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November, 1925
Forging- Stamping - Heat Treatic
E f f e c t i n g E c o n o m i e s I n A F o r g e P l a n t
The Author Cites Several Examples to Show How Production
Costs Can Be Reduced—Experienced Foremen Should
W H E N reading the various trade, business, and
management journals, there are invariably to
be found one or more articles pertaining to
industrial efficiency, expounding the benefits, or relating
the experiences to be gained from planned
production, factory investigations, and cost control.
These, together with the wide movement of classes
to teach foremen broader business principles, would
lead one to believe that but very little improvement,
if any, could be made in most manufacturing plants.
This view would be still more strongly held if one
visited the plants, being careful not to observe too
closely the manufacturing methods, or the activity of
the workers, but merely confining the visit to interviewing
the foreman about production methods, cost
reduction, and other phases generally covered under
the topic of industrial efficiency. From such conversations
the conclusion will be drawn that with foremen
so intelligently informed, nothing has been overlooked
to obtain the highest possible production at a minimum
cost. Upon turning the attention to the manufacturing
processes we perceive idleness here and
"soldiering" there. As for poor machinery and inefficient
methods, the least said the better. The highly
efficient plant takes on a different aspect.
When one has a large acquaintance among men
from various manufacturing plants, "shop talk" invariably
occurs among the members of the various plants.
Each boasts such high efficiency that the desire to
visit these excellent plants is strong, but when one
makes arrangements, and finally the visit is made, the
high expectations are seldom realized.
Such conditions are an example of the common
saying: "It may be all right in theory, but it does
not work out in practice." In this particular case it
would be more correct to state "We believe in the
theory of industrial efficiency, but not in the practice
of it." Experience with such conditions has brought
the writer to the conclusion that the reason why foreman
believe in the theory of industrial efficiency is
that they will gain favor with the main office eAxecutives.
They assume the cloak of industrial efficiency
to hide their real feelings and beliefs. In the main,
their entire feelings and sympathies are for the worker.
Very little cost reduction or improved methods of
production increase originate with the department
heads. By far the greater number of improvements
originate outside of the department, and are put into
operation against the approval of the department head.
Some foremen resist changes so stubbornly that it
becomes necessary to discharge them in order to initiate
savings.
The most serious fault of many foremen is the
assumption that whatever production they can obtain
is about all that can be expected. The days of slave
driving have long since passed out of existance, but
Be Placed in Charge of All Departments
By JOSEPH HAAS*
•Assistant Superintendent, Ontario Silver Company,
Muncie, Ind.
397
the worker should honestly earn his pay by conscientious
effort. Since workers have to remain in a plant
nine hours a day, they should strive to do all they can,
and not try to see how little they can get awayr with.
It is the duty of the foreman to insist upon this, even
at the cost of his help considering him "hard-nosed."
We hear so much about "fair treatment of the employee"
and that the foreman must obtain the co-operation
of his men in order to run his department
efficiently. But the writer has yet to find a group of
workmen that will not take advantage of the foreman
who is a "good-fellow" among his men. Experience
has shown that a "hard-nosed" foreman who will fight
as hard for his men when the management tries to
impose upon them, as he will to make them produce
for the profit of the company, receives more respect,
and co-operation from them, although they may
grumble among themselves about the foreman's expectations,
when things come to a show-down.
It is not the purpose to increase the theoretical
literature on industrial efficiency, but merely to cite
a few examples of opportunities that foremen allow to
slip by them by not practicing the industrial efficiency
theory that they claim they know all about when
speaking with the big boss. The following instances
relate to economies in a forge department which was
a part of a medium size manufacturing plant:
The foreman of the forge department was a tall,
heavily built, loud-voiced man, with whom no one
could get along. He had come to this factory to work
in the tool room from an automobile plant, where he
had been employed as a time-study man and rate setter.
So he wras well informed in modern industrial
efficiency. At least, he gave this impression, and the
management believed they had a "find." In the role
of a tool maker he had made forging dies, worked
upon forge room repairs and had become well acquainted
with the department. It had tiecome necessary
to make a change in the forge department, and
as this man seemed to have potential possibilities,
he was placed in charge. Almost immediately his head
became too large for his shoulders, and his importance
too great for the good of the business. However, he
was allowed to continue mainly because the entire
plant had undergone a reorganization, and he was
an improvement over his predecessor. Furthermore,
there was a great amount of work to be done in other
departments. When at last attention was turned upon
his department, it became evident that he was the
stumbling block to progress. Various small improvements
that he would not block were put into effect
while those that would effect substantial savings failed.
Patience was finally exhausted, and he was let out.
The new foreman hired was from outside of the organization.
This was done so that the stage could be
set more readily to initiate cost reductions and improvements
that had previously been obstructed.