Taylor on Quality, Human Relations and Management

Lesson 20 of Industrial Engineering ONLINE Course -  IE Concepts Module - Contribution of Taylor, Gilbreth, Emerson, Maynard, Barnes, Shigeo Shingo. 

Accompanying IE Case Study: Alternative Lubricants and Productivity - Case Study

It is important for industrial engineers (IEs) to know the ideas of Taylor on quality and human relations. IEs have to read original papers of Taylor and always remember what he said and interpretation and criticism of his ideas by others. That will enable them to function better. At the present many industrial engineers and critics of Taylor from quality and human relations disciplines have not read original works of Taylor. That is leading to distortion in thinking and is leading to wrong direction of attitudes. There is research in this regard that finds management students develop negative attitude toward Taylor because of the way, current management books criticize Taylor, unfairly.

Management

The art of management has been defined, "as knowing exactly what you want men to do, and then seeing that they do it in the best and cheapest way."

[Think. What is "best way"?] - Best way gives quality output. So you have to find the way that gives the best quality.

[What is the cheaptst way?] - You have to find cheaper ways of doing the best way. You have to use available engineering alternatives to increase productivity. In that quest, IEs may come out with new engineering alternatives.

It is safe to say that no system or scheme of management should be considered which does not in the long run give satisfaction to both employer and employee, which does not make it apparent that their best interests are mutual, and which does not bring about such thorough and hearty cooperation that they can pull together instead of apart.

What the workmen want from their employers beyond anything else is high wages, and what employers want from their workmen most of all is a low labor cost of manufacture.

These two conditions are not diametrically opposed to one another as would appear at first glance. On the contrary, they can be made to go together in all classes of work, without exception.

The possibility of coupling high wages with a low labor cost rests mainly upon the enormous difference between the amount of work which a first-class man can do under favorable circumstances and the work which is actually done by the average man.  (The favorable circumstances are created by study and improvement of machine working in machine-man systems. Taylor has done special research on increasing productivity of work on machine tools. There is need to extend this to all categories of machines).

Ensure Maintenance of Quality First Before Improving Productivity

The first move before in any way stimulating them toward a larger output was to insure against a falling off in quality. 

This was accomplished through over-inspection in a productivity improvement study of inspection activity. Four of the most trustworthy girls were selected as over-inspectors and were given each a lot of balls which had been examined the day before by one of the regular inspectors. The number identifying the lot having been changed by the foreman so that none of the over-inspectors knew whose work they were examining. In addition, one of the lots inspected by the four over-inspectors was examined on the following day by the chief inspector, selected on account of her accuracy and integrity.

Another effective expedient was adopted for checking the honesty and accuracy of the over-inspection also. Every two or three days a lot of balls was especially prepared by the foreman, who counted out a definite number of perfect balls, and added a recorded number of defective balls of each kind. The inspectors had no means of distinguishing this lot from the regular commercial lots. And in this way all temptation to slight their work or make false returns was removed.

After insuring in this way against deterioration in quality, effective means were at once adopted to increase the output. Improved day work was substituted for the old slipshod method. An accurate daily record, both as to quantity and quality, was kept for each inspector. In a comparatively short time this enabled the foreman to stir the ambition of all the inspectors by increasing the wages of those who turned out a large quantity and good quality. An accurate time study was made through the use of a stop watch and record blanks, to determine how fast each kind of inspection should be done. 

https://nraoiekc.blogspot.com/2013/08/bicylcle-ball-inspection-case-study-fw.html

Industrial Engineering Principle of Quality 

The first move by industrial engineer,  before undertaking productivity improvement through productivity engineering, is to insure against a falling off in quality.  After insuring against deterioration in quality, effective means  are to be developed to increase the output by machine time and operator time reduction, substitution of lower prices materials and parts, and consumable and energy usage reduction.

Inspection Foreman:  has to be master of the art of finishing work both well and quickly.

The inspector (or inspection boss) is responsible for the quality of the work, and both the workmen and speed bosses must see that the work is all finished to suit him. This man can, of course, do his work best if he is a master of the art of finishing work both well and quickly.

https://nraoiekc.blogspot.com/2013/08/functional-foremanship-fw-taylor.html

Importance and Primacy of Inspection Foreman

The first of the functional foremen to be brought into actual contact with the men should be the inspector; and the whole system of inspection, with its proper safeguards, should be in smooth and successful operation before any steps are taken toward stimulating the men to a larger output;  otherwise an increase in quantity will probably be accompanied by a falling off in quality.

https://nraoiekc.blogspot.com/2013/08/introducing-functional-foremanship-fw.html

Human Relations

"No system of management, however good, should be applied in a wooden way. The proper personal relations should always be maintained between the employers and men; and even the prejudices of the workmen should be considered in dealing with them.

"The employer who goes through his works with kid gloves on, and is never known to dirty his hands or clothes, and who either talks to his men in a condescending or patronizing way, or else not at all, has no chance whatever of ascertaining their real thoughts or feelings.

"Above all is it desirable that men should be talked to on their own level by those who are over them. Each man should be encouraged to discuss any trouble which he may have, either in the works or outside, with those over him. Men would far rather even be blamed by their bosses, especially if the 'tearing out' has a touch of human nature and feeling in it, than to be passed by day after day without a word, and with no more notice than if they were part of the machinery.

"The opportunity which each man should have of airing his mind freely, and having it out with his employers, is a safety-valve; and if the superintendents are reasonable men, and listen to and treat with respect what their men have to say, there is absolutely no reason for labor unions and strikes.

"It is not the large charities (however generous they may be) that are needed or appreciated by workmen so much as small acts of personal kindness and sympathy, which establish a bond of friendly feeling between them and their employers.

"The moral effect of this system on the men is marked. The feeling that substantial justice is being done them renders them on the whole much more manly, straightforward, and truthful. They work more cheerfully, and are more obliging to one another and their employers. They are not soured, as under the old system, by brooding over the injustice done them; and their spare minutes are not spent to the same extent in criticizing their employers."

The writer has a profound respect for the working men of this country. He is proud to say that he has as many firm friends among them as among his other friends who were born in a different class, and he believes that quite as many men of fine character and ability are to be found among the former as in the latter. Being himself a college educated man, and having filled the various positions of foreman, master mechanic, chief draftsman, chief engineer, general superintendent, general manager, auditor, and head of the sales department, on the one hand, and on the other hand having been for several years a workman, as apprentice, laborer, machinist, and gang boss, his sympathies are equally divided between the two classes.

https://nraoiekc.blogspot.com/2013/08/personal-relations-between-employers.html

Principles of Scientific Management - Taylor

The managers following scientific management thought do the following things.

First. They develop a science for each element of a man's work, which replaces the old rule-of.-thumb method.

Second. They scientifically select and then train, teach, and develop the workman, whereas in the past he chose his own work and trained himself as best he could.

Third. They heartily cooperate with the men so as to insure all of the work being done in accordance with the principles of the science which has been developed.

Fourth. There is an almost equal division of the work and the responsibility between the management and the workmen. The management take over all work for which they are better fitted than the workmen, while in the past almost all of the work and the greater part of the responsibility were thrown upon the men.

(From THE PRINCIPLES OF SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT - F.W.Taylor)

The principles point out the essence of industrial engineering and in combination with other papers of Taylor can be used to develop principles of industrial engineering.

Basic Principles of Industrial Engineering - Narayana Rao

1. Develop science for each element of a man - machine system's work related to efficiency and productivity.

2. Engineer methods, processes and operations to use the laws related to the work of machines, man, materials and other resources.

3. Select or assign workmen based on predefined aptitudes for various types of man - machine work.

4. Train workmen, supervisors, and engineers in the new methods, install various modifications related to the machines that include productivity improvement devices and ensure that the expected productivity is realized.

5. Incorporate suggestions of operators, supervisors and engineers in the methods redesign on a continuous basis.

6. Plan and manage productivity at system level.

(The principles were developed on 4 June 2016 and presented in IISE Annual Conference 2017. The principles were developed by Narayana Rao based on principles of scientific management by F.W. Taylor)

https://nraoiekc.blogspot.com/2017/06/taylor-narayana-rao-principles-of.html

Taylor - Narayana Rao Principles of Industrial Engineering - Extended List - Productivity Improvement - Performance Improvement https://nraoiekc.blogspot.com/2024/05/taylor-narayana-rao-principles-of.html
Employee Involvement in Productivity Improvement - Advocated by Taylor and Gilbreth.
Presentation by Prof. K.V.S.S. Narayana Rao on 4 October 2012
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Updated 20.6.2024, 20 June 2021, 30 Jan 2021

Pub 2 June 2020