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THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[November 1, 1919. 



Job Analysis and Written Standard Practice. 



By James Wright Cary. 



IT USED TO BE SAID that many a manufacturer had no reliable data 

 concerning costs. This was doubtless true to a certain ex- 

 tent, and perhaps is now, owing to the fact that some man- 

 agers have failed to appreciate the exacting requirements of a 

 dependable cost department. This has been especially true of 

 new concerns, frequently composed of men who had left old es- 

 tablished institutions, to "set up" in business for themselves, and 

 who "carried over" data considered "near enough" to afford a 

 working basis. 



OBJECTIONABLE PIECE RATE PRACTICES. 



Many such firms endeavored to institute a "cost department," 

 making time studies of all operations, and setting piece rales. 

 Where the method employed was crude, the results were unsatis- 

 factory. Usually this worked out so the employe could not 

 make a "living wage," and again he made more than the man- 

 agement was satisfied the work was worth. To adjust this the 

 rate was sometimes cut down to what it was thought the work- 

 man should be allowed to earn. This practice bore the usual 

 fruit, and distrust, dissatisfaction and inharmony established 

 themselves in place of those conditions that are essential to the 

 perfect working of any manufacturing establishment. 



So many manufacturers committed themselves to this unscien- 

 tific way of establishing piece rates, that the very term became 

 a stench in the nostrils of the average workman, and so remains 

 to-day in many localities. This attitude of the worker was fos- 

 tered by labor organizations, and it is only of recent date that 

 they have softened to any noticeable degree in their hostility to 

 any factory practice that includes the use of the stop-watch and 

 time studies as a means for arriving at a wage rate. It did not 

 take long for a manufacturer to discover that while "setting a 

 piece rate" was, perhaps, easy enough — in fact too easy — it was 

 commercial suicide to "cut it down," and there are some who 

 have been wise enough to "let the rate stand," no matter how 

 much a workman earned, and take the load on their own 

 shoulders where it belongs. 



SCIENTIFIC TIME STUDY THE SOLUTION. 



This leads, naturally, to consideration of the question : Is 

 there a scientific way of determining just what a man or 

 machine should produce in a given time, and thereby establish- 

 ing a wage rate that will be just to workman and manufacturer 

 alike? Scientific time study can be secured by means of written 

 standard practice, but a distinction must be made between 

 "standard" practice, and the experimental studies that ordina- 

 arily determine what the standard really is. Standard, there- 

 fore, is something scientifically proved. 



BENCH JOB ANALYSIS. 



To standardize an operation, calls for job analysis, and to 

 analyze an operation, all the factors that enter into or effect it 

 must be considered. Here are a few of them : consider location 

 of workman or bench as to light, ventilation, temperature, 

 conveniences, receipt and delivery of material, his bench, its 

 dimensions, slope or tilt and height as adjustable to his own. Is 

 its arrangement suited to the job; are there racks or holders for 

 tools ; are tools properly placed during work, or does operator 

 have to reach for them; has he complete equipment, or does he 

 have to borrow or lend? Enumerate tools and describe them. 

 Are they made especially for this work, or selected from 

 standard makes of knives, scissors, wrenches, hammers, nip- 

 pers, etc., and simply utilized as far as they will go for this 

 work; are they too heavy, or clumsy; do they "fit" the hand? 

 While in use are they dropped upon the bench "hit or miss" to be 



fumbled for when again required, or arc they placed in a rack? Is 

 light ample in source, quality and quantity? Is any part of the 

 work in shadow at any time? Is the light so strong as to affect 

 the eyes? If so, does operator wear shade, colored glasses, gog- 

 gles to protect from dust or particles? Docs operator stand or 

 sit while working? If former, is standing necessary to proper 

 production? Is work tiring? If so in what way, and to what 

 extent? Is there an allowance for fatigue; rest periods; rest 

 rooms? If operator can sit at option, is stool or scat adjust- 

 able to height of bench or person ; is seat large enough ; does it 

 interfere with quantity or quality of work produced? Toilet and 

 drinking facilities: are they sanitary, modern? Interference: 

 consider elements that might interfere with maximum production ; 

 tools, bench, light, conveniences as above enumerated. Work 

 in process : are materials supplied to operatives, or do they go 

 for them, or wait for them? What is the length of round trip; 

 what time do trips require? If work is delayed for any cause, 

 give actual time involved and production lost, and calculate the 

 loss over a given period. 



MAKING RECOMMENDATIONS. 

 If machine operation is under consideration, a proper job 

 analj'sis would note light, ventilation, temperature, conveniences, 

 safety appliances, receipt and delivery of material, sequence in 

 routing. Describe the machine, giving particularly details essen- 

 tial to parts prominent in its operation. Its "make," registered 

 number, floor space occupied, power used, size of pulleys, belt, 

 shafting, speeds, units of production per day or hour as now 

 operated. Consider the personnel: number of workmen; their 

 duties. Analyze the peculiar adaptibility of each to his share 

 of the job: size, weight, temperament, experience. Analyze the 

 group as a whole in their efficiency. What changes would you 

 make to secure best results, in the machine, service, manage- 

 ment? Interference: consider elements that interfere with ef- 

 ficient operation : the machine itself ; make, year made ; is it up to 

 present-day standards, or has it been superseded by lated models? 

 If so, in what way and to what extent? Enumerate and de- 

 scribe advantages in exchanging old for new. Show in what way, 

 and how soon, such changes would pay for themselves. Con- 

 sider method of service: is production curtailed on account of 

 poor routing, defective material, non-delivery of supplies, lack 

 of efficient care of machine? Consider factors in operation: 

 is foreman equal to requirements ; number of men married, sing- 

 le, native, foreign ; give nationalities. Attitude of foreman to 

 job, to factory, toward his men. How are they paid: day-work, 

 piece-work, bonus? Is the compensation adequate to the character 

 of the job? Are men contented? If not, give reasons. Are 

 toilet conveniences close by; adequate? Is light abundant for 

 the work; ventilation and drinking water what they should be? 

 Do operatives sit or stand at their work? If they sit are the 

 seats of right height, size, construction? Is work exhausting? If 

 so, what provision is made for rest periods ; how often, how 

 long? Show in detail the effect on production without rest, and 

 the result with periods of rest. Recreation : provisions for recre- 

 ation. Is there a circulating library ; day or night school ; recre- 

 ation hall ; music, such as an orchestra or band ; athletic club, 

 factory restaurant, hospital and dispensary, smoking room? To 

 what extent, if any, do the men on the job under examination 

 avail themselves of these advantages? Give particulars as to in- 

 dividuals. 



MAKING RECOMMENDATIONS. 



The above gives an idea of what constitutes job analysis. It 

 would be modified or elaborated tc suit requirements or the 

 specific ideas of the analyist. Having written up the history of a 



