198 Materials and Tlieir Handling 



for the quality of the result. So, the foreman 

 must understand fully the way in which the opera- 

 tions under his charge are fitted together, what 

 they do in the final object of the work and why 

 they exist as they do. For instance, the foreman 

 in a machine shop must know the way in which 

 the machinery fits into the particular job and the 

 way in which the materials can be brought to the 

 men for the best result. He must know the reason 

 for the job, the layout, the inspection, the machine 

 records, and all the other items which go to make 

 up the work of his little group. 



The superintendent of a plant or a railroad 

 or any other activity must have a wider range of 

 clear knowledge of the departments and opera- 

 tions because the nature of his work requires him 

 to fit together a larger group and see that it is 

 efficient. 



The Relation between Order and System. Sys- 

 tem is to order, what transportation is to modern 

 industry. It ties the whole proposition together, 

 preserves the order, and keeps the groups of men 

 working to the same purposes. To serve this 

 purpose it must take care of all the elements which 

 enter into the production fabric, it must arrange 

 for the work and the operations, the records and 

 the checks all along the line from the smallest 

 group to the largest. There would be little pur- 

 pose in subdividing the work and arranging the 

 equipment and the materials so that the job could 

 be done, if there were not some way of tying all 

 these many operations together so that they would 



