The Iron Age 1921-12-08: Vol 108 Iss 23

Ga Yi he El, a STABLISHED 1855 VOL. 108: No. 23 a ) 4 Charging Floor with Undercover Storage Careful Hand Molding for Semi-Steel Printing Press Cast- ings—Raw Materials Unloaded in Single Operations . a = —Core-Making Expedited with Special Cement Boxes —— BY EDWIN and machine shop of the Duplex Printing Press Co., Battle Creek, Mich., manufacturer of news- saper printing presses and accessory stereotyping ma- hinery, numerous innovations have been incorporated » lessen manual work as much as possible, and pro- de for the comfort of the men. In the foundry proper [: the design and construction of the new foundry A. HUNGER ——-~——— ———_ —— a tirely under add. much to the convenience of handling materials, and particularly to the comfort of the men in cold and snowy weather. The loading and unloading tracks, moreover, are placed in separate bays, which, when cars are being pushed in or out, | cover can be segregated from the shop and the foundry by electrically-operated steel aprons, thus preventing cold & ii This Ample Charging Floor, Entirely Under Cover, Extends the Length of the Foundry. Storage capacity for 5000 tons of metal and ten carloads of coke, and a central weighing station, opposite the cupola, are features the big charging platform, entirely under cover, with blasts of air from sweeping down on the men. Henry storage capacity for 5000 tons of metal and ten car- fF. Bechman, vice-president of the company and super- loads of coke at one time, is worthy of note. So also intendent and designer of the plant, has found that is the method of loading all raw material from freight nothing is so irritating to foundrymen as digging cars entirely under cover in single operations, either around in snow for metal and other material. In plan- through manholes to proper bins underneath the charg- ning the new plant, therefore, he made it a special ing platform, or to special places therefor on the plat- point to work out this undercover unloading and load- form. The arrangement of foundry and machine shop, ing arrangement. placed end to end, as it were, with cranes of machine Both foundry and machine shop are of steel con- and erecting shop and foundry overlapping, thus pro- struction, with all-glass walls and monitor roofs, mak- viding efficient means for straight-line routing of work, ing it possible for the men to work under best daylight also deserves special mention. conditions. The ventilating system in the foundry, of Located ir “Michigan, where the winters are none the Pond operating type, keeps the room clear of gases ft too mild,..\we facilities for unloading and loading en- at al! times. The foundry is 110 ft. wide by 180 ft. a 1459 me | Metal Can Be Moved from Storage on the Charging F loot to Seale, or to Charging Floor Trucks, by Magnet, Need for Manual Handling Cupola in two charging without background has doors long, while the new machine and erecting shop, ad- joining it on the east, is 520 by 110 ft. THE IRON AGE December 8, 19: lifted by a Cutler-Hammer 6-ton magnet the ; height of the crane and then dropped. The spacious charging floor, the full length of ; foundry, rests on heavy 30-in. I-beams. It is 50 wide and has a 10x 10-ft. extension over the found proper at the east end, which serves as a special loa ing and unloading platform for the main found, Holes are provided in the charging floor for rods | hold coke storage boards in place. The Whiting cupola is provided with double charg ing doors, is 60 in. in diameter, and takes from 15 +t 16 tons of metal. Charges are weighed on a Toled scale, and are conveyed about the platform in Whit ing all-metal cars, six being of 500-lb. and six of 2-ton capacity. Thus, with these cars and with charging platform-stored coke and metal to depend on, opera- tions could be carried on, even with the charging plat form crane temporarily in disuse. Underneath the charging platform, going east t west, are storage area for flasks, two sand bins, cupola bay with cinder mill and storage for fire clay, cor room and core ovens, storage for active patterns and wash and shower room. Two chutes are provided in one of the sand bins, one for facing and the other for blacking, both materials being unloaded into the chutes through holes from the charging platform above. A hole is also provided in the charging floor above the cupola bay, through which the magnet can be lowered to separate metal from cinders taken from the cinder mill. The flask-storage area and the core room are each served by two Detroit hoists (four in all) which have overhead tracks extending out into the foundry, Devoted Entirely to Making Newspaper Presses and Accessory Stereotype Equipment, the New Machine and Erecting Shop and Foundry Are End to End, and to the Both foundry and machine are heated by steam radiators located overhead along the walls, as shown in the illustrations. separate building. shop The heating plant is in a Other buildings adjoining the main machine shop are devoted to machining smaller press parts, and assembling the stereotype machinery. A separate building of four stories is devoted to pattern making and pattern storage. The unloading bay for raw materials is at the east end of the foundry, and between the foundry and the erecting. bay of the machine shop. It is entirely in- closed and will handle one car at a time. Outside, the track divides into two spurs, onto one of which empty cars can be shunted, while loaded cars can be kept on the other. Material is moved from the cars, either by magnet or grab-bucket, and hoisted by a 5-ton Shaw crane to provided for it. through manholes floor. Since crane-ways of both erecting shop and charg- places Sand is dropped into bins underneath the charging ing floor overlap in this bay, machinery can be un- loaded here also, and then conveyed to the machine and erecting shop or foundry as desired. A pit in the unloading bay is provided for breaking up big pieces of scrap iron. This is done by a 1-ton ball, which is West of the Old Portion of the Plant In the Core Room Are Two Through-Type and Three Tray-Type Ovens. For handling long cores, two trucks can be fastened together December 8, 1921 General View of Foundry from East End of Charging Floor ) that the foundry cranes can pick up their loads. \ll flasks are stored indoors, this also being especially onvenient during the winter. All flasks are of metal. The foundry is served by 10-ton and a 5-ton Shaw crane, and all castings are onveyed to the cleaning room by magnet, thus obviat- ng the need of using awkward and sometimes danger- us tackle. For casting the various parts of printing presses ind accessory equipment a high grade of metal and vorkmanship is required. All molding is done by hand, and is carefully supervised and inspected. Sw far as possible all operations are standardized. Work- nen trained particularly for this special kind of work, y years of experience, know that the least flaw will 1ean the scrapping of their work, and so are taught to strive for quality in everything they do. In the scrap metal which is used in the melts from 0 to 30 per cent scrap steel is employed; hence the ompany speaks of its machines, to the trade, as of [wo Big Rattler Boxes, One Revolving End for End and Castings The second box THE IRON AGE 1461 Cupola spout is visible at left beneath end of crane semi-steel. In fact, the quality of the metal is consid- ered so high that Mr. Bechman uses it to make the bushings (ordinarily made of tool steel) for all the jigs in the plant that can be hardened. Many of the castings are large and of peculiar shape, and so, for cleaning and machining, require spe- cial equipment. This refers especially to the side frames of the big tubular presses, varying in length from 8 to 16 ft., and in weight from 2000 to 3400 Ib. In the making of the press cylinders also, varying in weight from 800 to 4600 lb., an original method of core-making, molding and pouring has been developed. Usually, cylinders of such size are cast vertically; in the Duplex foundry, however, the more difficult horizontal method is employed. This is done by means of numerous gates and careful workmanship obtained through close su- pervision and numerous repeat operations. Much of the work of the foundry is also devoted to making inking rolls, varying from 150 to 1500 Ib. in weight. Gears, employed in goodly numbers in presses, he Other Rolling Over Like a Log, Are Used to Clean Up the ong press ide frames ae er 88 at = eRe nee ep aie pmptOe call for the making of blanks varying from 3 to 60 in. in diameter. In making cores, time and labor savirg methods have been developed, which at the same time have helped to make better castings possible. Take, for in- stance, the making of cores for stereotype casting boxes (200 to 300 lb., and cylindrical in shape): a scheme has been worked out which dispenses with much work of the pattern maker and, moreover, has brought about a 300 per cent increase in production. In making the core box for these casting boxes the pattern is placed on a bottom board inside a frame. A mixture of lake sand and cement is then rammed around the sides. After drawing the pattern, the ce- ment mold is laid aside to harden. Another frame of the same dimensions is laid on top of the first frame, and a similar mixture of sand and cement rammed on the top of the first parting, thereby forming a per- fect joint. This upper part is also permitted to harden. When a core is needed for the casting, the core- maker first places the pattern in the lower core box and rams it up with core sand. He then removes the pattern, turns it over and places it in the other half of the box, ramming up that also. Lifting the pat- THE IRON AGE December 8, 19: was done with numerous gaggers to hold up pockets, a tedious operation which did not lend it so well a8 the present to the prevention of spoilage. The core room is well lighted, and is equip, with three Whiting tray ovens and two Whit through-type ovens, with six core-rack trucks servi the latter. Two of these trucks can be fastened gether for supporting long work. A ten-barrel co) oif tank is mounted up above, and pipes lead to a core-making benches. An opening on the chargin; platform permits filling this tank. An interesting rattling equipment has been devel- oped to take the big side frames. This consists of a huge box 18 ft. x 16 in. x 54 in., which is revolved on its lengthwise horizontal axis. Use is also made of : smaller box, 9 ft. x 18 in. x 40 in., to take smaller castings. This is turned end over end, and can take two press cylinders at one time. From the rattler and cleaning room the castings are taken to an adjacent room, where they are carefully painted. Air chisels are also used to clean the cast- ings. From the paint room the castings are picked up by crane and taken to their proper places for machin- ing, in the big machine shop. Small castings are taken Erecting Bay of the New Machine Shop, 520 Ft. Long All presses are assembled and tested here befor thoroughly shipment When thoroughly baked, the two halves of the core are as- sembled and the casting poured in the regular way. This method has proved more economical and expe- ditious than would have been possible with a regular set of core boxes. In the old days, in making these cores for casting boxes, green sand was rammed in, and to make a single core one man and helper were kept busy an entire day. Now, it is possible for the same workmen to make three or four in a day. In the old days, also, the cores for the platen of a rectangular casting 24x 36 and the reinforced a deep-drafted pattern pockets, which entailed much skill and patience on the part of the molder. Here, too, the making of three or four cores by a highly tern, he runs the two halves into the core oven. steam in., with with stereotype table, a side flat ribs, one under side numerous made with intricate were with skilled man was considered a good day’s work; with the new method developed, one man can easily make a dozen in a day. In making this core, instead of the usual core box method, dry sand is rammed around the pattern and the core baked in the regular manner. In making heavy press bed plates, time and labor are saved by making four separate cores with dry sand; whereas in the old method, when using green sand, the work on further by truck to machines in buildings ad): cent to the big shop. As mentioned before, the new shop is divided int a machining and an erecting bay. All the planers an lathes for finishing the big frames and turning th: cylinders in the machine bay have individual drive This bay is served by a 5-ton Shaw crane and th erecting bay by two 5-ton Shaw cranes. The machi and erecting shop crane runways overlap those fro! the foundry, so that work can easily be picked up b one set or the other as desired, without any manu: handling. All presses, before being sent out, are built up « the erecting floor and given a thorough test. Th are then taken down, the various parts crated a1 loaded onto cars in the loading bay, two cars (t capacity of the bay) being required for the big tul lar presses. In designing the new foundry much thought w given to provisions for future expansion. Hence, wi! the foundry laid out as it now is, another cupola cou! be built opposite to the one now in place, both beir served by the present charging floor, and an extensi built south of the present building, where men serving the added cupola could work apart from men in t! foundry now in operation. Taylor Society in Annual Meeting Holds Sessions Devoted to Plant Man- agers, Sales Executives, Office Managers, Labor Managers and Chief Executives HE annual meeting of the Taylor Society this year was in the midst of an industrial depression. In recent years the Taylor system of scientific man- agement has functioned in an era of relative prosperity and rising prices. Now it has an opposite kind of period to deal with, and it will pass through a severe test. Watching this test will prove of interest. This was one of the main thoughts at the annual meeting in the Engineering Societies Building, New York, Dec. 1, 2 and 3. The president of that plant where the sys- tem was first installed 18 years ago maintained that the system was functioning well during the present de- pression and he would make no innovations. There were separate sessions for sales executives, plant managers, office managers and labor managers, as well as general sessions. For the first time in the history of the society attention was paid to the con- crete problems of the man in general control of an in- dustry. According to the report of the managing direc- tor of the society, Dr. H. S. Person, the society first gave attention to the scientific management of the shop. Several years ago attention was paid to the manage- ment of industrial relations; later to selling; finally, to scientific management in general control. There was a record registration of 536. The closing function was a luncheon to Henry R. Towne, chairman of the board Yale & Towne Mfg. Co. and honorary pres- ident of the Taylor Society. Speakers were Mr. Towne; Wilfred Lewis, president Tabor Mfg. Co., Philadelphia, and Calvin W. Rice, secretary American Society of Mechanical Engineers, all of whom belonged to the mechanical engineers’ organization in the days of the presentation by Mr. Taylor of his famous papers on belting, piece rate systems, shop management and the art of cutting metals. Sessions other than those reported in detail were devoted as follows: Report of the committee on sales engineering, by Willard E. Freeland, Winchester Re- peating Arms Co., New Haven, Conn.; the necessity of the quota for proper sales cost accounting, by Chailes P. Staubach, manager Burroughs Adding Machine Co., Newark, N. J.; the application of the principles of scientific management to the office, by William H. Lef- fingwell, Leffingwell-Ream Co., Chicago and New York; the general control of a business, by John H. Williams, Day & Zimmerman, Philadelphia. Richard A. Feiss, Joseph & Feiss Co., clothing man- ufacturer, Cleveland, was elected president of the Tay- lor Society to succeed Henry S. Dennison, Dennison Mfg. Co., Framingham, Mass. The other officers, newly elected, were: Vice-president, Robert B. Wolf, New York, to succeed Richard A. Feiss; member of the board of directors, Ida M. Tarbell, writer, New York, in place of Daniel M. Bates, Day & Zimmerman, Phila- delphia, and L. Herbert Ballou, Walworth Mfg. Co., Boston, in place of Frederic G. Colburn, Bethlehem Shipbuilding Co., Bethlehem, Pa. The officers who continued in office were: Vice-presi- dent, H. K. Hathaway, Finance Building, Philadelphia; managing director, Harlow S. Person, Taylor Society, 29 West Thirty-ninth Street, New York; treasurer, Edward W. Clark, 3rd, E. W. Clark & Co., Philadel- phia; members of the board of directors, Ray M. Hud- son, Holt Mfg. Co., Peoria, Ill., and J. C. Heckmann, United Drug Co., Boston. “The Technique of the Appraisal of the Efficiency of an Industry” was presented by C. E, Knoeppel, C. E. Knoeppel & Co., New York. His discussion concerned the report of the committee on elimination of waste in industry of the Federated American Engineering So- cieties at the instigation of Herbert Hoover. In brief, Mr. Knoeppel said as follows: “We 18 engineers had a paradox on our hands to begin with. Mr. Hoover, on the one hand, asked for an assay of waste in industry, in a few short months, a task to which a lifetime could be devoted. Mr. Wallace, on the other hand, aided and abetted by Mr. Alford, looked through the dic- tionary for the one word which should guide our ac- tivities and located a most excellent one, ‘quantitative.’ We gave Mr. Wallace his way. “I do not believe there was ever a committee of 18 men any stronger and abler than our committee, but this strength constituted our chief weakness, owing to the different schools of thought represented, the indi- vidualistiec strength of each man and the different experiences and pronounced ideas of the members. “We realized that we were setting out to appraise that most intangible thing on earth, human reactions. We were not going to assay a mine out-cropping, nor a railroad location, nor analyze a new form of gas. No accepted management and labor terminology exists and few units of weighing or measuring the performance of industry have been developed by engineers in a way to be standardized. We considered the development of a medium of expression and the creation of a yard stick. “It was felt that if the medical specialist could take that most complex thing on earth, the human body, and diagnose and prescribe, we could well follow the same fundamental plan of assay. If the medical specialist, by confining his attention to certain definite things, can make his examination and diagnosis in a comparatively short time, through proper questioning and observa- tions and tests, we could probably do likewise. “In developing the questionnaire and evaluation sheet the following fundamentals were our guide: First, waste and not effectiveness was to be assayed, much as one would study a refuse pile to develop a by- product; second, a given practice is not wasteful until a better practice has been developed, therefore theo- retical standards of excellence should be ignored; three, waste is the difference between possible attainment and actual performance, between the average practice and the best known practice; fourth, no result is 100 per cent wasteful; fifth, best practice would be 0 per cent waste; sixth, responsibility for the cause was as im- portant to appraise as the cause itself. Over Fifty Per Cent of Waste Due to Management “On page 9 of the report there is this statement: ‘Over 50 per cent of the responsibility for these wastes can be placed at the door of management and less than 25 per cent at the door of labor; while the amount chargeable to outside contacts is least of all.’ What- ever else may be said of the questionnaire and evalu- ation sheet, the fact remains that a quantitative con- clusion, satisfactory to the engineering mind, was the definite result of the assays made, and in itself amply justifies the use of the mechanism developed. “A banker recently said: ‘It is important to have a correct appraisal of your property, but how about your management? After all,’ he said, ‘it is your man- agement and not your plant and product that we are investing our depositors’ money in, for without good management, these are in themselves not productive.’ Up to this time investigations have not amounted to all that they should because there has been no way of evaluating causes and responsibilities in definite figures. To say that the efficiency of something is ‘about’ 60 per cent, while looking wise and mysterious after a hop- skip-and-a-jump through a plant, is guessing, and guess- ing is unscientific and therefore has no place in an engineer’s method of working. To tell me that I am not looking well, when I never felt better, is going to make no impression on me at all, but a definite evalua- tion showing blood pressure 170, pulse 92 and tem- 1463 peewee ae Sea agi ab | 1464 THE IRON AGE December 8, 1921 7 Guide Questions for Field In- [ FIELO REPORT EVALUATION vestigators, Paraphrased and COMMITTEE ON ELIMINATION OF WASTE IN INDUSTRY AMERICAN ENGINEERING COUNCIL Condensed from Field Ques- oF zi rs : THE FEDERATED AMERICAN ENGINEERING SOCIETIES tionnaire Committeeon Waste iponay PLANT NO. EST.BY . | ®+®+@O = @ Excellent =O°%oWaste Poor = GO%oWaste a+b+C<d=100% ; . — , in In ; dustry Good = =20%o » e+f+g=h= Io Waste } ws . - . 1G Bad = 80%o wv ' |= 1@) +(@) + (2 =(4 Fair =40%o » K. Organization LE |o*O~ - —— a ~ fa Guide | . RESPONSIBILITIES __} totacwast : K 1. Have you an organization chart or its * [aueshions| MANAGEMENT j LABOR ] outsioe cont acts }— $ equivalent wo or = }—____—— ee nearer agiianel Ry : > | Field jPssigned| Esto | Points jAssig Est.°Jo =| Points Est.9lo [Points sinahe ‘ K 2. Is your organization functionalized < Investi- | Points | Waste [Waste [Po nts} Waste Waste Points| Waste Waste fo’ } - + —+—_, —_4 — —+— ——; +}— - oe + +4+—, + or is it built around individual per ka A, ye, mk |S sonalities? f K | ] a eo ae as + a I. { ew | , > . c K2 if | | KX 3. Are the duties of each executive in c K3 1 t ee eet oo your organization written up? Pc rr —T T T T T Se : & = } — + - — +$—__—_}___ z Kk 4. Are there standard written instruc 3 2 Ke } anal $$ 4 4 +--+ tions for each executive or func j oo: [KG ff | | | a | leas seen nemseatihietiintl cm 2 tionary? + © (KI + } | } { 4 4 ee eee + -— ~ oO <¢ | Eo [ks of | aarenliemnennansil —_ _ K Have you a research department that | Sy K9 | 1 : is not devoted wholly or in part to z&sixo t oes | a a ee ; S 5 10 . a } I ncecensielfecnenpenllcemensnnsilpacicmnaiaied . i current production problems? of 2 kn jt tt kK. 66. Do you keep up-to-date personnel rex - D5 KR T Tt ' oa es r ords, particularly with reference to £ KD , - een eee —— } qe el xu quality and quantity of production? Ns § a + — T — T — nr + KS *-- ————+— — 2 Are your workers selected carefully Zz og Lk \ Z - a ceiaienn i on basis of interviews, trade and a’ ‘ | KIT as } — ‘ other tests”? + % K'8 i cesniienannnel mannan — EE ee | : Os 2 xg git casa ee ac | kK 10. Do you make a practice of shutting > a | Y ] T oo ae oe me I down for inventories, unbalanced o *, ¥ T T T t - ] ee ee ] } production business fluctuations 3° + + + | + i + 2 = > +> , } etc » £ : — >= + + + * _ + + + —4}+———_——_-4+ ———— +> +—— : ; - <c 2 o— t . > + o + + —+ —4+——— + | K11l. Do you follow up and _ investigate 2 = — } ee ee eee eee eee . quits? ” = Tinie sa n eS 1 eee Kk 12. Do you tabulate and analyze labor i 3 ee ee ee ee ee eee ! : ee turnover by causes? r 2 | TOTAL a e | i i 2 = mies + . ° = rT T —_ K 1 How is wage remuneration deter- a _} | | FI a eel ai ii mined? Union scale, competitive % oc {T2 i i 1 4 } a meme + { market, etc.; day work, piece work | BSL i 4 4 = 4 1 a ‘a j or other forms of incentive wage? aa = T4 + 4 iain = al aol ; r Es HS \ } iaiciceeaeipteietiadaei a | kX 14. What are the hours of labor per day S= [ts] t i aiaiaenead and week and how and by whom -ee(n 7 | | i nity See Loe | | determined? 2356 i a i ee ; xr eva . t — j K 15. Is yours an open, closed union, pref- v ot aoe eee | T " a eee } erential union or non-union shop? wa >——_— \ $40 , , ; oe 4 K 16. What form of shop representation $a have you? | o£ at K17. During the last 5 years what has =< © = been your strike record as to fre- } quency, duration, causes, number | = affected, etc.? § KX. 18. During the last 5 years what as | 6 been your stoppage record as to | -= frequency, duration, causes, num- 5, ber affected, etc.? (Stoppages are S strikes by sections of workers not 3 2 sanctioned by union.) 5 > K 19. Are your industrial relations directed ~ mL by a competent functional person ~2P y nel head? "a 3 ¢ ; K 20. What does your accident record show q@esi| ; = o | is to the degree of danger of per Me sonal injury? ~voa q on . > J; 7° K 21. To what extent do you carry on per —-S5 ¢ sonnel service work ee? a instruction of vour workers in *>$ i " t t t t methods and qualit Fiven b spe ss 1 oe cialists? ¢U" } = een aq c | - K 7%. Do you ipply a poli of systen | | y al atically developing, advancing and ; gol | y at RR Le promoting worker! nd other ! | 2 \ | pe jj jj sn fs jh your organizatior ; wo | TOTAL i Cc 9 | & = = + $ ° r y + = ~ > oe T. Technical | GRANO TOTAL ja Tr 1. What organized exte ype ( Be do you participate in wit our own similar and to anticipate idleness of machines and workers and inter-related indust provide against it _ Have you an_e up-to-date ff-made plant lay-out 6. Is there a work ticket for each work assignment or! showing location of debt workplaces patl of equivalent provided in advance and on which elapsed work, etc.? time is recorded by mechanical time stamp? Do you maintain a ip-to-date equipment nventor. l 7. Have you a good current cost system tied in with the showing cost repall depre ition by ndividual financial books? pieces or group I 8. Do you compile a record of idle worker-time by amount I !. Are there writte! tand 1 specifications for equipment cost and causes? for each of the \ Ou ope ( : l 9. Do you compare production pe rformance with produ Is your equipment n ntained | periodic repair ir tion standards, with reference to worker, job d spection made ) ‘ rate n ntenanc depat partment and equipment? ment? 11. To what extent is purchasing done to standard sp 7 % Are your too im zed f ich of tl variou cifications and does it clear through a purcha operations igent? T 7. What the extent of variety n product design and 12. What control exists over receipt, issuance and retur structior of materials? : — eo each proce cdize pa work content and 13. Is material storage convenient of access and arrangt thod ment and does it conserve space properly? U. Utilization (' 14. What types of internal transportation are used? I 1. Do vou. establisl L progressive budget based on U1 Is raw material subjected to careful examination knowledge of your manufac iring < acit ind fore tests on receipt’ easts of your business volumé 1’ 16. Is there competent independent functionalized ins . ti P j roces ith rigorous quality dis 1 Is vour manufacturing policy make-and-sell or sell- 2 work in process wi ri 1 then-make? ‘i . . ’ ‘ ’ 7 ; . ¢ ; } l' 17. Is there competent independent functionalized inspe« I > Do you compile ; record | ol dle machine hie tion of finished product? ‘ OR ne ses , : ps ' amount, cost and caust 7 18. What is the amount and character of inspection U 4. Is your planning of work centralized or distributed equipment? among a number of shop executives and workers U 19. Are there proper performance stanuards based on care- U 5. Does your shop administrative mechanism enable you ful detailed study and the workers’ co-operation: , December 8, 1921 perature 101, is bound to force me to take medicine and perhaps go to bed, whether I like it or not. “A joint committee is now at work on management terminology, another is just starting work on standard- izing graphic presentation. The waste report says: ‘The assays of waste show first, the need of definite and quantitative industrial information on a multitude of points.’ Is not this the time to begin a joint society work on perfecting the mechanism of analysis and evaluation which was given to the industrial world by the waste committee? Could not it be a work which would go down in the annals of American engineering as comparable to Mr. Taylor’s ‘Art of Cutting Metals,’ by taking the bunk, the mystery and the false doctrines and practices, out of that most recent of developments— industrial management?” Report Criticized and Defended The discussion was occupied by various members of the Taylor Society endeavoring to pick flaws in the waste report and by defense arguments offered by those of the 18 engineers who were present. Only 46 ques- tions (reprinted herewith) of the 260 on the question- naire were submitted to the audience. Those giving the defense generally claimed that the fault finder would withdraw his statement if he knew all of the 260 ques- tions. L. W. Wallace, chairman of the session and executive secretary Federated American Engineering Societies, and one of the 18 engineers who framed the report, held in his hand a copy of the book, “Waste in Industry.” He frequently read passages from the book to meet the objections of the fault finders. Boyd Fisher claimed that the analysis of waste in ndustry was subjective rather than objective; that con- crete data and conclusions had not been reached. In rebuttal, Mr. Wallace read passages showing that the committee had determined in figures the amount of waste due to such definite causes as accidents, defective vision, strikes, ete. Mr. Fisher admitted that he had not read the book. Dr. Person declared that a subjective assay was necessary, as only five months were allowed for the work. He stated that the report was a fine example of subjective work. He compared the problems of the 18 engineers to a hypothetical agricultural problem. “Suppose,” he said, “a certain tract of land must be surveyed as to its fertility. The objective method would be to cultivate a portion of that land and measure the crops. But that would take time. The subjective method would be to consult expert farmers who had had experience in cultivating similar parcels of land and draw conclusions from their testimony.” E. E. Hunt, secretary Committee on Unemployment, Department of Commerce, Washington, stated that he did not consider this report the bonanza that Mr. Knoeppel made out, but rather only a beginning. Boyd Fisher maintained that the questionnaire was to de- termine the degree of orthodoxy of a plant to scientific management rather than the amount of waste. He was answered by Morris L. Cooke, consulting engineer, Philadelphia. Howard Scott, consulting engineer, New York, maintained that the questionnaire would bring out the effects of waste, rather than causes of waste. Hugh Frayne, New York, representative, of the \merican Federation of Labor, said that nobody had mentioned the human waste in industry. The human element prevails in industry all the time, yet nothing s ever allowed for the depreciation of this. We have different problem in human waste in the United States than in any other country. Most countries are yne-race nations. Here there are language handicaps n industry. We need better training of workers and more standardization of training. We must take better are of our children, who, underfed from birth, are mentally dead before they even enter industry. Changes Made in a Taylor Installation The paper of Charles F. O’Connor, production man- ager Universal Winding Co., Providence,-was of espe- cial interest because it illustrated a Taylor installation inder stress of rush production. His subject was: “Reflections of a Production Manager.” An additional THE IRON AGE 1465 point of interest was the fact that a member of the society, Car] Barth, had installed the system. The normal method to pursue in installing a Taylor system in a plant is for the engineer introducing the system to take on an assistant, who will become pro- duction manager when he leaves. Intercourse between them may continue, but short-sighted business policy does not provide for that continuance. Like all con- struction work, the period of development has created a superstructure essential to the building, part of which may later be thrown into the discard. Also improved appliances and details of operating technique come into the market—there is always an element of progress which calls for some change. How is the production manager to be guided at these critical times? How informed of the pitfalls and snares? The office of the Taylor Society should be a center of information, should help the manager find out where he can get the assistance that he needs—information concerning repairs, maintenance of methods and new details and implements of the technique of manage- ment. The writer has found out, during the war and since, that to have operated without scientific management would have been confusion, though many details of scientific management had to be held in abeyance tem- porarily when speed, and not cost, became the prime consideration. Restoration has been a real problem. The society should accumulate data concerning such lapses and the way in which proper conditions have and may be restored. Such data would help many a manager to check up and set himself right. The author then offered such data to the Taylor Society. For instance, four years ago route sheets, kept while a lot was in process, were filed in pockets on an inserted sheet in the route sheet books. These books were heavy, awkward, slow to handle, they fel! apart and it was difficult for several persons to have access to them at once. Then Mr. O’Connor evolved a visible index route sheet, which is a Rand file laid flat on the table. Using two tables, the company now uses four persons, where 12 were formerly required. In other words, 300 per cent efficiency has been added to the route clerk. Board slips and moves which were formerly kept in pockets in the old style books, are now filed in compartments or drawers built in the tables and are easier to find. : Keppele Hall, Joseph & Feiss Co., Cleveland, in the discussion, spoke of the importance of a proper cost system. Before we can have a proper cost system we must have a proper classification showing the relation of one department to another, he said. Most cost ac- countants are helpless—they are handed figures over which they have no control and are asked to predict the future, though they have no influence themselves in production. We must express costs in terms that will indicate where responsibility lies. Wilfred Lewis, Tabor Mfg. Co., Philadelphia, ex- tolled the Taylor system which has ‘cen employed in his plant for 18 years during periods >f unprecedented booms and unprecedented depression Even when the company had a disastrous fire in 191:' and had to move its plant 10 miles, the Taylor system was again in- stalled. The speaker said he would not consider any innovations as the Taylor system had proved adequate for any emergency. It is a great labor-saving device, he maintained. R. G. Seott, H. H. Franklin Mfg. Co., Syracuse, N. Y., said that Mr. O’Connor’s problems fell into two classes: Those that would continue and those that could be eliminated for good. A Taylor installation is nothing more than the groundwork of the princi- ples of management. Changing the System Is “Monkeying With Dynamite” Frank Gilbreth, consulting engineer, Montclair, N. J., said that the changing of the Taylor system is serious; that Mr. O’Connor is “monkeying with dyna- mite.” However, he admitted that Mr. Taylor did not know anything about the selection of workers, motion study, or fire protection, and hence his system has to be modified to line up with this added knowledge. No- body ever did a job right—it could always be improved ae ioe — sr tgp ence Ae TEEN ssaremenagoetitiiaaseny centammmmmmataalinn mianaaiat pe = a ae eat er eh estoy sing mes Fae eee aareings = = Faas cali 4 nn etapa stutter ammmmamasmceapananaridtiliataes: wie, ssc aman cilia ee ON LE LLL LE LLL AE OCC AL ALOE - oe oun ee eee et we. pee ene att Ram Brey 2 ae 1466 on; motion study reveals the possibility of improve- ment. It is dangerous to change the work of another man, but it often has to be done. H. K. Hathaway, Finance Building, Philadelphia, consulting engineer, did not approve of Mr. O’Connor’s changes. He said that whenever he himself had de- viated radically from the Taylor system he had gone wrong. It is not the function of the production man- ager to make such changes, he maintained. Mr. O’Con- nor has sacrificed certain advantages of the Taylor system. The tickets won’t fall out of the pockets if handled properly; they can be easily found if put in proper order. Two speakers made the observation that the present period of depression gave the best test for the degree ‘f efficiency of the Taylor system. These were Richard A. Feiss and H. H. Farquhar, Belmont, Mass. “ The latter drew a chart to show that the system developed during the era of rising prices; it will be interesting to see how it holds up during a falling market. Mr. Feiss said that people talked too much about prewar stand- ards and desired to get back to them. We should for- mulate standards of to-day, he said. Combination Routing a Topic of Interest A paper which aroused a great deal of interest and was thoroughly discussed was that of D. J. Walsh, Jr., Sanderson & Porter, engineers, New York, on “Com- bination Routing—to Meet the Problem of Small Quan- tities and Short Operations,” presented at the plant managers’ session, Dec. 3. Combination routing, he explained as an attempt to counteract to the greatest possible extent the handicap imposed by small quantities and short operations. It cannot eliminate this handicap, he emphasized, but it modifies it to a degree that is a welcome relief. It is based on the feasibility of combining for short opera- tions two or more batches that may properly be handled separately for longer operations. Likewise, it capital- izes the feasibility of routing in one batch a number of different products that call for essentially the same operating treatment, and are of the same degree of urgency. A useful feature of this sort of combination, he added, is the convenience of routing through the shop together products intended partly for stock and partly for shipment. A specific case of this type of routing, in operation at the plant of Herrmann, Aukam & Co., Lebanon, Pa., manufacturer of plain and embroidered handkerchiefs, was given in detail. It was begun in 1914, and was said to be operating as smoothly as ever to-day. “At the start,” he said, “practically all work available for introduction into the shop was in quantity less than was recognized as providing a desirable job at the principal operations. Time study and general obser- vation determined desirable basic batch quantities for the principal operations for the different main varieties of product. Handling facilities were provided in accord- ance with these determinations, and these facilities in turn fixed the cs dinal principle of the scheme of com- bination routing “The first rule was,” he said, “that an element of any combination 1:iust be indivisible, and must not ex- ceed the basic batch quantity. It could be any fraction of a batch quantity, and preferably, of course, should be exactly that quantity. Trucks and transportation de- vices were standardized and subdivided ‘nto units con- taining normally fixed quantities and an effort was made in the routing to make elements of a combination multi- ples of this normal -fixed handling quantity.” Time study was used in working out these details. The permanent identity of any element in a combi- nation was assured by assigning to it an “item” number in the routing, which number appeared on a tag placed on the goods before they left the store-room. This designation appeared in the first instance upon the route sheet which was designed to show simply and graphi- cally the arrangement of the items in different combi- nations for successive operations, this being done by the route clerk solely for the benefit of the tag-writing clerks. Upon this sheet the route clerk could indicate any desirable combination of items or batches. The second guiding rule for the route clerk was to THE IRON AGE December 8, 19° make up full batches, the purpose of which was ty fold: To use handling equipment to capacity and to p vide a job of decent length at each operation. Wh: the route clerk had indicated the combinations to made, the tags and forms required were prepared by reference to the route sheet, and the allowed times entered by the time-study department. The routine poms passed into the hands of the shop-order-of-work clerk. As to the benefits of combination routing Mr. Walsh said “It not only cuts down the number of different jobs in the shops and stores, and decreases store-room transactions, but it also diminishes planning room transactions such as balance-sheet, payroll and produc- tion record entries. It holds down the volume of cur- rent manufacturing orders and route sheets, and gen- erally contributes to an economical consolidation of both records and effort.” Views of various sections of the plant were shown, including route sheet and other forms used in the com- bination routing system in operation there. A. B. Rich, Dennison Mfg. Co., Framingham, Mass., presided at the session, and Carl G. Barth, consulting engineer, Philadelphia, and H. K. Hathaway, consulting engineer Philadelphia, led the discussion. Formula for an Efficient Workman ’ Boyd Fisher, Lockwood, Greene & Co., Boston, pre- sented a formula for an efficient workman. His courage in attempting such a definite undertaking on such an abstract subject was commended by several who dis- cussed his outline. Though minor changes in his for- mula were suggested, it was approved in the main by those who attended the session. The formula was in chart form, the following being the main outline: Efficiency and development of the individual depend on: A. Ability to work. I. Mental efficiency. 1. Mental equipment. 2. Assignment. 3. Instruction. 4. Supervision. II. Physical efficiency. 1. Physical development. 2. Health. 3. Assignment 4. Plant conditions. 5. Equipment. 6. Material. Plus B. Willingness to worl I. Conscious will. 1. Discipline. 2. Enthusiasm. IT. Unconscious will, 1. Home conditions. 2. Treatment. 3. Plant conditions. 4. Financial incentives. (These were divided into many subheads.) The outstanding features of Mr. Fisher’s talk were as follows: “Lockwood, Greene & Co., managers, feel that what- ever the development of machinery and processes, the human being is still the unit of efficiency and that the greatest progress of management will be found in con- sidering the worker, not as an incident to, but as the chief factor of production. Improved methods and machines are considered as devised to help the worker, and when he is kept always in mind there is less danger of neglecting phases of his development and bringing about industrial discord and other social ills. This is the sincere and unprompted view of S. Harold Greene, president of the company. The service department is his creation and one of his chief interests. He depends upon it to secure the greatest efficiency and development of the individual workman. “The service department, in conference, has devised this formula as representing, to its best present know!- edge, all of the factors which regulate the efficiency and development of the individual workman. We do not be- lieve that this chart indicates the relative weight of al! factors, nor do we have any special point to make in the way the chart is put together. For instance, ‘Enthusi- asm’ might have been placed over ‘Discipline,’ under the sub-heading of ‘Conscious Will.’ So far as we now December 8, 1921 recognize them, this chart contains all of the principal tems to be taken into consideration but makes no at- tempt to sub-divide them into all of their ultimate ac- tivities in the plant. This is particularly true of the ealth section. We should be glad to learn of principal livisions which should be included, and which we have verlooked. It is recognized that the choice of terms s open to discussion and that in many cases our own experience or even mere chance has determined the vcabulary. “There is nothing final in our minds in the appor- onment of supervisory responsibilities between the ervice (personnel) and the production department. In he first place, in the textile industry we do not clearly tinguish between line and staff functions and many lings are set down under production in this depart- nent which should be consigned to some staff depart- nent, such as an engineering or a standards or a ethods department. On this chart we wish merely ) reassure the operating departments that by includ- g¢ things which they now do, if they are done, in a hart devised by a service department, we do not mean » take over the entire functions of management. There , of course, another meaning in this division of func- ms, namely, that all departments work together for he efficiency of the individual, and that neither service ior production nor any other department that might be reated to swing some of these duties, can alone pro- iuce an efficient workman. To the traditional operating ead, the number of things set down as belonging to he service department, comes as a surprise, and he will eed to be convinced that fully half the conditions of licieney of workmen lie outside of his own province. “Lockwood, Greene & Co. are using this chart as he first step in a personnel audit. It is intended to ruide the service and the production departments in aking inquiries as to what area of the individual vorkman’s development is being neglected. It seems to is to be particularly practical for use in a traditional ndustry where such a device as time study or task etting is looked upon with distrust. When new methods ire shown in perspective, they do not appear perhaps juite so formidable.” The first to discuss this paper was Meyer Bloomfield, Bloomfield & Bloomfield, Boston, who was introduced is “the first to break ground in vocational education.” He stated that this chart should be entitled: “A formula for efficient management.” He characterized it as a tragedy that labor does not take a more active part in ‘romoting industrial efficiency. It is not truly scientific anagement when only one party takes all the ini- iative for improvement and assumes all of the re- ponsibility. That one party is now management. He aid that most of the items on the chart are not in the control of the workman but are in the hands of he management. The carrying out of the items on his chart would mean an efficient management. He xpressed hope that the Taylor Society would be in- strumental .in inspiring labor to take its proper part n initiating industrial efficiency methods. Dr. A. B. Emmons, 2nd, Harvard Medical School, Boston, was introduced as a “power in health research.” He has been in change of the Harvard mercantile health vork for two years and has examined employees and ditions in 24 department stores. Physical examina- ms in stores are not as prevalent as those in indus- rial plants. Only the best stores are making them; yme are afraid to have such examinations. One of the est stores, employing 3500, reports that indigestion is the main cause of illness which causes absences. “I fear that Mr. Fisher’s outline would make a aternalistiec Utopia,” stated Miss Nelle Swartz, New York Department of Labor. There are not enough provisions in it for the employee’s using of his own initiative, she said. Having heard from an authority on physical hy- giene, it was appropriate to hear from an authority on states of mind. Dr. Frankwood E. Williams, National Committee for Mental Hygiene, New York, emphasized the importance of the proper emotional state of the workman. He said that if the health and brain power of the worker continually increased, that worker’s effi- ciency would not increase proportionately; in other THE IRON AGE 1467 words, that the factor of emotion would enter in. When making fundamental decisions it is frequently our emotional state that decides; we then rally our intel- lectual powers to try to defend the stand we have taken. Often a man who has passed all of the vocation tests for a position, falls down when he is in that position. The indigestion cases, mentioned by a previous speaker, are often emotional troubles, not gastric. Mrs. Frank B. Gilbreth, Montclair, N. J., compli- mented Mr. Fisher for the good vocabulary of words he had chosen for the chart. She characterized it as a “worth while achievement.” Additional remarks were made by Prof. Edward Robinson, department of mechan- ical engineering, University of Vermont; and E. A. Wil- son, a manufacturer of Boston. Inventory of Coal Stocks WASHINGTON, Dec. 6.—The steel plants and coke industry of the United States on Nov. 1 had 42 days’ supply of coal on hand. This is shown in a report based on an inventory of coal stocks as of the date mentioned taken jointly by the Department of Com- merce and the Geological Survey, the total supply at that time being approximately 47,400,000 tons of coal in the hands of consumers, or about 43 days’ supply. The supply in the hands of steel interests and coke makers, therefore, was representative of the average. The greatest tonnage was at gas works, which had 87 days’ supply. The stocks on hand as