Part 16

On the other hand, really helpful advice and suggestions, made in a cheerful manner and from a quite apparent desire to assist workmen, will usually meet with a quick and loyal response that argues well for the efficiency of the workmen.

Another point on the road to success, is a patient and interested listening to suggestions that workmen have to make, even though it is on trivial matters. It should always be borne in mind that the workman laboring day after day on the same class, and often on the same kind of pieces, of work, is in a position to discern and to study out many minor improvements in tools and methods which are valuable. A kindly hearing accorded him, the adoption of such suggestions as are practical, with some substantial reward for his study, will encourage not only him but other workmen to study their work and endeavor to find better and more efficient ways of doing it. Thus an active and interested spirit of loyalty is brought about that is one of the most valuable assets of the plant.

The successful manager is he who is enabled to _unite_ his working force of subordinate officials and workmen in a complete and loyal organization, all working for the common good and for the success and prosperity of the concern. Having gained this condition, the question of efficient and economical manufacturing is practically as well as theoretically solved.

SHOP METHODS AND RECORDS

From the principles that have been advanced in connection with the subjects of Manufacturing and Shop Management, it will be readily seen that the work of the manufacturing plant of the present day is a very complex matter, and there must necessarily be very complete and carefully formulated plans and systems by which all its operations are regulated, and a somewhat elaborate plan of records by which these operations and their results are recorded and filed.

In formulating the necessary plans for the methods and records of a manufacturing establishment, we must first determine the requirements of the work and decide definitely on what we wish to accomplish. In other words, the conditions must be first examined and analyzed, their various factors studied at their true value, and the requirements determined, so that a general plan of operations may be followed.

These methods shall cover the following subjects:

1. The selection and employment of workmen. 2. The methods of keeping the time of all employees. 3. The manner of paying workmen. 4. The ordering of work into the shops. 5. The routine of passing work through the shops. 6. The method of drawing stock and materials. 7. The ways of keeping and issuing tools.

=Importance of Records.= Each of these methods will become a part of the routine of the establishment, and the operations carried on under it will be proper matters for regular records made from day to day.

Such records are exceedingly valuable as current information, and, when properly filed, become quite as valuable for reference in the future as for use in current operations.

In all improvements in the working routine of manufacturing operations, there should be previous records by which the present performances may be checked and compared. By this arrangement, it is comparatively easy to ascertain whether or not any improvement is being made, and in what direction it is being made. This knowledge will suggest further plans and betterments. Should the records prove that there are losses rather than gains being made, the warning is equally valuable, and we make haste to better results and greater efficiency in the work.

Thus, whether the plans and methods in use are really successful, or quite the reverse, it is of the utmost importance that we should know by prompt and accurate records just what the results are, in order to keep in close touch with the progress of events, and that, when plans do not produce the favorable results expected and desired, the information may be promptly available, the warning be heard, and plans altered or amended until they bring about a successful routine in the manufacturing operations.

=Selection and Employment of Workmen.= This is an important matter, since it costs money to introduce new men in any business, and requires from a day or two to several weeks for the new man to become sufficiently accustomed to his work and surroundings to be of the same value as the man who is perfectly familiar with the shop, the routine and methods of work, and the foreman under whom he works.

[Illustration: Fig. 5. Application Card.]

It is therefore necessary to go about this matter in a methodical manner, and to keep records of:

(_a_) All persons making application for employment. (_b_) All persons regularly accepted as employees. (_c_) Individual records of all regular workmen. (_d_) All employees who leave the employment of the company.

To accomplish these results, the official whose duty it is to employ men will fill out, or will have a clerk fill out, an _Application Card_ of the form shown in Fig. 5, for each person applying for a position. It will be noticed that it is important to know whether the applicant has ever been employed in this establishment previous to the present application. If so, his record can be readily referred to for information as to the desirability of employing him again. It is also necessary that the record of his last employer be known, and frequently of the employer previous to the last, as these matters will also be taken into consideration in determining his fitness for the position for which he applies. It is also necessary to know how many years he has been employed in manufacturing establishments, as this fact, taken in consideration with his age, will frequently furnish information upon which to base judgment as to his fitness.

[Illustration: Fig. 6. Employment Card.]

The Application Card, being on file, is available for the use of such foremen or other officials as may be in need of workmen. Should the applicant be decided to be available, after consultation between the official to whom application was made and the foreman desiring to increase his force, the applicant will be sent for, and employed at a rate mutually satisfactory, and an _Employment Card_ of the form shown in Fig. 6 filled out. This will repeat some of the information contained on the Application Card; but it is necessary to have two cards in any event, as the information must be filed in separate drawers.

The Employment Card will also give the name of the official employing the man, as well as that of the foreman under whom he is to work, the kind of work he is to perform, and when he is to commence work. It will also require the approval of the Superintendent or Factory Manager, as the case may be, to make it valid and operative.

The applicant having become one of the regular employees of the concern, a third card is made out for filing in the _List of Employees_ drawer. This will be upon the form shown in Fig. 7, and is called a _Service Card_. It will be noticed that each of these three cards is headed with the name and address of the person whom it represents.

The Service Card gives the department in which the employee is to work, the kind of work which he is to do, the date he begins work, and his rate of pay. Spaces are also provided for noting the amount and date of any increases in his rate, and for the record of a transfer to another department should he be moved, as is frequently the case with new men who may not be quite adaptable to the kind of work first attempted, but entirely satisfactory at some other class of work.

[Illustration: Fig. 7. Service Card.]

A space is also provided for noting the date of the workman's leaving the employ of the company, and also for giving the reason for it. This will be valuable information in case the workman should subsequently apply for employment. When an employee leaves the service of the company, his Service Card is removed from the List of Employees drawer, and placed in a fourth drawer labeled _Discharged or Quit_, being held there for future reference.

=Individual Record of Standing.= In many well─conducted manufacturing establishments, it is customary to keep a record of the standing of the men as rated each month, as a valuable reference in cases of proposed promotion, increases in pay, reliability for special work and positions of responsibility. Various methods of marking the records of the men each month have been tried, but the simplest method is to use the number 100 for perfect, and to divide it as follows:

Good workmanship 50 Punctuality in reporting for work 30 Deportment during working hours 20 ──── Total 100

[Illustration: Fig. 8. Individual Record Card.]

Demerits are marked off as to workmanship, by the foreman, according to his judgment aided by the Inspector's reports of the work done by the man.

Punctuality is judged by the number of times late, each instance reducing the mark by one unit. As the workman enters the shop twice a day, morning and afternoon, assuming 26 working days in the month, a practical disregard of punctuality soon reduces his record in this respect to zero.

Deportment is judged by the Foreman, who also takes into account occasions on which the workman may have been reported for violating the regulations in this respect.

A _Record Card_ is shown in Fig. 8, upon which monthly records are kept. The total for any period, divided by the number of months covered by the record, will give the percentage of a perfect record. This card provides for a record for two years.

If it seems advisable to do so for special reasons, a similar card may be formulated covering the six working days of the week. A year's record in this form may be entered on a card 4 by 6 inches, by arranging the horizontal and vertical ruling for that purpose.

Such a record may be profitably kept of the work of the office force, as well as of the men in the shops. It will be valuable in many ways in judging of the availability of the men for special work, as well as for promotion.

Necessarily such records should be very carefully kept; otherwise there is liable to be serious injury done to the working reputation and integrity, as well as reliability, of the men.

=The Employment Agent.= In large concerns, an official is regularly appointed as an Employment Agent, and it is his duty to keep the office and the shops supplied with competent men engaged at reasonable wages. He must therefore keep in close and accurate touch with the labor market, for the same reasons that the purchasing agent must know the state of the market for material and supplies. He must know how and where to reach workmen of the different classes whenever he is called upon to furnish them.

While ordinary laborers may nearly always be obtained from the daily applications made at the office, skilled men must be hunted up; and it is not usually easy to find just the man with the qualifications desired.

When men are wanted for positions above the average skilled workmen, the best and most promising will be nearly always distributed among the present employees who are deserving of advancement. To promote one of them, rather than hire some man from outside the organization, is usually good business policy. The man and his abilities are generally well known, while a stranger is always an unknown quantity. The men, being acquainted with the man, will be pleased to see him get the deserved promotion; and it is always wise to consider the popularity of proposed orders affecting the working force. The man himself will feel his added responsibilities much more than an outside man will, and will generally work harder to succeed in his new position. Therefore it is always best to give the first chance to present employees who have been faithful to the responsibilities thus far placed upon them.

It will be found that in most of the departments there are employees who from one reason or another are doing work quite below their real capacity, hoping that later on there may be better opportunities for the coveted position. The Employment Agent should know the men of the force, and their abilities, so as to take advantage of these conditions. A man may be needed by a foreman in one department who is not aware that in a neighboring department may be just the kind of man he wants. The Employment Agent should know where to find the man at once.

Again, one department may, from the condition of the work, be short of help, and may request the Employment Agent to hire a certain number of men of certain qualifications and abilities. At the same time, there may be another department in which there are more men than can be used to advantage. An arrangement for the temporary or permanent transfer of some of these men will be a great help to both departments, and will have the added advantage of keeping good men permanently employed.

If a workman feels that his employment is permanent, and that there are fair opportunities for advancement, this will be the surest way to hold him faithful and loyal to the interests of the establishment; and the conditions that bring about this condition of mind in him will also draw other good men who will be glad to be counted as among those faithful to a company which appreciates their services and which will look to their interests as they consider those of their employers. The result will be that these men will give their best services, and even be on the alert to further the interests of the employer who has favored them. Thus a strong working organization is built up, which becomes one of the best and most valuable assets of the company.

=Time Keeping.= As cost of labor is usually greater than any other in the manufacturing plant, and frequently greater than all other factors in the cost of manufacturing, it is very important that the records pertaining to this expense be properly planned and accurately kept.

Various methods have been adopted and used for this purpose. Some of the more prominent plans will be given. They are each adapted to some certain kind or class of work, and it will often be found that in practice still different forms must be devised in order to meet the existing conditions.

There are three methods of recording the time of employees──namely:

1. By entering the time in a book or upon cards, by a Time─Keeper.

2. By entering the time upon cards by the workman himself.

3. By stamping the time upon cards by the workman in a time─recording clock.

The first of these methods is the oldest form, and has now to a great extent gone out of use.

[Illustration: Fig. 9. Pattern Shop Time Card.]

A large majority of the work of a manufacturing plant requires that the time worked by the employees shall be registered twice. That is, one entry shall be of the _day time_ (time paid for _by the day_), which necessitates the recording of the total number of hours worked each day; the second entry shall record the _job time_ (the time worked upon the different jobs during the day). This second entry is sometimes called _Time Distribution_, since the employee's time is distributed over the different jobs upon which he has worked.

=Time─Card Forms.= This work is sometimes done by means of time cards as shown in Figs. 9, 10, 11, and 12, which are given as characteristic examples of these methods. These cards are of different tints as a convenient method of recognizing them.

Fig. 9 is yellow, and is used in the Pattern Shop.

Fig. 10 is chocolate─colored, and is used in the Forge Shop.

Fig. 11 is blue, and is used by the Carpenters and Flask Makers.

Fig. 12 is white, and is used in the Machine Shop.

[Illustration: Fig. 10. Forge Shop Time Card.]

[Illustration: Fig. 11. Time Card for Carpenters and Flask Makers.]

Similar card forms may be devised for any other department of a plant, or for the departments of plants doing entirely different work.

When these cards are used as a means of distributing the time to the various jobs or orders in force in the shop, the _day time_, from which the pay─roll is made up, is usually recorded on a strip of paper in a time clock, the operation being performed by each employee as he passes into the shop morning and afternoon, and when leaving at noon and night. Passing to the clock, the workman swings a lever to his individual number, and presses in a knob, whereby the exact time of the operation is recorded upon a slip of paper, a ribbon, or a disc within the clock.

[Illustration: Fig. 12. Machine Shop Time Card.]

In other forms of time clock, an individually numbered key is inserted in one of the individually numbered holes, turned around, and withdrawn. The time is recorded in a manner quite similar to that used in the case just described above.

The four forms for time cards shown are quite similar, the difference being in the list of operations given at the right─hand end of the card.

At the top of the card are spaces for the date, order number, workman's number, and the number of the machine upon which he works (provided the work is done on a machine). In the next space, the name of the department is given. This is followed by spaces for the _quantity_──that is, the number of pieces, feet, or inches of such material as is designated in this way, or the number of pounds in weight of the material. Then comes a brief description of the work.

Opposite each of these is a square in which the workman can indicate the particular kind of work he has been doing, by marking an X. Thus the form shown in Fig. 9 contains the following classes of work──namely, Pattern Making, meaning new pattern work; Pattern Repairs, referring to repairs charged to the job; Foundry Repairs, or repairs to patterns or fixtures the expense of which is to be charged to the Foundry Department; Equipment Repairs, referring to pattern shop equipment; General Office, consisting of small jobs of equipment and maintenance that are better done by a pattern maker than by a carpenter; Drafting Room, similar new work and repairs, such as drafting boards, angles, etc.; Tool Room, similar work chargeable to this department, such as boxes or cases for special tools, and work not entrusted to a carpenter.

Whatever may be the kind of work the employee is engaged upon, he checks it as described; and after the words "Time Started," he notes the hour and minute he begins work. When the job is completed, he notes the time after the words "Time Stopped," The elapsed time, the rate, and the value are filled in by the time clerk.

This card is turned in to the foreman or dropped in a box provided for that purpose, it having been approved by the foreman of the department in which the work is done. It then goes to the time clerk.

As each workman has a card for each different job and for each day, it follows that all the job cards for a single day must aggregate the same amount of time as that indicated on the stamped record within the recording time clock. Discrepancies of this kind are investigated, and the time distribution readjusted until satisfactory, the foreman of the department usually being consulted in the case.

=Recording─Clock Time─Cards.= Recording time clocks are also made which operate automatically to produce changes in the position of the card dropped into a receptacle provided for the purpose, such, that when a lever is manipulated, not only is the exact hour and minute stamped upon the card, but it is stamped in its proper place upon the card so as to correspond with the proper day of the week and also indicate whether forenoon or afternoon. The horizontal changes of position are made by hand, previous to manipulating the operating lever.

[Illustration: Fig. 13. Day Time Card.]

[Illustration: Fig. 14. Back of Day Time Card.]

[Illustration: Fig. 15. Job Time Card.]

A form for a regular Day Time card is shown in Fig. 13. The days of the week are given, and each divided by horizontal lines into spaces for forenoon and afternoon. Vertically the dividing lines divide spaces for the time the workman comes IN, goes OUT, and for similar records for lost time or overtime, as the case may be.

At the top of the card is the date, generally given as the last day of the week for which time is made up. This is followed by the number and name of the employee. Following the table prepared for the time stampings, is a space for the total time, the rate, and the amount due for the week.

The back of the card is shown in Fig. 14, and is plain except at the top, which is printed in large and plain type "This Side Out," as employees are liable to introduce the card with its face outward. For convenience the employee's number and name are given on this side as well as on the face.

By the above method of time recording, _all_ employees will use the regular Day Time card. Such employees as work on the regular production orders, and on work properly chargeable to them, will in addition to the Day Time card use a Job Time card, of the form shown in Fig. 15. This card is provided with spaces at the top for the order number, date, employee's number, machine number, article or piece upon which the work is being done, and the name of the operation that is being performed. The body of the card has the same spaces for the recording stampings. It will be noticed that the card shown in Fig. 13 runs from Monday to Sunday, inclusive. This is the usual form, but in some shops the fiscal week ends on different days of the week. In the job card shown in Fig. 15, it ends on Thursday.

In the use of these job cards, a card is made out for each job or order, without regard to the number of different jobs an employee may have in a day. The aggregate of the time shown on all these cards for a day must aggregate the amount shown on the day time card from which the pay─roll is made up. Thus each card acts as a check on the other, and accuracy is insured to a considerable degree.

When the work for which the job time is issued has been completed, and the card receives its final stamping, it may be turned over to the foreman, who will send it to the Time Clerk. This gives the foreman an opportunity to look it over and correct any mistakes that may have been made. In some shops the card is dropped into a box marked _Job Time Cards──Completed_, whence it is gathered up with others, by the Time Clerk. Coming into the possession of the Time Clerk, he will check it up, together with such others as the workman may have used on the same day, in order to ascertain if the total time on the job cards for the day equals that shown on the day time card.