New-York tribune., 1906-12-05
TO INCREASE. OUTPUT.
Engineers Told of Methods for
Systematic Labor.

Frederick ". Taylor. president Of the Aneri-
can Society OF Mechanical Engineers. ST the
opening of the annual meeting. held in the as
sembly rooms OF the New York Edison Com
pany, No. a. West 9th street, last night, an
nounced the results of twenty-six years OF ex-
pertinent. which he believes viii do much toward
increasing the productivity Of skilled mechanic.
are work-nen in variou. lines OF Industrial ac-
tiVity. The paper was entitled The Art OF Cut
ting Metals" bur IL covered q wide field OF engi-
neering practice.
Mr. Taylor said that in day work and ordinary
r'ork the workman practically sets his own tasn.
which for DAYS work is seldom more than a
fhird Of what he 90. The piecework task
he said. generally less than one half Of
what be done. Shorter hours and an in
crease in the pay Of worknen, Mr.. Taylor said.
would result from a careful study Of what could
De done in each case.
The experiments described IN the paper were
undertaken TO Obtain a part OF the information
necessary TO establish in q machine shop sys-
TEN OF management. the central ideas OF which
sre 10 give 10 each workman definite task.
with detailed written instructions. and an exact
time allowance for each element Of the work. u
pay high wages 10 those who perform tneir
tasks IN the allotted time and ordinary wages
10 those who take more than their time allow
The experiments ot Nr. TAYLOR have been con-
Quoted in the works Of the Nidvale Steel Com
psny the Bethlehem Steel Company and other
large concerns. He said that throughout the
twenty-six years he and his associates had sue
oeeded II keeping almost all of their laws Sc
c-et except for inpartng II TO the concerns in
which they worked in return for the facilities
for making the experiments In this connection
Mr. Taylor said:
During this period al the companies who re-
ceived this information and all the men who
worked the experiments. We're bound by
promises not 10 give any OF The information
away or allow il 10 be published Most OF these
there is much talk about dishonesty and
ersft in connection with some Of corpora
tons and business men. II is notable fact that
II has not come 70 cur knowledge that any one
Of the many men or companies connected with
the work has broken promise.
In the past all matters pertaining 10 metals in
machine shops nave been settled by the judg-
rnent and personal experience Of the foreman
end skilled mechanics. The work Of Mr.. Taylor
machine shop practice into the domain OF exact
science Their experiments cost about s2o0,eot.
hut they have found laws covering the impoT-
tsrt elements Of the art" and have obtained
mathematical forululs which express these laws.
They developed slide rule by means OF which
the ordinary mechanic can double the output Of
p machine previously run by frst-class me-
chalic using lis own judgment.
In similar Investigations into other lines OF
factures IL found that the task set for a
man after proper investigation vastly
greater than any he would could set for him
self
Mr.. Taylors address VIII be discussed after
business session this morning In the afternoon
there viii be g Power Plant Symposium" and
1n the evening number OF papers. including
the ventilation Of the Boston subway,
Hill be read. Tomorrow afternoon the delegates
viii visit the Port Morris electric power station
81 the New York Central. In the evening there
viii be reception al Sherry's. and on Friday
Ing groVnos.