The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-05-25


 addition to their regular wage with out hurting themselves in the doing of it. This was no time for assuming 8 'Czar of all the Russias' attitude, saying, These are our factories. We fix the terms of employment in them. and any one who doesn't like those terms can get out" I think the time for that has gone by, and indeed that the proper time for such an attitude really never did exist. Among the other results of this work is that our factory executives are now doing real executive work; attending to emergencies, making inn provements, etc., with time enough for such work, and with no time de- manded of them for disciplinary work. Discipline practically takes care of it. self in our factories.
 "It may be thought that tls meth cd of administration is applicable only to such regular, comparatively uni form manufacturing operations as are involved in the production of type writers, but we have applied it, in somewhat modified form, in our tool rooms, with excellent results. At the opening of hostilities in Europe, we found it advisable to take in outside work, some of which was tool work. We did a good deal of tool work for an automobile factory which at the same time was having similar work done by another well known concern Our rate per hour was one-third more i than that of this other concern, but | the people for whom we did the work said that our work was not only bet l ter done, but done at less cost, not withstanding our higher rate per hour.
 That we attribute largely to the use hi in showing that it can be successfully ap- piled to work which is not regular
 manufacturing work.
 'Tn our largest factory, the Rem 1 ington, according to the last report, this time study and bonus has been
 applied to 3,607 different jobs. The production on these jobs had been in-, creased an average of 65.5 per cent;
 the average labor cost had been de- creased 19 per cent; and the average
 wages of the people working on the jobs had been increased 24 per cent. These figures would be different in
 other establishments; in some, they
 would be better, think, and in othe
 CTS perhaps not quite so good, for of
 course, in these averages of results, good deal depends upon where you
 start from, as well as upon what you do after you start.
 At the same time, we have short Iened the hours of labor, and have in !troduced two rest periods of ten min- l utes each, one in the morning and one l in the afternoon. These rest periods i are of great benefit to our employees,
 and haven't resulted in any decrease
 of production, but rather in an in- crease.
 Although two of our factories are located in towns where, by reason of
 intuition work and other things, there have been many labor troubles in the last year or two, we have had no la bor trouble worth mentioning
 Such system as we have built Eup is, it seems to me, strictly compar-
 able to such labor saving machines, l as we are in the habit of buying, or l that we build in our factories, of iron and steel. It is an administrative ma
 chine, each part worked by man trained especially for that work;
 which machine takes care of every l thing except those things that by their mature require executive action. There | has been at no time any increase in 1.-the cost of our product by reason of Ethis system. We have charged it to operating expenses as we went along, and have written 1t off. There has been no.increase of cost, even when, I JIGInDOIaT1Iy, w both the old and the new systems in 1 places.
 | .Tt was agreed in the beginning that I MT Can't was to teach our own men, that is men selected from our own organization. And shortly after be- I ginning, it was further agreed that all matters of discipline or of bring ling our men into line where that Iseemed to be necessary, were to be left to us or to our factory executives. And just here is what consider an T Iimeortant point in the installation of work, of this sort. I believe it is i'm portant that the executive in charge of an esta blishment should before be-
 ginning, acquaint himself with the fundamental principles involved. He should ascertain what it is that is .l sought to be accomplished. and the outlines of the method by which it is Ito be done Thus he will be able to I take prompt action when called upon Ito do so and that action will be in harmony with the plan instead of in T opposition to it, as it otherwise would be apt to be.
 This does not necessitate a study of the details of scientific manage ment by such executive, but it does Involve a study of the principles and Ia belief that the plan can be made to I work, no matter how many doubting Thomases may be encountered as the lwork proceeds.
 .'One of the noticeable effects of this work in our factories has been the Z! changing of what was relatively a large and slow-moving stream of
 work through the factories, with it's inevitable eddies. in which things are sometimes lost sight of, to a small, swift moving stream. This not only Ishows plainly in the general appear lance of the factories as one walks I through them, but 1t has a very bene- i ficial effect upon our inventories of raw and partially manufactured ma T terial
 Careful study of every job has re- lsulted in some surprising things. Inn provements of 100 per cent. are not uncommon. There was group of twelve small automatic screw ma !, chimes engaged in an operation con- ! nected with our type-making, which I was reduced to five of the same ma T chimes, and the work is better done.
 'tThe factory which I have previ- T ously mentioned as being at first not ,lincluded in the group to which the work was to be applied, was thought finally to require an addition, which