Part 6

In some manufacturing plants where the check system is still used, this difficulty has been overcome to a certain extent. The operation of the system is reversed, the men receiving their checks from the time─keeper as they enter the works. In the shops there are check boards on which the men hang their checks. These boards are hinged and provided with locks, the keys being carried by the foremen. Five minutes after starting time the boards are locked, and late arrivals are required to turn in their checks to the foreman who makes records of the time of arrival. Once during each working period, the time─keeper makes the rounds of the shops and takes the time records in his time book. At the quitting hour the boards are unlocked, the men take their checks as they pass out, and turn them in at the time─keeper's office.

=9. Time Clocks.= The modern system of time recording makes use of a time clock or mechanical recorder. Instead of trusting to the accuracy of a time─keeper, or depending on the workmen to keep records of their own time, the modern recorder automatically records the time of arrival and departure of every employe.

Mechanical time recorders, or time clocks, are of two general types, making two classes of records. One type records the time of one employe on a single card or sheet; the other makes a record of the time of several employes on the same sheet. For recording the total time of employes, both types are used, and certain advantages are claimed for each.

[Illustration: Fig. 5. Rochester Time Recorder, Manufactured by International Time Recording Co.]

The records of the first type, most generally used, have a card for each employe on which a record is made of his time for an entire week or pay period. In operation, this system is very simple.

At each side of the clock is a card rack, as shown in Fig. 5. One of these is an "out" rack, the other an "in" rack. At the beginning of each week or pay period, cards are placed in the numbered pockets of the out rack, which is nearest the entrance──one card for each man. These cards bear the numbers or names of the men, or both if desired.

When the employe enters, he takes his card from the out rack, places it in the slot of the clock, makes an exact record of the time of arrival by moving a lever, and places the card in the proper numbered pocket in the in rack. When he leaves, the operation is repeated, this time the card being deposited in the out rack. In the meantime the recording device in the clock has been shifted so that it records the leaving time in the proper column on the card.

The form of record made by one of the best known clocks of this type is shown in Fig. 6. It will be noted that the recording device prints the letter representing the day of the week in front of each record──out or in. Another feature is the dash under the afternoon registrations; a glance shows whether the registration was made at, for instance, 6 o'clock in the morning or afternoon.

[Illustration: Fig. 6. Weekly Time Pay Card Used in the Rochester Recorder]

This form requires an exceptionally small number of entries to figure the time for the week. In the outside column, at the right, is entered the time lost or the overtime for each day. At the end of the week, the net total of this column is added to or subtracted from the total hours representing a full week, which gives the total number of hours actually worked.

Clocks of the second type record the time of several employes on one sheet, the record being made for one day, or for any number of days up to a week. Like the card machine, the record shows the in and out time, both forenoon and afternoon.

A recorder of this type is illustrated by Fig. 7. To register the time of arrival or departure, the employe places a key, bearing his number, in the clock, and gives it one turn. A bell rings, indicating that the hour and minute of the day have been printed on the record inside the register.

[Illustration: Fig. 7. The Bundy Time Recorder, Manufactured by International Time Recorder Co.]

The form of record made by machines of this type is shown in Fig. 8. The records of all employes appear in numerical order on one sheet, with the various _ins_ and _outs_ in their proper columns. The record is inside the clock, under lock and key, and when removed can be used as a pay─roll sheet.

The fact that the complete record is on one sheet, is one of the advantages claimed for this type of recorders. On the other hand, an advantage is claimed for the card machine in the fact that the cards can be used for other purposes, such as for cost records.

[Illustration: Fig. 8. Weekly Time Record as Made by the Dey Time Register]

[Illustration: Fig. 9. Work Order with Time and Material Records]

PRODUCTION TIME RECORDS

=10.= All records of time on individual jobs or operations may be termed _production time records_, since the ultimate object of keeping such records is to determine the cost of production. To the manufacturer, these records are fully as important as those showing the total time worked by each employe. Without such records, a satisfactory cost system is impossible.

When the importance of obtaining costs of production──knowing what it costs to manufacture a given article──began to receive consideration, systems for recording the time spent by the worker on each job were attempted. There being no other method available, the records were at first made on cards or slips by the employes themselves. In all essential features the same system is still largely used; nearly all cost systems require that the employe keep a record of the time worked on each job.

[Illustration: Fig. 10. Daily Record of the Time of One Man]

=11. Time Record on Work Orders.= One method of keeping time on individual jobs is to make the record on the work order. When a job is assigned to a workman, a written order is issued to him. This order, Fig. 9, instructs him to do certain work and gives him authority to draw the necessary material, provided the material is not issued with the order. He is instructed to report his time on the order, and sometimes to report the material used.

This form can be used successfully only when one man does the entire job. It is used principally for repair jobs.

=12. Daily Time Card.= One of the methods of obtaining production time records is to use daily time cards. Each employe is supplied with cards, similar in form to Fig. 10, on which he is expected to record his time for an entire day.

[Illustration: Fig. 11. Daily Time Card for Machine Operations]

At the top, the card bears the name and number of the employe, and the date. Below the heading, a form is arranged for a record of the order numbers on which he is employed, a description of the work done (usually the name of the operation), the time of starting and finishing, and total time worked on each job.

In some classes of operations it is necessary, if accurate cost records are to be obtained, to keep a record of performance of the machine, as well as of the man. A form for a record of this kind, covering the operation for a day, is illustrated by Fig. 11. This form includes the number of the machine and a record of the number of pieces produced. Such a record is used for machine operations when a large number of similar pieces are operated on by a single machine. The time record is made when one order number is finished and a new one started. The form shown provides for an extension of rates and amounts, the extensions being made in the cost department.

[Illustration: Fig. 12. Coupon Time Card for a Day's Operations]

Fig. 12 is a card for recording a day's operations, arranged on somewhat different lines. This card is a series of perforated coupons, one for each job on which the employe works. When a job is finished, the record is made, the coupon detached and turned in. At the close of the day the top of the card, with all unused coupons attached, is turned in.

All of these forms for recording the time of an employe for an entire day are handed to the foreman, who turns them in to the cost department. Here, the time cards are compared with the clock records to find if all of the time for which an employe is paid has been accounted for. The time records for individual jobs are then transferred to the cost records. For the latter purpose, the coupons can be distributed by order numbers. This makes it convenient to retain all time coupons until the job is finished, when the amounts can be transferred to the cost records with a considerable saving of labor in the cost department.

There is one serious objection to any form of time card designed for a day's record. Too much depends upon the accuracy and clerical ability of the employe. The average factory or shop operative has had no experience in keeping records. He does not appreciate the importance of the time records he is expected to keep, and, naturally, becomes careless. Knowing that a record is expected, his card will show full time, but the distribution of that time to separate jobs is not accurate. Frequently, he waits until the close of the day and makes as close a guess as possible as to the time worked on each job. His failure to keep accurate records is not due to unwillingness, but to his lack of training in such work.

[Illustration: Fig. 13. Job Card with Time Chart]

Exceptions are found, as a matter of course, and in some industries the general character of the operatives employed is such as to practically insure intelligent record keeping. As a rule, however, it is unwise to expect the factory employe to keep accurate records.

=13. Job Time Cards.= A method of time keeping which is an advance over the daily time card, is the use of a separate card for each job. With this method, accuracy of the records can be practically insured and the employe relieved of much of the clerical labor.

To attain satisfactory results, it is necessary to operate this system along somewhat different lines than that described for the daily time card system. Instead of issuing cards for the entire day, the workman should be given a new card with each new job on which he works, and not until he has completed the job last worked on. The time must be recorded and the card turned in to the foreman on completion of each job.

It is the duty of the foreman to keep his men supplied with work, and to have at all times a job ahead. The workmen, knowing that a record of his time on each job is kept and compared with the clock record, will naturally insist on having a new job card when each old one is turned in. If no job is ready, it will be necessary for the foreman to issue an _idle_ or _non─productive_ card──a condition which he will strive to avoid──all such time becoming a direct expense charge against his department.

[Illustration: Fig. 14. Job Card Showing Names of Operations]

To relieve the employe of clerical labor, a card, similar in form to Fig. 13, is used with quite satisfactory results. The special feature of this card is the provision made for obtaining a record of time. Below the heading there is a form representing the time of day, each hour being divided into ten minute periods, and the whole divided between forenoon and afternoon.

When a new job is started, the workman makes the record by checking the time in the proper space. On completion of the job, he makes a similar check mark in the space that indicates the finishing time. The exact time is computed in the cost department. To illustrate: Suppose a job is started at 7 A. M. and is done in 6½ hours. The time will be checked at 7 A. M. and again, if an hour is allowed for lunch, at 2:30 P. M. This really shows 7½ hours elapsed time, but in the cost department, the lunch hour will be allowed for, and the computed time will be correct.

Another form of job card, intended for use where jobs require more than one day, is shown in Fig. 14. With this card, it is intended that the starting and finishing time shall be entered in the ordinary way, and the name of the operation checked.

[Illustration: Fig. 15. Day Time Register for Production Time Records, Manufactured by International Time Recording Co.]

=14. Mechanical Time Recorders.= For the same reasons that they are best for making records of total time, for pay─roll purposes, mechanical time recorders are best for obtaining production time records. Whether the responsibility of making the record rests on the workman or a clerk, it is always better to have the actual recording done automatically whenever it is possible to do so.

While the time recorders used for keeping total time are also used for obtaining production time records, there are certain advantages in using recorders of slightly different types. Manufacturers have made great progress and are now supplying machines which answer every requirement.

One type of recorder designed for production time records is shown in Fig. 15. This outfit includes, in addition to the recorder, a rack for jobs ahead and jobs started, a rack for finished jobs, and a distribution rack. The first rack contains pockets of the right size to hold time cards or tickets. These pockets are numbered to correspond with the men's numbers, two pockets being provided for each man, one for jobs ahead and one for jobs started. The rack for finished jobs is divided into compartments bearing the men's numbers, with slots through which the cards are inserted. The distribution rack is divided into compartments numbered for the different jobs.

[Illustration: Fig. 16. Individual Job Card Used with the Day Time Register]

The recorder and card racks are placed near the foreman's desk, which should be at a central point in the department. The foreman prepares cards for the different employes and places a card for the next job in the _jobs ahead_ pocket. The workman, when starting to work, takes the card for the next job, records the starting time, and places the card in the _jobs started_ pocket. When the job is finished he again records the time, on the same card, and places the card in the compartment bearing his number in the _finished jobs_ rack. At night, if he has an unfinished job, he records the time, the same as for a finished job, and either turns in the card to the foreman or places it in a box kept for suspended jobs. The foreman then makes out new cards and places them in the _jobs ahead_ rack, while the suspended card is placed in the _finished jobs_ rack.

Every morning all cards of the previous day are taken from the _finished jobs_ rack, the time recorded on each man's cards is computed and compared with the record of the total time recorder, and the cards distributed by job numbers in the distribution rack. This checks the job time with the pay─roll time, and permits of leaving the cards in the distribution rack until the entire job is finished. The cards are then taken to the cost department and the time records distributed on the cost sheet.

[Illustration: Fig. 17. Job Time Sheet Used with the Day Time Register]

One form of card used with this type of recorder is shown in Fig. 16. One card is used for each job on which a man works. It will be noted that the time is recorded in decimals. Instead of the usual 12 hours, the recording wheel is divided into 24─hour periods, or if desired, into 23 hours, automatically eliminating the noon hour. The 23─hour wheel prints 12 at noon and again at one o'clock, 13 at two o'clock, etc. At 3:30 P. M., for instance, the clock would record 14.50, meaning 14½ hours. On the card illustrated, the record shows the job to have been started at 8.08 and finished at 11.40, the elapsed time being 3.32 hours.

[Illustration: Fig. 18. The Calculagraph, Manufactured by the Calculagraph Company]

A clock of similar type accommodates a sheet of any size, and provides for as many separate time records on the same sheet as may be desired. A sheet may record the time of a single employe for an entire day and show the exact time worked on each job. Or, in some industries, the card may be made for a job and arranged to accumulate the time of all employes working on the job. Fig. 17 shows how several time sheets of this class can be bound together, making a daily time and pay sheet for each employe. From this sheet the time is distributed to the cost sheets.

Still another type of time recorder, which offers certain distinct advantages, is shown in Fig. 18. This machine is used to obtain a time record for each employe on each separate job or operation.

The distinctive feature of this machine is that it records the elapsed time. When a man commences work on a new job, he places his card in the machine and by moving a lever registers the starting time. When the job is finished, he again places the card in the machine, this time moving a second lever, and registers the exact time that he has worked on the job. The advantage is apparent. With an ordinary time stamp printing the starting and finishing time, it is necessary for a clerk to mentally compute the elapsed time. With this machine the elapsed time is mechanically computed and printed, saving the time of the clerks and doing away with all possibility of clerical errors.

[Illustration: THE MECHANICAL DRAFTING DEPARTMENT AT THE PLANT OF THE GREEN FUEL ECONOMIZER COMPANY, MATTEAWAN, N. Y.]

Fig. 19 illustrates the form of record made by this machine. The record shows that workman No. 38 commenced work on job No. 530 at 9:45 A. M., that he was employed on this job 2─8/10 hours, and that the operation was milling.

[Illustration: Fig. 19. Time Record Made by the Calculagraph]

The machine is made to register either hours and minutes, or hours and tenths of hours. For cost─keeping purposes the latter is preferred for the reason that it is much easier to figure time at a given rate in tenths.

A form of card, without the record, is shown in Fig. 20. The card can be of any size desired, the only requirement being a blank space for the time record in the upper left─hand corner.

As with other recorders, one of these machines should be located at a central point in each department. It is advisable to provide a card rack with compartments bearing the employe's numbers, and to place cards for jobs ahead in these compartments. The cards for the day are first sorted by employe's numbers to verify the clock record, and then by job numbers for the use of the cost department.

[Illustration: Fig. 20. Time Card Used with the Calculagraph]

Another elapsed time recorder, which was placed on the market after the above was put in type, but before this book went to press, is shown in Fig. 21, the form of record being shown in Fig. 22.

The device is operated electrically, the impulses being furnished by a master clock. This may be located anywhere in the building, preferably in the office, as it will be less affected by vibration and dust. To the master clock is also fitted the 24─hour elimination or cut─out wheel described later. This clock transmits electric impulses each minute all through the building to the various elapsed time mechanisms. Thus all the machines are exactly the same time and cards may be registered in on one machine and out on any other and correct results obtained.

[Illustration: Fig. 21. Elapsed Time Recorder with Master Clock. Manufactured by International Time Recording Co.]

The mechanism is about nine inches square and is enclosed in a dust proof iron case. It may be placed on a work bench, on a pedestal, or it may be sunk flush with the top of the bench or desk. The flat cover has two openings or slots for the insertion of the cards. One opening is marked "in" for the first record of a job, the other "out" for registering when the job is completed. There is also an aperture in the cover through which may be seen a series of indicating wheels showing exactly the time of day. There is only one handle to be operated and, therefore, no confusion can occur in the mind of the operator as to which handle to pull.

[Illustration: Fig. 22. Time Card Used with the International Elapsed Time Recorder]

The cards used in the machine may be of any length desired but can only be of one width, 4¼ inches. In registering in, the card is placed in the front or starting slot, and the lever pulled over. This prints the starting time at the top of the card in the space to the left. At the same time four small holes are punched in the card which individualize the record. After a job is completed the card is placed in the rear or stopping slot, the lever pulled over once more, and the stopping time and actual elapsed time are both printed on the card by one pull of the handle, thus enabling anyone to compare the two records and prove the accuracy of the machine for every record.

One of the salient features connected with this device is its ability to compute only the actual time worked in the factory irrespective of the times of registration. That is to say, in a factory working ten hours a day from seven to twelve and one to six the elapsed time will only be computed during these hours. Any registrations made before seven o'clock will not begin to count elapsed time until that hour, and the computation of elapsed time automatically stops at noon to be resumed at exactly one o'clock, and then continues until quitting time at night, when again it stops automatically. The clock movement, however, does not stop, but always shows the correct time exactly the same as the master clock, and is entirely unaffected by the elimination of the non─working hours in figuring the elapsed time. The machine can also be set to record overtime at night if so desired.

In case work on a given job is not completed on the day it is begun, it is not necessary to ring out on the elapsed time machine until the job is completed as the machine computes up to 100 hours. A job beginning on Monday and running through the week until Saturday night, when it is finished, may be registered on one card, or even for a longer period up to 100 hours.