10. Aims of newer newer method aiming at fewer drawings, alternation of existing pat terns whenever possible, and the development of in teichangeable parts, takes the part as the basis and builds up the final model. This second system is, in its nature, the direct opposite of the first. The parts are grouped according to their similarity, not their use. All bolts, for instance, would be classed together as bolts, and then would come such particulars as ma terial and size. This greatly facilitates stockkeeping, and throws on the designer, where it belongs, the responsibility of making up a correct bill of material for each manufactured article. In order to prevent Confusion, the drawing and the pattern should-be des ignated by the same symbol as the part, and this num ber should be stamped on the part in some way, so as to facilitate work in the factory and make it possible for customers to order duplicate parts without con sulting a catalog.
11. Standard is one means by which to develop a standard routine. The more common method in practice today is to establish standards on the basis of experience. This method approaches the problem not from the standpoint of the work to be done but from that of the best pre vious performance, and is more or less unconsciously followed in all businesses. One man in a shop will turn out more work than his neighbor. His method is studied and made the standard for the shop. By and by, someone else, perhaps a foreman, will discover a short-cut and so, little by little, the effi ciency increases. A thoughtful clerk works, out a new way of handling credits, which the office adopts. The sales manager seeks suggestions from his older salesmen, which he tries out and finally crystallizes into a manual, the codified best-way-of-selling. The difference between the standardized and the common practice is that each advance is at once officially re corded where conditions are standardized, whereas, in everyday life, advances are recorded by tradition alone and so are likely to get lost.
Harrington Emerson has graphically compared standardized practice to a ratchet which holds every thing gained so far, without in any way retarding further progress. The business executive can stop a moment to rest and reflect without letting the busi ness deteriorate. One man starts where his prede cessor left off, instead of spending his time on a prob lem which has already been solved. It is the ratchet system.
12. Steps in developing standard routine.—The first step in establishing a standard routine is to find out exactly what the present procedure is. One way to determine this is to have each employe write out exactly what he does, together with any suggestions that he may wish to make concerning the improvement of any phase of the work. The next step is to work
the best of these suggestions up into a manual to serve as a standard until something better is evolved. This is only preliminary, but it must be done whether standards are to be developed by time-study or by evolution, the better method usually being to employ both methods. The introduction of a standard routine is often delayed unduly while the standard is being perfected on paper, and thus much of the advantage of the standard is lost and its ultimate perfection delayed. The quickest way to get a standard adopted is to place it in concrete form before the office, shop or sales force. The worker must then agree or dis agree ; his test will prove the standard right or wrong. In either case, his ideas are focused for the use of the office.
13. Profiting by the experience of others.—It is also advisable to profit by the experience of others. Air. Gilbreth gave the following testimony before the Interstate Commerce Commission : We furnish our men with eighteen bricks in what we called a pocket for the .want of a better name. That pocket con sists of a tray with four slats, two this way and two that way for handles. I got the idea for that from Air. Taylor and Air. Gantt in the matter of handling pig iron at the Bethle hem Steel Company. They found after long experiment that 92 pounds was the best unit for handling pig iron. If that is true of pig iron, and the laborer makes no use of the material he carries, it must be true also of brick. So we arranged to have the pocket that would best handle 92 pounds of brick.' Care must be exercised, in adopting other stand ards, to make sure that conditions are the same or to make due allowance for local conditions. Differences in machinery, hardness of metal, and such factors, ap parently only details, will entirely change the amount of work which can reasonably be expected.
14. Function of technical societies.—The develop ment of standards both of measure and of routine is one of the principal duties of the technical societies. For example, the American Street and Interurban Railway Association in 1906 adopted, and recom mended for use by its members, a standard code of rules for the government of conductors and motor men. The American Railway Master Mechanics' Association recommended a standard apprenticeship in 1898, which they have amended from time to time. The American Institute of Architects in conjunction with the Master Builders' Association have adopted a uniform building contract. There is also a society specially organized to promote uniformity in methods of testing cement.