COST OF LABOR-RECORDS 1. Recording time by checkboard.—No matter what wage system is in use in the factory, it is usually desirable to record the time at which every employe enters and leaves the works. In very small plants the foreman is usually depended upon to enforce regularity, but the limitations to this method are ob vious. In larger plants each workman is given a number, which identifies him also on the detail work cards to be discussed later. In some factories each man on entering takes from a checkboard a brass check bearing his number and drops it into a box pro vided for the purpose. Under other systems he re ceives his check on leaving the works and deposits it on entering the works again. The timekeeper notes the absentees by means of the checks remaining on the board. Late-corners are noted by the checkboard watchman, so, also, are those leaving early, the latter being passed out on a special card signed by a fore man. Such a system insures an accurate tally of all men entering, and is useful in a very large works, ir respective of other checks which may be employed. Promptness and faithfulness are essential to efficiency, and there is nothing so fatal to the discipline and the efficient management of a factory as irregular attendance on duty. It should be noted, however, that the checkboard placed at the main entrance of a large works does not insure the prompt arrival of all workmen at their places, and it is often supple mented by other time-recording devices which are placed in the several departments.
2. Time-recorders.—In moderate-sized plants the time recorder is much more serviceable than the checkboard. There are many forms of time record ers, but the general principles involved in their use do not differ materially. Usually each workman is pro vided with a card similar to Figure 12 (page 125) . On entering the works he takes his card, which bears his name and number, inserts it in a slot in the re corder and presses a button, or lever, which causes the mechanism to record the time at which this opera tion is performed, as illustrated in Figure 12. When he leaves the works the operation is repeated, the clock being adjusted in the meantime to print the time in the "out" column. The card is therefore a complete record of the time during which the work man has been in the works, but does not neces sarily record his productive time unless used spe cifically for such a purpose. Such clocks may be placed on the several floors so that, if de sired, they may be used also for dating work cards. Where the clock is used simply to check the men coming in and going out, a card of the form illustrated in Figure 12 is usually employed.
In some cases two sets, of different colors, are em ployed, one being in use on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and kept in the office on alternate days for posting. The other set is used on the other days in a similar manner. In simpler systems, where the cost keeping is of less importance, the time record is made on a continuous paper ribbon; and, again, in some sys tems a clock centrally located is operated by push buttons which may be variously placed at a distance from the clock.
Methods such as these provide for the accurate re cording of the total time worked, but, in general, do not show anything regarding the character of the work performed or the purpose for which it is in tended. In the case of certain classes of clerical and administrative employes working at fixed duties and paid by the month, the time-clock record, as noted above, may be sufficient, and in such cases the card shown in Figure 12 may also be used as a payroll, as indicated at the bottom of the card, provided, of course, that the clock record is checked up in the man ner to be described. But where it is necessary to make accurate distribution of the labor expended, an addi tional record must be made.
3. Traveling timekeeper.—There are two general methods of collecting the time of each man in detail. Under the first method a traveling timekeeper visits each employe daily, having first checked off the ab sentees of the day before from the checkboard record, if one is in use. From each man he obtains a record in detail of his work of the previous day—that is, the number of hours expended on each order number. He records in a book the data so obtained, with a mem orandum of the class of work or the machine used, and this serves as the basis of charging up the work to the several orders. Such methods are not to be recommended even in the simple case where every man is on day work. The busy workman is not likely to make a record at the time the work is performed and his memory is unreliable when he is called on to record the result of the previous day's duties. The clerical work involved is also considerable, and where a large number of men are employed, and especially where the number of shop orders is great, the time book becomes bulky and complex. When the piece work plan and the more complex premium and bonus system are used, the traveling timekeeper is inade quate, especially if the number of men employed is large.