10. Illotion-study.—It has long been recognized that the amount of work produced by a workman is greatly affected by the convenience of his surround ings and tools. Complex assembling operations are usually made the object of careful study so that every thing may be conveniently arranged and, furthermore, so that the sequence of operations may be the most ef fective. For the most part, however, these attempts have been confined to the best examples of mass pro duction. The work of Mr. Frank Gilbreth has called attention to the fact that great gains in production can be made by systematic motion-study in all lines of work. The most interesting feature of this idea is that it frankly questions the efficiency of the methods practised even by the simpler trades, and it has been conclusively shown that the handicraft practices are often far from efficient. It has been proved that many unnecessary motions can be eliminated even in cases where it was supposed that the highest efficiency had already been reached; the result is a gain in pro duction and a lessening of the fatigue.
Motion-study, therefore, in con junction with time study, makes it possible to predict with reasonable ac curacy how a piece of work should be done, and how long it should normally take to do it. The limita tions of motion study are important, however, and should be carefully studied before these methods are applied. The human factor involved in the appli cation of these methods is of the utmost importance and it should be carefully considered.
11. Industrial data.—The ability to predict costs will depend not only upon the information gathered by time-study and motion-study but also considerably upon the exact knowledge of industrial processes that the rate-setter possesses. Thus, in machine work it may be possible to predict how long it should take to set a piece of work in the machine and get the work started. The time it may take to do the given ma chine operation will depend, however, on the capacity of the machine and the efficiency of the cutting tool. Data of this kind are not available in most industries and must, in general, be obtained for the specific work in hand. The task of collecting these data may be difficult even in what may appear to be simple opera tions, as shown in Mr. F. W. Taylor's experimental work on the art of cutting metals where twelve vari able factors were found. It should be carefully noted that the skilled workman cannot usually give an ac curate statement of the most efficient means of ac complishing his task. This is because of the complex ity of even simple industrial processes, and because most workmen do their work as they were taught by older men to do it, with little or no thought, often, as to really efficient methods. Some progress is being made in collecting industrial data in many lines of work and in the near future, no doubt, the information gained from such data will prove of the greatest bene fit in the solution of difficult industrial problems.
12. Standard performances.—If, then, the man ager possesses information such as has been described in the three preceding sections, he will be able to pre dict with some degree of certainty the best way of do ing work, and the time it should take to do it. Fig ure 28 (page 320) illustrates an instruction card, so called, showing a case where this has been done. It will be noted that the sequence of the several opera tions is prescribed; the number of the proper tool is given, where necessary; and the depth of the cut, the feed, and the speed at which the tool is to be driven are also stated. The time that each operation should take
is given, and also the total time for the lot, including the time for changing the machine for another job. An allowance of ten per cent is made, as a margin of safety. The total predicted time is recorded in such a way that it can be compared with the time actually required, which is also noted on the card.
If an instruction card, illustrated in Figure 28, is to be taken as a standard of performance, every sur rounding condition must be carefully standardized, or else it will be impossible to realize the prediction in actual practice. The problems of standardizing in dustrial processes lie outside the limits of this book; for a fuller discussion of modern planning methods, the reader is referred to the Modern Business Text on "Factory and Office Administration." 13. Limitations and difficulties.—Evidently, there will be limitations to the refined methods of cost pre diction just discussed. They cannot, for instance, be economically applied where the product is small in volume and of great variety. In fact, the same limi tations that have already been noted regarding elabo rate cost-finding methods apply to the planning of costs in advance or to the prearranging of any other part of administration where system is needed. There are limitations and difficulties also in operating these methods from the standpoint of the human element involved.
How far it may be economically possible to intro duce these methods that have been so widely discussed in connection with scientific management, as this movement has been called, cannot be discussed here. The general idea of predicting labor values will, how ever, become a permanent feature of industrial man agement, and progressive managers should give this phase of cost finding careful attention, especially where the volume of production is large, and competi tion keen.
14. Connection with advanced wage systems.—The reasons for some features of the advanced wage sys tems discussed in Chapter VIII will now be clear. These new methods of rewarding labor have grown out of the effort to set a definite task for the worker. Thus the Gantt bonus method, which may be taken as typical, sets a definite task which must be accom plished before a bonus, or extra reward, is given. For any production less than the task, only day rate is given. The object of this bonus is evident. The task, set on the basis of time-study and the standard ization of all surrounding conditions, is large, and the worker can generally accomplish it only by carefully following directions and detail instructions. The only incentive that will induce him to make this added effort is added compensation. If the preliminary studies are accurate, it will appear that the task can be so set as to demand the workman's utmost effort, and it is this aspect of these new methods that has re ceived the strongest condemnation. Aside, however, from the possibility or advisability of installing such wage systems, the influence of these methods on cost prediction should be carefully noted. All ways and means that enable the manager to control labor costs, or to remove in any way the uncertainty that usually surrounds the cost of production, will be carefully studied in the near future.