| Abstrakt: |
The authors present in considerable detail the outline of the development of scientific methods as applied to the ordinary manufacturing plant. To make this a more concrete illustration the discussion is centered in the plants known as the Eastern Manufacturing Company, at Bangor and Lincoln, Maine, one of the largest concerns in the country manufacturing writing paper as its final product. The development of scientific methods at these mills, however, is not, as one might assume, descriptive of a simple and comparatively localized industry. As a matter of fact, the processes involved in pulp and paper making are similar in type, so far as management methods — not in specific technique — are concerned, to a vast number of industries. In the paper are discussed the development of the organization, comparing the old method of control with the new method through its planning department; the progress toward standardization of the making and machining, with the results already obtained; the methods of job analysis, with illustrations describing the standardization of machine and hand processes and the introduction of bonuses; the effect of reduction in working hours; the classification of paper, with balance-of-stores inventories; the effect of standardization and bonus installation in the pulp mill; the method of handling another mill from the one planning department; and the development of the Service Department, with the effect on the personnel of the establishment. The results secured by the scientific standardization of the various operations in combination with the routing system and bonus plan have effected an increase in production; a decrease in hours; an increase in wages; a reduction in labor cost per ton of production; a saving in materials; an effective control of production throughout the plant; and the development of a spirit of coöperation between the management and the employees. |
