EFFICIENCY ENGINEERING. Effi ciency, a word comparatively modern in use, for which there is no equivalent word in French, Italian, Russian, Swedish, German, can be defined as the industrial relation be tween what is and what ought to be, between the actual and the standard. To find time efficiency divide the standard time by the actual time. The standard time for a trotting record is 2 minutes. If the actual time is 2 minutes 30 seconds, the efficiency is 80 per cent. To find output efficiency, divide the actual by the standard. If for an hour the walking standard for a man is four miles and the actual per formance is five miles, the man's walking efficiency is 125 per cent. Another definition of efficiency is to do the standard performance in the standard time, at the standard place, for the standard cost.
To an almost incredible degree railroads operate to efficiency standards. The time table sets up thousands of time standards for standard performances at standard costs, reaching particular places with standard equip ment. Efficiency standards can be applied to all the seven great divisions of human activity, which are: Production commanding a price; manufacture taking a profit ; transportation exacting a toll, rate or tariff ; storage, for which rent is charged ; exchange, earning a commission; personal service, exacting a fee; parasitism, which steals or robs.
Efficiency engineering belongs in the per sonal service group. There is a subclass in this group, the ethical class, whose service con sists in lessening the wastes in the use of the already appropriated resources of the universe, in order that humanity may be better. The prophets and priests, by inculcating morality, have tried to lessen the wastes due to wicked ness and sin. The physicians and surgeons have tried to lessen the wastes due to sickness, disease, early decay and death, bodily defects. The scholars, students, teachers have tried to lessen the wastes due to ignorance. The effi ciency engineers have tried to lessen the wastes due to unscientific control and direction of the great divisions of activity in their three elements of materials, personnel and equipment.
Everybody realizes the immense wastes due to wickedness. They are exemplified in the great war brought about by recent diplomacy, by violations of treaties, by ambitious and un scrupulous men, by disregard of what we had come to believe were accepted principles of humanity, of religion, of civilization. Every body realizes the immense wastes due to disease which again and again has almost depopulated the world, which to-day makes infant mortality a greater drain on human life than the casual ties of the hatterfields and of the seas. Every body realizes that an illiterate and unschooled population produces little wealth. Before the World War, the daily preventable losses in the United States, due to industrial inefficiency, amounted to not less than $40,000,000. In a manufacturing plant the difference in produc tive value between two men, one of 50 per cent efficiency and the other of 120 per cent efficiency, quite usual variations, may amount to $4,000 a i year, even if each is using similar equipment.
Modern efficiency is much lower than that of former ages. By this is meant that although modern man has much more at his disposal than his ancestors, he nevertheless uses his greater resources far more wastefully. The Chinese coolie delivers a maximum all the time. The cause of modern inefficiency is the operation of the law of dependent sequences. Many modern operations are in dependent sequence. In printing with one color 10 per cent of the sheets may be spoiled. Add another color and in the second run we have another loss of 10 per cent. If there are four printings the efficiency falls to 90 x 90 x 90 x 90 equals 65.61 per cent. If there were eight colors the end result would be only 40 sheets. Ninety per cent is a very high efficiency yet in repeti tion it sinks. The remedy is possible also through dependent sequence. Improve each step 5 per cent and for four operations of 95 per cent in sequence we have the end result of 81.45 instead of 65.61. Increase the sequences to eight of 95 per cent and the end result is 66.34 instead of 43. A gain in efficiency of 5 per cent gives an end gain of more than 50 per cent.