attempt to ignore or belittle his
legitimate "boss."
_Second_──As the efficiency of the workmen depends to a great extent
upon their loyalty to the management, and as that loyalty can be
secured and maintained only by a spirit of justice and fair─dealing to
all, including officials and workmen, all authority and responsibility
should be sharply defined and properly limited, to the end that the
business and work may proceed in an orderly and efficient manner; that
all officials and workmen may know when they are within their proper
limit of rights; and doing their duties without fear of overstepping
their due bounds or interfering with the rights and privileges of
their fellows.
Nearly all rules are subject to some exceptions, and the above have
theirs. The discipline of the shop, or what is sometimes referred to as
the _police regulations_, are expected to be enforced by _all officials
at all times_.
Two of these exceptions are of such a general nature and application
that they are here noted.
_First_──Any official noticing an infraction of the discipline of the
plant may call the attention of the employee offending, without regard
to the department in which he works, and require him at once to cease
violating the rules. But the official should, as soon as possible,
report the matter to the head of the department in which the offending
employee works.
_Second_──Any official noticing work being wrongly done, or material
wasted, or machinery obviously injured, or the safety of the workmen,
the building, or the machinery endangered, may peremptorily order
the action to cease, and at once report the fact to the head of the
department or to the Superintendent, as he may judge proper.
[Illustration: Fig. 4. Form for Ordinary Official Communications. A
carbon copy is made on tinted paper.]
=Official Communications.= For ordinary communications other than
General or Special Orders, Production Orders, letters, etc., a written
form should be habitually used. The usual form is shown in Fig. 4.
These forms are put up in pads of alternate sheets of white and
light─tinted paper, the former being perforated at the top so as to be
readily torn out while the tinted sheet remains fast at the stub. Both
sheets are printed with the same form, and all are serially numbered
in pairs of one white and one tinted sheet. Carbon paper is used, the
white sheet being written upon and the tinted one receiving the carbon
impression. Each official is supplied with these pads, and by their use
he always retains a copy of any memorandum or communication he makes
to another official or department. The serial numbers are intended
to aid in the identification of any memorandum that may have become
somewhat illegible. The use of these blanks saves any misunderstanding
that might occur from giving and receiving verbal orders; and serves to
prevent errors and mistakes, and to fix the responsibility for their
occurrence upon the party in error.
=Successful Management.= The spirit of shop management should always
be a spirit of _leadership_. This cannot usually be obtained unless
the manager possesses natural ability as a leader. Successful military
chieftains are examples of this condition. They _lead_ the men instead
of _driving_ them, and the result is a condition of enthusiastic
loyalty.
It is also quite as necessary that a leader should be a practical man
with sound technical training and practical experience in the business
which he undertakes to manage. If he is not thus equipped for his
duties, the facts soon become apparent to his subordinates, and his
reputation suffers accordingly. The workmen lose confidence in his
leadership, and lack enthusiasm in the performance of their duties,
going about their work in a listless and perfunctory manner that is
very detrimental to the efficiency of the plant.
Still another quality necessary in the successful manager, is the
ability to judge men and their capacities for various duties. To
get always the right man for the position, the machine, or the job,
is a valuable trait in any man who is to direct the work of even
a moderate─sized establishment. The larger the plant and the more
diversified the business carried on in it, the more valuable and
indispensable this characteristic will become. The manager who is
continually or frequently changing his subordinate officials, and
consequently producing changes in the working force, will always find
his duties arduous, and will also find it well─nigh impossible to get
the plant up to the degree of efficiency that is to be reasonably
expected. The volume of output will continually fall below the normal
point, and the quality of the work will also deteriorate. The work
of management should be a constant upbuilding of the force, and of
development and education along the lines of advancement in the special
output of the concern. This cannot be carried on if the composition of
the force, or the officials who handle it, are in a transition state of
change, doubt, and uncertainty.
[Illustration: SHOWING USE OF PIT LATHE IN MACHINING A CENTER OF SWING
BRIDGE Chicago Bridge & Iron Works, Chicago, Ill.]
There is, on the part of many officials having charge of men, a
propensity to interfere too much with workmen and their work, and thus
to hinder rather than help them. While it is quite true that every
official from the Gang Boss up to the Factory Manager can, at various
times, help the workmen in their allotted tasks by timely advice and
suggestions, it is also true that this is a matter that can be easily
overdone, until it becomes an annoying nuisance and unnecessarily
interferes with the men in the discharge of their legitimate duties.
Workmen are quick to discern when suggestions and advice are well meant
and instructive, and when they come as a kind of veiled criticism.
The official who permits himself to indulge in this sort of dictation
soon falls into a practice of _nagging_ that is most exasperating to
the men. It is a practice that first weakens and then destroys the
official's influence with the men, who obey only from necessity. When
this condition exists, the working efficiency of the force is at a very
low ebb.
On the other hand, really helpful advice and suggestions, made in a
cheerful manner and from a quite apparent desire to assist workmen,
will usually meet with a quick and loyal response that argues well for
the efficiency of the workmen.
Another point on the road to success, is a patient and interested
listening to suggestions that workmen have to make, even though it is
on trivial matters. It should always be borne in mind that the workman
laboring day after day on the same class, and often on the same kind
of pieces, of work, is in a position to discern and to study out
many minor improvements in tools and methods which are valuable. A
kindly hearing accorded him, the adoption of such suggestions as are
practical, with some substantial reward for his study, will encourage
not only him but other workmen to study their work and endeavor to
find better and more efficient ways of doing it. Thus an active and
interested spirit of loyalty is brought about that is one of the most
valuable assets of the plant.
The successful manager is he who is enabled to _unite_ his working
force of subordinate officials and workmen in a complete and loyal
organization, all working for the common good and for the success and
prosperity of the concern. Having gained this condition, the question
of efficient and economical manufacturing is practically as well as
theoretically solved.
SHOP METHODS AND RECORDS
From the principles that have been advanced in connection with the
subjects of Manufacturing and Shop Management, it will be readily
seen that the work of the manufacturing plant of the present day is a
very complex matter, and there must necessarily be very complete and
carefully formulated plans and systems by which all its operations are
regulated, and a somewhat elaborate plan of records by which these
operations and their results are recorded and filed.
In formulating the necessary plans for the methods and records of a
manufacturing establishment, we must first determine the requirements
of the work and decide definitely on what we wish to accomplish. In
other words, the conditions must be first examined and analyzed, their
various factors studied at their true value, and the requirements
determined, so that a general plan of operations may be followed.
These methods shall cover the following subjects:
1. The selection and employment of workmen.
2. The methods of keeping the time of all employees.
3. The manner of paying workmen.
4. The ordering of work into the shops.
5. The routine of passing work through the shops.
6. The method of drawing stock and materials.
7. The ways of keeping and issuing tools.
=Importance of Records.= Each of these methods will become a part of
the routine of the establishment, and the operations carried on under
it will be proper matters for regular records made from day to day.
Such records are exceedingly valuable as current information, and, when
properly filed, become quite as valuable for reference in the future as
for use in current operations.
In all improvements in the working routine of manufacturing operations,
there should be previous records by which the present performances may
be checked and compared. By this arrangement, it is comparatively easy
to ascertain whether or not any improvement is being made, and in what
direction it is being made. This knowledge will suggest further plans
and betterments. Should the records prove that there are losses rather
than gains being made, the warning is equally valuable, and we make
haste to better results and greater efficiency in the work.
Thus, whether the plans and methods in use are really successful, or
quite the reverse, it is of the utmost importance that we should know
by prompt and accurate records just what the results are, in order
to keep in close touch with the progress of events, and that, when
plans do not produce the favorable results expected and desired, the
information may be promptly available, the warning be heard, and plans
altered or amended until they bring about a successful routine in the
manufacturing operations.
=Selection and Employment of Workmen.= This is an important matter,
since it costs money to introduce new men in any business, and
requires from a day or two to several weeks for the new man to become
sufficiently accustomed to his work and surroundings to be of the same
value as the man who is perfectly familiar with the shop, the routine
and methods of work, and the foreman under whom he works.
[Illustration: Fig. 5. Application Card.]
It is therefore necessary to go about this matter in a methodical
manner, and to keep records of:
(_a_) All persons making application for employment.
(_b_) All persons regularly accepted as employees.
(_c_) Individual records of all regular workmen.
(_d_) All employees who leave the employment of the company.
To accomplish these results, the official whose duty it is to employ
men will fill out, or will have a clerk fill out, an _Application
Card_ of the form shown in Fig. 5, for each person applying for a
position. It will be noticed that it is important to know whether the
applicant has ever been employed in this establishment previous to the
present application. If so, his record can be readily referred to for
information as to the desirability of employing him again. It is also
necessary that the record of his last employer be known, and frequently
of the employer previous to the last, as these matters will also be
taken into consideration in determining his fitness for the position
for which he applies. It is also necessary to know how many years he
has been employed in manufacturing establishments, as this fact, taken
in consideration with his age, will frequently furnish information upon
which to base judgment as to his fitness.
[Illustration: Fig. 6. Employment Card.]
The Application Card, being on file, is available for the use of such
foremen or other officials as may be in need of workmen. Should the
applicant be decided to be available, after consultation between the
official to whom application was made and the foreman desiring to
increase his force, the applicant will be sent for, and employed at
a rate mutually satisfactory, and an _Employment Card_ of the form
shown in Fig. 6 filled out. This will repeat some of the information
contained on the Application Card; but it is necessary to have two
cards in any event, as the information must be filed in separate
drawers.
The Employment Card will also give the name of the official employing
the man, as well as that of the foreman under whom he is to work, the
kind of work he is to perform, and when he is to commence work. It will
also require the approval of the Superintendent or Factory Manager, as
the case may be, to make it valid and operative.
The applicant having become one of the regular employees of the
concern, a third card is made out for filing in the _List of Employees_
drawer. This will be upon the form shown in Fig. 7, and is called a
_Service Card_. It will be noticed that each of these three cards is
headed with the name and address of the person whom it represents.
The Service Card gives the department in which the employee is to work,
the kind of work which he is to do, the date he begins work, and his
rate of pay. Spaces are also provided for noting the amount and date of
any increases in his rate, and for the record of a transfer to another
department should he be moved, as is frequently the case with new men
who may not be quite adaptable to the kind of work first attempted, but
entirely satisfactory at some other class of work.
[Illustration: Fig. 7. Service Card.]
A space is also provided for noting the date of the workman's leaving
the employ of the company, and also for giving the reason for it. This
will be valuable information in case the workman should subsequently
apply for employment. When an employee leaves the service of the
company, his Service Card is removed from the List of Employees drawer,
and placed in a fourth drawer labeled _Discharged or Quit_, being held
there for future reference.
=Individual Record of Standing.= In many well─conducted manufacturing
establishments, it is customary to keep a record of the standing of the
men as rated each month, as a valuable reference in cases of proposed
promotion, increases in pay, reliability for special work and positions
of responsibility. Various methods of marking the records of the men
each month have been tried, but the simplest method is to use the
number 100 for perfect, and to divide it as follows:
Good workmanship 50
Punctuality in reporting for work 30
Deportment during working hours 20
────
Total 100
[Illustration: Fig. 8. Individual Record Card.]