The Washington herald., 1921-08-12
REPORT ON ELIMINATION
OF WASTE IN INDUSTRY.

The losses and wastes in Ameri-
can industry have been disclosed
and analyzed in the report recently
issued by the committee on the
elimination Of waste in industry of
the Federated American Engineer
, ing Societies This investigation
into industrial efficiency Is the FIRST
public service work undertaken by
this superorganization Of the en-
gineers OF the country which was
formed here in Washington last fall
and which has been In existence
only since the end of last November
The studies were carried out by
and under the direction OF a COM
mittee Of eighteen, appointed by
Herbert Hoover. then president OF
the federated societies, and with J..
Parke Claiming as chairman and l..
w. Wallace as vice chairman.
in making the studies and
preparing the report there has been
no purpose or desire 20 place blame
upon any individual, group or class
The wastes revealed are the result
Of methods, tactics. practices and
relationships OF long standing in
industry and the committee has
merely desired TO indicate the main
opportunities for eliminating waste
and to show whose opportunity or
responsibility il may be TO adopt
proper measures for such elimina-
tion," states the report.
Out Of the nearly S0o.ooe indus
trial plants grouped by the 1919
census into fourteen major classes.
4
ferent industries were investigated
and ninety-four other plants in
these industries furnished additional
Information. The industries studied
were: Building, manufacturin~
mems ready made clothing. boot and
shoe manufacturing. printing, metal
trades and textile manufacturing.
The nature Of the study can be
compared in point OF view 20 that
OF a reconnoitering party for q pro-
posed railway, or TO the preliminary
essay Of a mine. or 20 the FIRST pen
ell drawings OF the design OF q new
machine" explains the report. The
object in each case is 10 disclose the
main phase OF the project. which
may then be developed and per-
fected by the engineers. through
anu CASOOAe~ N
whatever detail may be required"
In discussing the relative respon-
sibilities for waste in industry the
committee finds that: Management
has the greatest opportunity and
hence responsibility for eliminating
waste in industry. The opportunity
less real though smaller in degree.
TO outside contacts can
not be 50 clearly Differentiated or
evalusted-
While the degrees OF responsible
ity vary in each industry. Il was
cent of the responsibility for these
wastes can be placed at the door
Of management and less than IS per
cent at the door Of labor. while the
amount chargeable TO outside con
tracts is least OF all
There are four aspects OF waste
in industry. the committee found.
Waste is attributable to:
1. Low production caused by faul-
ty management os materials. plant.
SQuipmen. and men
:. Interrupted production. result
ing from idle men, idle materials.
idle plants. idle equipment.
5. Restricted production inten-
tionally caused by management or
labor.
4. Lost production caused by ill
health. physical defects and indus
trial accidents.
Startling and fundamental facts
on each OF the aspects are given in
the report. These will be sUmmar-
ized in a series OF articles TO sp-
pear in this column.