The Iron Age 1913-04-03: Vol 91 Iss 14

Ss 20N AGE Established 1855 New York, April 3, 1913 Vol. 91: No. 14 The Automatic Rating of Workmen Springfield Armory’s System—Men in Compe- tition for Wage Increase—How the Number of Idle Hours Has Been Greatly Reduced [he United States Armory at Springfield, Mass., has developed to a very high degree of usefulness the govern- istrial plant mental system of rating workmen so that all increases in The automatic rating of workmer nt wages, all dismissals from employment, the individual f the shop efficiency standing of employees in relation to a standard and to one me. Individual production being hig her are determined automatically. The personal equa spondingly low Under the present manage tion is eliminated from the management; neither favorit- yf a standard army rifle has been red from $ ism nor unfavorable prejudice can make itself felt, to help $13.67, which is a record as compared or to injure a workman. Up to a certain point the men tained in the works of the private fact are competitors among themselves ther countries, and in government sh ent [The system constitutes an important element in the the men work only 8 hr. a day give general efficiency work of the armory. It insures a con days a year with pay, which expense for labor 1 rifl centration of labor of a degree well beyond that found ir has to bear. And it should be a | that t te most private manufacturing establishments. The visitor States army rifle is t et nest milit is impressed with f its cla the industrial dis- [~ a ee cipline; the com A. ; . | Name eC bmilfr plete absence of } 4} : s Df f, i rt i idleness, of con- | Address (D4 Qank< Ll ‘ tself versation between | Original Appointment Mary LZ IGl2 \ge OF the men; the in- }+— anes 7 ; ent { diff n t inci EFFICIENCY REPORT for the six months ending D l lfterence oO Cl dents foreign to | Relative wets : ‘ 0 chaanao-cepabiavanbamnek — = the itine of the | a . | Grade snd Compensation amend | Agel | mans. | ar anor. | EM | ero | Ong Wort opi The natural | y n c , 4 Lv 2 3 : as al | P 10/80 380 Gug7 Yood Faige [4 Z2\15 3G first thought is | eae “4 é <4 _ , ; rot 1 government | factory quite nat- ir assumes an | Tesi gnation Vickundes ecializes utten sphere o Changes in Date 2, 22 )3 tior nti the strict discipline be- | Rate j F cause its managers | NOTE. rejudices re regular army ee ee riginal ro end acuan ne Mhcers, who are ‘\essenaer and wetdhman work : accustomed to ab- UANTITY OF WORK.—Verg later: latee: average: small. | \bedience to | REMARKS eer wi ek NO ai sedis cst — — their sub- The Efficien Rating Card to Determine the Status of Each Workman a gfic element dinates, under \rmory will be note whi conditions the illustrative the advantage over the works of a private manufacturer ard They are not of equal importance; each has wh: seem to be large. An analysis of conditions proves is known as its “relative weight.” Attendance and that this is not the case. On the contrary the govern ation each have a unit of one, habits and adaptal shop is handicapped in various ways, especially in unit of two, and ability unit the matter of civil service. This excellent institution eficiency on a scale of 10 The sses features which operate against discipline. It the analysis of ability and attendance serves to tie the hands of the management. Little optior lo consider the latter factor the sub-di en as to who shall be hired, and summary dismissal sence with leave, on account of sickness, wit! ten impossible, even where it may be wholly desirabl and without pay In the illustrated i handling of workmen must conform to the laws as in the six months absent 14 days with leave, 20 ted by Congress. The employees are not enlisted account of sickness, 2 days without leave ar vitl Their relations, man to man, with those in author- out pay, a total of 39 The law gives hin day are much the same as in a private plant. A large pay in a year in adition to holida measure of the success that has been attained at Spring- without demerit Therefore, as Smith ha ad no d is, of course, directly attributable to the personality previous absences with pay in his leave year, the balance | the ability of the managing officers, but the statement against him is 24. The rule is that for each three days of Id be equally true in a discussion of any system de- absence beyond the 15, one demerit mark shall egis S11 812 of three demerits Therefore the workman had seven marks plus six, and the 13 subtracted from the 100 of the attendance column, leaves him a balance of 87. \pplication and habits are elastic factors. In practice a man is given full credit, 100 for application and 200 for habits, unless real reason to the contrary is known \s to adaptability and ability, the records of the em- ployee’s labor, especially if he is on piece work, serve to heck any opinion favorable or otherwise which may have tered, and, in addition, there is a penalty for each day without leave. been formed by his superiors. In the case in question the man is given a full 100 for application, 200 for habits and 180 for adaptability. Ability is analyzed by the char- acter of the work as specified at the bottom of the card and by the quality and quantity produced. J. Smith is given 380, the unit being 4, making his grand total of effi ciency 947, or 94.7 per cent [his is his rating. By it we must abide The ratings are determined semi-annually No one man makes the decision as to the various elements of the efficiency card. The matter is in the hands of a board consisting of the officer in charge of the shops, the as- sistant officer in charge, the general foreman in charge of the shop where the man is employed (there are two plants at Springfield kn Hill shop and the Water shop) foreman in charge of the particular depart- which the workman is employed and the chief Each of these judges has a more or less inti- mate acquaintance with the men and their individualities The production records furnish important the board. It is easily seen that injusti impossibility yrwn as the the assistant ment in inspector knowledge to ‘e is practically an Rating of Men Includes the Foremen card extends to the results The assistant foremen Each He has no clerical duties to pérform, but concentrates on the instruction of his men, on the maintaining of discipline, men continuously, in order that there may be no cannot pass inspection. emciency must secure which means keeping his and on watching production through work which The attitude of the management toward these foremen is unusual. working ki SS Many a shop superin- tendent would find it worth while to take a hint from this element of the system. As has been stated, the foremen are rated like the men. The deciding board consists of the officers in charge of the shop, the assistant officer in the general foreman and the chief inspector. His pay is determined by his percentage of efficiency. If in reducing working forces a foreman is to be dropped, the low man in the list goes, the theory being that each is sufficiently versatile in his ability so that he can, if the need arises, be transferred from one department to an- other without interfering with the routine of production To be efficient he must make his department produce the predetermined quantity of accurate work anywhere demand such fine limits of accuracy as those in practical every-day use at Springfield in the manu factur¢ of army rifles, machine guns, bayonets, sabres, scabbards and other equipment of war To prove the statement every part of every army rifle must be interchangeable in any other rifle of the model, whether it was made last week or five years ago. Practically all of the men are on piece work; the inspection department is maintained on a most rigid basis, as is demonstrated by the fact that one man in every eight is an inspector. Therefore, unless the work of each workman is gauged by the foreman at frequent intervals each day, he may become careless, and in consequence entail a loss to the armory and to himself. Each man is presumed to pay for work which he spoils, but this cannot save the government from loss, for the law reads that the financial penalty shall not exceed the workman’s daily pay. In a few hours he could ruin the value of many days’ wages. The importance of attention to work is made much of by the armory. If workmen are observed to be talking too frequently, or otherwise unnecessarily idle or inat- tentive, they are given a demerit mark, which enters into their efficiency record. the foreman is held fully responsible for such occurrences, and their repetition is considered prima facie evidence that his working force is unnecessarily large; that if the required output is achieved where idleness exists the transfer of a man or two to some other department can do no harm, providing that the standard of industry is maintained. charge, Few plants Moreover, So the cur- THE IRON AGE April tailment is made and the foreman is compelled t plish results with fewer men. It may be stated, h that the knowledge on the part of the foremen and men that these penalties may be expected, makes cessity of their enforcement a very rare occurrenc: On July 1 and January 1 of each year the list is made up by class and grade and percentage of eff The system is inexorable. To be sure, an occasi ception may be made in the operation of the systen notations occasionally appear against the names of viduals on the list in the records of the management example, a highly skilled and faithful man may dropped to the bottom of his class because of a unavoidable illness, such as pneumonia or typhoid. long absence from labor was a serious matter. K: edge of the man’s previous record may show that from this enforced idleness his record has been ey ingly good. The management, therefore, may decid to drop him in case a dismissal is to be made. But side of such special cases the system makes no distin Illness is considered as a misfortune to the victim: a man is a more valuable unit in the shop force thar invalid and in justice to the former he is ranked abov man whose health compels frequent absences. Si Efficiency Cards the Basis of Wage Payment Changes \s to the wage rate, the efficiency list removes causes of controversy. The workman enters the shops basis of pay. If it is found that he is worth m money, the increase comes to him without his solicitat or it may happen that his earning power is below tl which he has claimed, and his pay may decrease as drops to a lower class. Should a man ask for more wages he is told that changes are made semi-annually only. His card is referred to and he is informed frankly regarding the possibility which awaits him. His efficiency may bx increasing, or it may be decreasing, or standing still. He cannot claim that he has beer unfairly treated, for his record is as unprejudiced as if kept by an automaton. He is working in competition with the men who are doing the same class of work. He makes his own record If he is diligent, skillful, dependable, his standing is corre- spondingly high On the other hand, if he is a chronic absentee; if his habits are not good, or if he is slothful his percentage of efficiency must be low. He may lose his position because he is at the foot of the list and is the first to be discharged, or his rating may fall so low as to place him in a lower class as to wages. , The percentage of idle hours of workmen has gone down tremendously under the Springfield adaptation of the his own rating system. The periodic “sickness” following pay day is rare few men care to take unnecessary demerit marks The wholesale desertion for an afternoon or a day which occasionally demoralizes a plant, because of ball game or other outside event of exceptional interest is practically unknown. The rating system has an important place in securing flexibility of production; in other words, the capability the works to carry an overload. At the present time t! output of army rifles is 150 per day. Recently it was found desirable to increase production temporarily to 200 and the task was accomplished without adding to the working force or to the number of working hours. Fac! man willingly labored at increased pressure for the tim being, without creating confusion, and of course, without decreasing the quality of the product. This is an esse tially important factor in a plant which may be called upon at any time to speed up its production. The Spring field armory shops are equipped to manufacture 500 rifles per day of 8 hr. The machinery is always in complet: readiness to be started up and full stocks of material ar maintained for that purpose. In case of emergen everything would be in readiness to start manufacturin on a large scale, the existing force going on a basis extreme production, keeping the output ahead of norma until the full complement of men were recruited. Th discipline of the system would be invaluable in such emergency. The effect of this efficiency system is shown in close and intimate relations between the management the workmen—and on account of this relationship, la! troubles are unknown. The commanding officer of t Springfield armory is Col. Wm. S. Peirce, Ordnance ! S. Army partment, U. 7 — ere TELM RT TD 3, 1913 . Reversing Planing Machine Drive ty to slow down the platen temporarily to a mim speed for hard or high spots of the work being ed is a feature of the reversing-motor planing-ma e developed by the Triumph Flectric Company, ti, Ohio. Edging in 4-in. strokes, it is claimed, he easily accomplished, and an accurate stroke j vithin 4 in. on cuts of any length or speed 1s 5 Hable en planing in pockets vert the machine from a belt to a ei ly nec ssary to remove the overhead gear belts lleys and the belt shifter. The motor can be ectly to the driving shaft or connected through may be desired \ with machine, and a a feature which, it is pointed out, is de direct drive bevel gears as conveniently controller is fastened bolts to the housing otor side of the lich is attached to the side of ted to the tumbler by a rod vement enables the speed to small reversin the machine bed This tumbler by be temporarily de ind a master switch replaces the regular tumbler turns the tumbler machine the of the machine in one direction slightly, rting the operator the side ng Mach Equipped ith a Direct-( ed R Motor Drive n of motion of the platen ¢ determined by s of the tumbler length of the s an be varied from 6 in. to the full capacity of tl the speed are available, according t both the cutting and return ' secured Vv adjust ng small limited by dogs, and reversal is automat! O to 17 rates of e of the platen, on the variation arms on the controller panel, while the machin stopped quickly at any point of the cycle | turn of the tumbler handle. It is stated that th on of the mechanism is so rapid that when the dog being ‘ ‘ vs the tumbler at the end of the stroke to reverse motion of the table, only 1 second elapses between throwing of the tumbler and the operation of the switch for the reverse motion n a recent test of an 84-in. Pond planing machine, with {0-hp. 230-volt reversing Triumph electric motor, having peed range of 250 to 1000 r.p.m., on two 0.50 per cent on steel billets, a 34-in. cut was taken by two rough- tools with a feed of % in. and a cutting speed of 25 per minute. In this test 56.3 cu. in. of metal or 16.3 Ib as removed per minute, which was at the rate of 6350 THE IRON AGE S13 ; i Ib. per 10-hr. day The total power input in making the | cut was 44.3 hp., while the net power consumed in cuttin vas 38 hp The Utilization of Blast Furnace Slag for Brick Stahl und Eisen for February 6 presents a short article on the utilization of blast furnace slag, referring partic ularly to slag bricks. These are now made by several standard methods, most of them involving hardening either in a steam chamber or an atmosphere of carbor dioxide In the last few years experiments have been carried out at Creuzthal on the us: slag bricks for en gine foundations that are of great interest from both technical and economic standpoint. These foundations ar¢ t. For an &50-hp, ga ngine d made in 1907 mcrete 1:7 mixture 2. For a gas blowing engine fu ng 17,660 cu, ft of air per minute, made in 1908 hardened in : ur. Compression tests of the bricks € 1710 to 2130 | per sq. in 3. For a similar blowing engine, n n 1908 of s bricks hardened in a stream of carbon dioxid Compr sion tests of the bricks gave about 50 lb. per sq. in 1. For a 2200-hp. gas engine dynamo, made in 1909 of | slag bricks hardened by means of carbon dioxide. : pressive tests of the bricks gave about o lb. per sé Che mortar used for foundatio : and 4 consist ne part burnt lime and 10 parts granulated foundry : last furnace slag These materials were carefully gr ; together in a chili mill, and the bri vork kept caret 3 moist during building and after being finished. None veloped any faults nor has caused any delay in operati | In April, 1912, large cubes were taken from th ri { foundations and tested under compression Che result ; for No. 1 were 1124 and 981 Ib. per sq. in.; for } 2, 1166 for No. 3, 2219 Ib. per sq. in. ana It is and 1138 Ib or No 4, per sq. im.; 2088 lb: per-sq. in interesting to not: rete foundation, although it made ft that the con was the best Portland cement with a |! mixture, gi the lowest results The cost per « I metre of brick vor} bricks. with bricks at 17 marks per 100 ™ ark his eq i] bw I I ( ird I corresponding ner unda tions is then worked it, varyin fr 19.51 marks. per « for a 1 mixtur to 12.14 marks for a 1:12 mixture I inally the results may % tests on cubes built uy ] hardened by means of irbon d [hey we built t ; 1 i nortat tor d wer ur rounded with moist ind whi va I tene ifresh « i I eight da | in | rn it I Va “| i iT} Té ’ Q da the suit lity of hardening 4 n dioxide, especially ‘a i nd de more suitable fe ' s y I im e1 e for those high : 4 : 2 In the opinion of the German author these splendid re <a sults obtained at Creuzthal show that the making of slag "4 bricks provides the most suitable and cheapest way to use blast furnace slag B. W cy ‘| Kieley. & West Thirteenth New a York, state that their specialties are now being handled Mueller, 74 street in the West by the Kieley Steam Specialty Company, 1017 «3 Fisher Building, Chicago, carrying a complete stock, which p will enable prompt shipment to be made from that point nM They also have representatives in other important centers aa Their specialties are identified by the trademark Kilemul, es which is cast on all of them. A new catalogue has been A issued ie Cost-Keeping in A System Designed to Give Accurate a Pump Factory’ Information with Special Effort to Minimize the Clerical Labor Involved In the shop with which the author is connected each lot of pieces to be made is given a job number. The workman gets the number from the job tag or instruction tag which is tied to one of the pieces of the lot. The foreman can get it from his machine order, and the cost department gets it from a carbon duplicate of the foreman’s machine order. Each workman is provided with a pad of blank time tickets with the hour and quarter-hours of the day printed in a straight line across the bottom. He places a cross on the hour or quarter-hour mark on the ticket that represents the time at which he starts the job, and another cross on the hour or quarter-hour mark showing the time at which he finishes the job. He draws a connecting line between BY STUART DEAN object must never be lost sight of. A firm with a: mous output per man and no cost system is better o one with a fine cost system and a low output per man For each new job, the workman makes out a new slip. At the end of the day the quitting time is ma even if the job is not done, and all the time slips fo: day are sent to the cost department. The next mor: the workman makes out a new time slip for the unfini job, which will, of course, have the same job number: that of the day before. If the workman’s starting time o: one job does not exactly correspond to the finishing tin of the previous job, the cost department will notify him and the proper correction will be made. A different colored time slip is used for each departn — poe eet . J | PUMP WORK JOB Womber =| CLOCK Number | /s /p/a/P/, /P/s JOB Number CLOCK Number | o/ole ge) /p/, /$/$/8/8/0/ 8/8 PPS o/F § | $/$/3/3/2 o/e, MACHINE O/$/8/3/2/ 2/8 Ae/E/ EB EL E/E! —__ WORK steers i aE ee OLE STUODING 2D ERECTION OMObeRATIONS NOT NOTED UNLESS FOREMAN SO OnDERS. | MACHINE No Sears — ruins givem ina ss stan Singers —_- (searing —_] LAYING OU PATCHING “Fitting Chest Pistons to Steam Chests. “Pireiog most Suatts fo Seeman —— Rolling and Putting Linings in Pump Cylinders. |———— [CHIPPING Rebortn§ OLD Oplieders us Gussie | UANTITY |_REAMING | QUANTITY * [packing | ASSEMBLING oe x! [zl bel Ie! fx! Jol fx! leat ls] lon] be! lee | | ly sl ik hl [>| Ps! 18] Ps] |e} pe} leo] Pol eal | |_Ps| 17] Pel |] Pol je! pe} We) Pel let] Pe! tw | |3g | | 6} j3| | jag | fet aap | i} 4\_ | Isl fs | Bel [fh Bel jal Bel 13] Bel 14) Pel isl Bs) lo | fel It! Pel (wl Bel [3] Pel [al Bel lol Il le PUMP WORK "Mano your Tweinonsiue| “| “4 oe HAND \ reese % ig iy Pa —T * “TE CARDS. CHECK ONE OF | D YOUR TIME IN FOR MACHINE | THE OPERATIONS ABOVE WORK ON WHITE CARDS. Se ee ee a ge TO rae 7 ‘7 j / » » } | SHOP WORK, | CLOCK Mumber | /a/ >/ oo) 3/4/38 WORK ORDER. CHECK THE STANDING |/a/8/3/3/ 2/8] a aie, ——E————— ORDER NUMBER i\/8/ #/¢@ F/ z/F/ IN COLUMN BELOW d S fle Zz é j d wnnimenligtintenpatiaies - senna Aiaaiaitiasges: - — UBB cee Srvir _ PRODUCTION OrDER Ee Do Tre OGRE Cetin OF These Pieces ant SHOWN On Drawina No. Caro No. —— ANDO ant CaLLed THe ____ | WAKE OUT YouR Time FOR STANDING oneeh wumerne | HouRs Ee RATE a VALE , | On wOTHING euT YELLOW TICKETS FOR SHOP WORK | i | —_——_ -—___—__—_ 19 CHECK STANDING ORDER NUMBER | hn — -_ _ ones a aed — Fig. 1—Time Slip for Assembling Work—Productive Labor Fig. 2—Time Slip for Machine Work—Productive Labor Fig. 3—Time Slip for Non-productive Labor these two crosses. He also enters on the slip the job num- ber, his own clock number and the date. If he is a machine man, he also enters the number of his machine He further checks off on time slip the operation that he performed, whether it be lathe, planing, milling or drilling work, if he is a machine hand, or tapping, scraping or studding if an assembler. This checking con sists of drawing a line through the: word. The system is simple to explain to the workman and simple for him to follow, for there is no writing connected with it. The claim is sometimes made that the time would be more accurately taken by a clock, which automatically stamps the time of starting and finishing a job. The writer does not favor the use of anything that makes it neces- sary for the men to leave their machines every time they start a new job. We must remember that cost-keeping is of secondary importance. The profits are made at the points of the tools, and it is of the utmost importance to keep the men at their machines. That output is the main *Copyright, 1913, by Stuart Dean. and Foundry Management. he is Seventeenth article on Shop The sixteenth article, “The Machine Finishing of Cylinders,’ was printed in the issue of March 6. 814 Fig. 4—Work Order Form for Stock, Special Parts or Repairs to enable the cost department to separate at sight the slips of the various departments from each other. On the time slips there is also printed, for special work, a list of those departments that are likely to have work done for them such as office, machine shop, foundry, pattern shop, yard power, etc. To reduce the size of the time slips the depart ment names are abbreviated, and a number of instruction sheets are posted under glass throughout the plant, plaining these abbreviations. When a man does a repat! job for one of these departments, instead of writing job number, he draws a line through the name of the de partment for which the work is done. The cost depart ment then charges his time against that department In cost-keeping there must be a checking or proving that will detect any mistakes made either by the workman or in the figuring of the costs. The following is t! method of checking used by us: Checking Up Time Slips 1. All the time slips are assorted according to clock numbers (employees’ numbers). 2. To detect the failure of any workman to send > \pril 3. 1913 THE IRON AGE 815 . § time slips, the clock numbers on the time slips are ire totaled in each of the classes and sub-classes t pared with a previously prepared list of clock numbers _ slips esenting the men who should send in their time on \ daily she s then made out on a printed form s, As soon as a new man sends in time slips, his name [rig The above tals are all entered on this sheet added to the list. which gives the total er of hours for each department Each day a list of those employees who should hav: ind also the total wages ich department. It furthe: in time slips but who failed to do so is made out. gives the total amount of ney spent for material fo f m the list those who were absent are struck off ach department, and all other expenses connected wit! 1 This list is then sent into the factory, and th that artm« [That is, any money spent during th , ing time slips are collected day, no matter { what purpose, whether for pay-roll a ; material, insurance, taxes or work ne by an outside firn i Checking Hours and Wages is placed on this sheet, charged some department-or t cH The hours and quarter hours, as put down by the some division of the business. The items in these dail | man in the shape of two crosses connected by a line, sheets added together ke hly sh ntered in a space for this purpose on the time slip them is made out yearly s : s entry represents the time that was taken to do the Che principal this sh show For simplicity, no time is figured for less than a_ tion which the overhead not expense beat ¥ ter of an hour. The amount of wages for the time to the productive expens« Tr yro-rate Re «3 sented by the slip is entered on the slip. sides the pro-rate, this sheet giv each depart 4 The total of each man’s wages for the day, as ment, and thereby is useful t nager superin wn by the time slips is compared with his wages for tendent in keeping close watch st day, as placed in the time book by the time-keeper At intervals the amount of nor ductive labor sent girls work together on this checking, one handling to the office will have to be look as there is always slips and the other the time book 1 temptation to send in non-pri ! me which could all | senpcoceslhecerannadiaiiasiiaemetatts ahateaeal i. L. a ° , + th irr ichtt Crier eed er 4 { + 4 » + . + y 3 4 + ' - : i ot See rrr er eet et et | t be 4 5 1 4 i i i ‘ 4 .7 -e seco om ine DAILY DEPARTMENT REPORT. DATE 191 OR MONTHLY REPORT THIS MONTH ADDS A BURDEN OF ENTS PER HOUR TO PRODUCTIVE LABOR : 28 Reproduction of a 1034 x 17-in. Sheet Used for Distributing Daily, Weekl¢ 1 Monti P La arg ae ; If the amounts correspond it shows that no mistake be charged to jobs. The writer knows of one case wher« oe is been made by the workman, the cost-keeping depart- the non-productive labor rose to 62 cents per hour, and ; : ent, or the wage pay department. Thus: the workman was decreased to 42 cents per hour by carefully scrutinizing foo 1s made out his time slips correctly; his jobs do not all non-productive time slips. . verlap or fall short of each other; the starting time on After all time slips have been separated according to ui is new job is the same time as the finishing time on the departments, and non-productive hours and money have revious one; the cost-keeping girl has computed the been entered on the daily sheet, the total number of hours : raphically marked time of the workman correctly, and set are added together and compared with the total number = rrectly down on the slips; the cost-keeping girl has of hours in the time book. These must correspond. This z # ulated correctly the amount of pay due for the com-_ is the check to show that no person on the pay-roll has , ited time and correctly entered it on the time slips. The been missed, and that no labor cost that should have been : me-keeper has correctly figured the man’s time and charged to a department has been overlooked BS ges and entered them correctly in the -time book. i i If the amounts do not correspond the mistake is located Apportioning Time to Job Numbers e 1 corrected. If it is the workman’s mistake the shop is All time slips are filed according to job numbers. The tified, and the error is rectified. girl while doing this sees that the number of pieces worked 4 : on, as marked on the time slip, is the same as the dupli 3 Separating Department Charges cate machine order that was received on the job when it : The time slips for each day are separated according was started. When ther a difference, the time slips are to the following departments: Machine, assembling, erect- sent to the shop for correction. This acts as a check va ng and non-productive The non-productive slips are Sometimes workmen put down the wrong job number and : further separated into departments. The wages and hours the discrepancy in quantity will discover the mistake 4 SLO Jos Numece Mareaiar at Rare Tora Weient & Rouen Vaiue Enovm Latwe THE IRON AGE April 3, The date, the qua: worked on, and the number are placed at top of the card. material of which piece is made, and cost rate at which Me Cuuce ** Baass Pouisn Boring Praner, Suaree material is figured placed next. This is done so that if terial rates change in future, the cards still be used by mak Miutise Orne Tarrer Bott Currer the correction. Next entered the weight of piece. All these ite: are copied from the n chine order. en OY VEE. One Piece SIZE PART. Fig. 6—Example of Flat Cost Card, 4 x These time slips remain filed until the notification come in that the job is finished Ascertaining the Cost of Individual Parts a machine is called the flat cost of the piece, and the cost card is known as the flat cost card. Each one of these cards has space on it for, entering the itemized time and cost of the piece four times, which gives a chance for comparison. A new fiat cost card for a certain piece is never made out until the last one is completely filled. These flat cost cards are filed in boxes in the order of their combination numbers. The name of the piece, thé combination number, and the drawing card number are written at the left-hand that the rapidly handled. These items are copied from the machine order duplicate that has been filed with the shop-workman’s time slips. The cost of an individual part of edge SO cards can le The combination number is the design number of on size of a pump as a whole, as it was built, and differentiates the size, style and design of the pump down to the small- est detail from all other designs, sizes and styles nation number rgoo, for instance, by referring to the ter production list or bill of what parts were used on the pump. No pump with com- bination number 1900 will be built any differently. If a slight change in the shape of any of the parts should be made on combination combination would be given. The material may be changed in certain parts without a change in the combination number. Rub- ber valves may be changed for brass or a brass piston rod may be changed to steel he placed in the pump instead of cast iron, provided ex- actly the same design and pattern is used. Changing the material, however, without changing the combination num ber is allowed only on a few certain parts that are always specified by the customer in his original order When a piece, or a lot of one kind of pieces, is com pletely finished in the shop, the shop sends in the original machine order to the cost department stamped “Finished.” When the cost clerk receives this original machine order stamped “Finished” he takes all the shop-workman’s time slips, which have the same job number as the machin« order, to his desk. These shop-workman’s time slips have been gathered up daily from the workmen and have been accumulating in the cost department files while the job was in progress. The clerk then takes to his desk the flat card, Fig. 6, having the same combination number, card, number and name of piece on it as the machine order which was marked “Finished.” If no such card be found Combi mas material, shows us exactly 1900 a new number Or even a brass cylinder may cost in the files, or if the card be full, a new card is started The information on the shop-workman’s time slips, and the machine order are now entered on this flat cost card The weight entered the rough weight befor any work has been dor on the piece. is given for stock re¢ moved. When the piec: is made from bar stock the dimensions of tl stock are entered on th: machine order _ instea of the weight. The cost department has tables for transposing these dimensions t weights. No credit The sequence of operations then is: i. Separate from the others all the shop-workmar time slips that have notes on them referring to bad work manship or flaws in material. A special note is made of this extra time and extra expense, not on the flat cost card but on the final cost of the machine as a whole, because it is assumed that this particular extra expense will not happen again. What is wanted on the flat cost is the true cost of the piece as it would have been had the work gone smoothly. This extra time and expense must not be thrown away, and therefore it is charged to the finished machine as a whole. 2. Separate from the others all the shop-workman time slips that have special notes on them referring to the number.of pieces thrown out as bad. These notes are put m the flat cost card of the piece in red ink. 3. Separate the shop-workman machine time slips fron the erecting and assembling slips. They are of different colors. 4. Separate the machine time slips so that all the slips of one man are together. 5. On the flat cost card, in the proper place, lath« planer, shaper, etc., enter the number of the man’s ma chine, the hours he spent on the lot of pieces, and also th wage cost on the lot. 6. Assort the hand work, or assembling slips accord ing to the different hand operations, such as laying out filing, tapping, studding, polishing, chipping, scraping, clean ing, piping, keying, testing, etc. Enter the number o/ hours spent and the wage cost for each of the above hand operations in the proper place on the flat cost card 7. Total the machine hours and wages on the flat cost card and enter the amounts in their proper places at th hottom. Do the same with the assembling time. Add th« total machine time to the total assembling time, an: divide by the number of pieces in the lot. This is entere« in the place marked “Hours on each piece.” The sam operation is performed with the wage costs. When don this cost card is filed in the flat cost card file according to its combination number and card number. All erecting time on a machine as a whole is charged to the erecting job number of the machine. An erecting cost card is mad¢ out in the same way as the flat cost card for a piece. The flat cost per pound should be placed on each flat cost card. Long time taken on a piece, wrong time sent in on a piece, ‘mistakes in figuring the costs of labor and material then will be easily discovered. The design or the method of manufacture will be changed on all pieces that show a cost over a certain rate per pound. A marked reduction in the cost of the product can be made if the above is carried out. \pril 3, 1913 Ascertaining the Cost of a Complete Machine When the machine is finished, the bill of material is t to the cost department marked “Finished.” The cost artment gets from the drafting room an exact duplicate t of this bill of material and the following routine nsues: The cost department pastes at the right hand edge the blank bill of material a large ruled and printed -m (Fig. 7) made especially for the purpose of cost guring. All notes that the shop has made on the original .f material are transferred to the blank bill of material. ext, all the machine job numbers are transferred from shop bill of material to the blank list. Then all the ns mentioned as being sent on the fitting list are entered All the flat cost cards are taken out of the files rtaining to this bill of material. Only those are used that the same job number as the job number given on the of material. Where no job number is given it shows at the shop got the piece from finished stock. In this e the latest cost on the piece is used. Next, all weight items from the flat cost cards for ich piece, and also hours’ labor for each piece, are tered. The columns are then added and the totals are tered. The adding machine is used on the long addi- ons to save expense and to imsure accuracy. The final condensed cost of the completely finished chine is put onto a card about 4 in. by 6 in. On it are following items: “4 / Size and style of machine and order number. Machine labor value. Assembling labor on parts, value Erecting labor. Machine hours. Assembling hours. Erecting hours. Total productive labor hours. [he total productive labor hours are multiplied by the iro rate per hour, which gives the overhead expense that machine has to carry. This value is entered or the d. The following items also appear Value of purchased material Value of rough material. Weight of cast iron castings Rate figured at ........ cents Weight of brass castings. Rate figured at ........ cents. These items are put on so that if the rate changes the rrected cost can be figured. Weight of other material. Rate figured at ........ cents. Painting and skidding. Freight. Weight of finished machine THE IRON AGE 817 The hours of erecting can be sub-divided if the firm builds a machine that sometimes has extras, that at other times are omitted. The erecting of these extras can be kept separate and entered as separate item on the card. On the back of the card are written details that tell how the machine is built. These main items are copied direct from the totals at the bottom of the large bill of material eost sheet, Fig. 7, excepting the erecting time and value. This is taken from the erecting flat cost card. The pro rate is figured from the yearly cost sheet, as previously mentioned. All special notes are added to the cost card, such as time and value of extra machine work that had to be done after the parts were considered finished; testing and cleaning, second erection, second testing, pattern time and pattern labor cost. Where a machine is made by changing the pattern of some other machine, the cost of alteration should be added to the cost of the machine, as the cus tomer should pay the expense of pattern changes. Painting and skidding are taken from a separate flat cost card made out in the same manner as the other flat cost cards, and entered on the condensed cost card. The total cost is then summed up and entered on the same card. The selling price also is put on the cost card as is the profit and also the percentage of profit Use Made of Cost per Pound Records After the total cost has been summed up the cost pet pound is entered on the card. This is based on the net weight; that is, the weight without the skids. The cost per pound is useful as a rough check on costs. If the cost per pound on any particular machine is higher than the cost per pound of other sizes of the same style of machine, it is at once evident that something is radicall) wrong in the manufacturing, which must be corrected The cost per pound is useful also in making estimates for new work. The setting of the selling price on a machine the cost of which is not known, is a delicate undertaking Che price must not be so high that the order is lost, nor so low that money is lost Accurate selling prices can be made on machines where the cost per pound is known on similar machines. Wher: costs are hazy there is a temptation to sell at or below cost \ known cost of manufacture stops this The cost system described above is simple. Two or three girls can take care of the time-keeping and the cost keeping for a firm employing two hundred men, and turn ing out a diversified product. No part of the cost-keeping system is carried on by any one in the shop. The cost keeping is simply tacked on the shop routing system O COST SHEET © OF ONE COMPLETE APPARATUS r i ! = = cStesee.Selteee Size 5x7x7 style DFWA Ord > 5S _ J Piatto a S Cy 3 4 4 o Cs — OY “ eam Piston ollows 65 0 J Pack in Ring 4165 _2 Outeide Packing Ring |___230 1 Steam Chest Cover yl 348 ie Vals ~ 1 : fad . iL 50 5 a) Rod Head + f re Rod Stuf oe Jt ayia cet erate aac ~ é Si Bo : +— Aw 8 Pa . od vi rasto 0 1 >@ - a s . . jinn itut ‘ } 65 . Shafi 230 Crm) She 7 " Se ee Le | | | | Fig. 7—Part of Blank Used for Ascertaining the Cost of a Complete i h ce) s oalinall 3 +} en ee ee a ae Be H—t : oe ore a ee , = & Se ee S: pt —} sia co ad Sat f -— eee —f | oe ee =——— =| f ! a} er aioe les ee ee ee ee eM a ! re ae ee ee ee —+-+-——_}--- + a. erste et etl ST _ i Hf --—f ft , . ineatisndinethinnnred ined seniendliatseale Machine ee Figuring Pro Rate or Overhead Expense From the yearly expense sheet, made out by the cost- keeping department, the pro rate is made One of two systems can be used for this charge. Ejither take a certain fixed percentage of the productive cost (labor plus material), make this the pro rate and add it to the productive and call this the final or we may certain fixed amount, so many cents, for each productive hour worked on the product. The amount to for each productive hour is taken from the previous year’s proportion of total overhead expenses to the total number of productive hours for the whole year. For instance, suppose that total overhead expense for the entire year divided by the total number of productive hours was 45 cents. Then to get a true cost, to the flat cost of each productive hour 45 cents must be added to carry all the other expenses. The productive hours are those hours actually charged by the workmen to a particular piece or particular machine. The overhead expense means every charge of any kind, no matter what it be, above the pro- ductive labor and the material that is directly charged to the product. This last system is the only correct one to use. It favors those jobs where the hours of labor are few as compared to material cost. It strongly favors those jobs that are completed in very short times. It thus encourages rapid work and makes it impossible to employ slow men in a plant. A plant using the first mentioned pro rate system can increase its capacity by adopting the second system, be- cause the second system favors work that takes few productive hours as compared to the material cost, and discourages the taking of orders having labor cost that is high as compared with the material cost. A plant run to its maximum capacity has only a fixed number of hours that its men can put in on the work. Any system favoring the taking of orders requiring but an hour’s work will increase the output of the plant and like- wise the profits. A firm should make its main profit on the labor of its men, machine tools and plant, and not on the material it The labor item is the output restrictor of a plant. Firms engaged in a class of work where a large amount of material is finished by a small amount of labor can make money when selling their output at a profit of 5 per cent., because their tonnage output per year is enormous, whereas, a firm whose main expense is labor cost, cost, add a be added uses. THE IRON AGE April 3, would go into bankruptcy at the same low percenta profit, their output being limited. The percentage rate or overhead expense in a plant will increase output per workman increases, because: 1. The keeping of tools in a high state of effi and the employing of efficient foremen must increas: penses. Moreover, hard driven tools require constant pairs and replacement, and, furthermore, labor-savin vices, such as jigs, fixtures and special small tools expensive. 2. All reduction in productive labor means a redu in the productive labor force. Each producer must more of the overhead expense as the force is reduced is possible to take a plant whose output of finis! machines averages 44 lb. per day for each product workman, and increase this average to 110 Ib. per 1 for each day’s work by improvement in design, changes the amount of finish and methods of doing the work, employing good workmen and requiring them to turn a large ottput. The overhead expense will be less on each machi: turned out than it was before the plant output was rais¢ but compared to the productive labor expense, which ha been reduced in amount, the pro rate will show up propor tionally higher, all on account of good management Take the imaginary case of a firm equipped and managed so well that its whole output was turned out by one productive workman. This one man would have to carry the whole overhead expense. It stands to reason that his pro rate per hour would be something enormous. The best way to watch the overhead expense, in order to keep it down, is to compare the year’s total expenditur for each item with the corresponding expense of the pre- ceding year. When considering whether it would be cheaper to buy certain parts of the product already finished, or make these parts in the shop, use the flat cost, without the pro rate added. The pro rate is a charge that the customer must pay so that the overhead expense of a plant may be taken care of. A 50-Ton Locomotive Jib Crane An order for what is believed to be the largest locomo tive crane in the country has been recently received by the Browning Engineering Company, Cleveland, Ohio, from the United States Government. This crane, which is t be delivered in about nine months for use in the United ¥ Pilea | tl tie The Largest Locomotive Crane in the United States, Capacity 50 Gross Tons at a Radius of 70 Ft., Now Being Built for the Navy Yard at Brooklyn, N. Y. April 3, 1913 States Navy Yard, at Brooklyn, N. Y., will be similar the 40-ton crane shown in the accompanying engraving, with the exception of the boom construction. At the pres- ent time, there are two of these 40-ton cranes in service in sovernment navy yards, one being installed at Ports- mouth, N. H., and the other at Norfolk, Va. This crane is to be used for handling the cage type nasts of battleships in one piece instead of dismantling them and handling them in two or three sections as was formerly the case. The hight of the masts is governed by the distance from the high tide water level to the under of the river span of the Brooklyn Bridge, 135 ft. enable the battleships to enter the Brooklyn Navy Yard The handling of these masts in one section will, of course, reduce the amount of time required for overhauling the vessels. In addition to handling the masts, the crane, which will travel around one end and two sides of the iry dock, will also handle boilers, machinery, armor plate d ordnance, [he crane which is to be built will have a maximum radius of 123 ft., at which distance it will be capable of ifting 15 gross tons to a hight of 83 ft. The loads which an be lifted at 85 and 7o ft. are 40 and 50 gross tons respectively. The main boom will have an auxiliary one n the end, which is controlled by machinery and counter- weights on the body of the crane. The boom will be hoisted by 30 parts of 1-in. plow steel rope, both ends of the cable being wound on a drum 24 in. in diameter, which has smooth turned scores to receive the rope. The crane will be mounted upon 16 wheels, 30 in. in diameter, with rolled steel double flanged tires and fastened to the axles by keys. The wheel gauge is 18 ft. and the whee base is 29 ft. 9 in. The crane will travel at the rate o 120 ft. per minute and will make a complete revolution in 2 minutes. The weight in working order is approximately 500 tons. The cost of this crane was estimated by the Government as $50,000, and all the material entering into the construction of this crane will be subjected to inspec- tion and accepted by Government officials before it is fabricated. l How Ball Bearings Save Power \ccording to the London Times Engineering Supple- ment, a series of tests was recently carried out in order to ascertain the exact saving in power effected in one of the ery few textile factories the line shafts of which have been equipped with ball bearings throughout. These bear- ings were of a well-known make with two rows of balls in each, arranged to swivel bodily in their race so as to allow for any flexing or mal-alignment of the shaft. Elec- tric power readings were taken under exactly similar con- litions before and after the ordinary bearings had been replaced by ball bearings, and the result showed a saving f 30 hp. at the engine in a weaving shed containing 900 looms. Had it been possible to eliminate the belt and rope friction, the actual percentage of saving of friction indi- cated in the bearings themselves would doubtless have been very considerable. A test carried out on an edge- trimming machine shaft in a boot factory, the ordinary bearings in which had been replaced by an equal number f ball bearings, showed a saving of 80 per cent. in the power required to drive the shafting. It may be added that the speed of rotation does not af- fect the efficiency of ball bearings, and that the friction at starting is practically the same as when running. This is an important consideration in large factories in which a fraction of a minute saved in running the machines up to speed after each stoppage will result in an appreciable increase in the total output from the machines. The Detroit Twist Drill Company, Detroit, Mich., calls attention to an error which found its way into The Iron Age of March 20 on page 749. The st