Toyota Industrial Engineering - Elimination of Waste of Material, Machine and Men

Two Pillars of TPS - Jidoka and JIT

Jidoka - Process designs that eliminate waste

https://global.toyota/en/company/vision-and-philosophy/production-system/

JIT - Material procurement and flow system that eliminates waste.

Jidoka is based on engineering - Product engineering, process engineering, facilities engineering. product industrial engineering, process industrial engineering, facilities industrial engineering,  human effort industrial engineering.

Toyota Production System - Vision & Philosophy (From Company's Website)

Toyota Production System is a production system based on the philosophy of achieving the complete elimination of all waste in pursuit of the most efficient methods.

This production control system was established  with the objective of making the vehicles ordered by customers in the quickest and most efficient way, in order to deliver the vehicles as swiftly as possible. The Toyota Production System (TPS) was established based on two concepts: "jidoka" (which can be loosely translated as "automation with a human touch"),  and the "Just-in-Time" concept, in which each process produces only what is needed for the next process in a continuous flow.

Based on the basic philosophies of jidoka and Just-in-Time, TPS can efficiently and quickly produce vehicles of sound quality, one at a time, that fully satisfy customer requirements.

TPS and its approach to cost reduction are the wellsprings of competitive strength and unique advantages for Toyota. 

The TPS concept

For Toyota, jidoka means that  machines come to a safe stop whenever an abnormality occurs.  

To develop such intelligent machines and processes incorporating these machines, engineers meticulously build each new line component to exacting standards and further improve them  through incremental kaizen (continuous improvement). Engineers simplify the operations. They create instruction sheets so that the skills of engineers are transferred to operators. The process instruction sheet and the training associated with it enables any operator to use the line to produce the same result.

Once the line is producing the required quality production, the jidoka mechanism is incorporated into actual production lines. Through the engineering repetition of this process by engineers, machinery becomes simpler and less expensive, while maintenance becomes less time consuming and less costly, enabling the creation of simple, slim, flexible lines that are adaptable to fluctuations in production volume.

The work done by engineers by their own hands in this process is the bedrock of engineering skill. Machines and robots do not think for themselves or evolve on their own. Rather, they evolve as we transfer our skills and craftsmanship to them. In other words, craftsmanship is achieved by learning the basic principles of manufacturing through actual work, then applying them on the factory floor to steadily make improvements. This cycle of improvement in both human skills and technologies is the essence of Toyota's jidoka. Advancing jidoka in this way helps to increase machine capabilities and human resource capabilities.

Human wisdom and ingenuity are indispensable to delivering ever-better cars to customers. Going forward, we will maintain our steadfast dedication to constantly developing human resources who can think independently and implement kaizen.

Just-in-Time

―Improving productivity―

Making only "what is needed, when it is needed, and in the amount needed"

Producing quality products efficiently through the complete elimination of waste, inconsistencies, and unreasonable requirements on the production line (known respectively in Japanese as muda, mura, muri).

In order to fulfill an order from a customer as quickly as possible, the vehicle is efficiently built within the shortest possible period of time by adhering to the following:

When a vehicle order is received, production instructions must be issued to the beginning of the vehicle production line as soon as possible.

The assembly line must be stocked with the required number of all necessary parts so that any kind of ordered vehicle can be assembled.

The assembly line must replace the parts used by retrieving the same number of parts from the parts-producing process (the preceding process).

The preceding process must be stocked with small numbers of all types of parts and produce only the numbers of parts that were retrieved by an operator from the next process.

Roots of the Toyota Production System

Jidoka has roots tracing back to Sakichi Toyoda's automatic loom. TPS has evolved through many years of trial and error to improve efficiency based on the Just-in-Time concept developed by Kiichiro Toyoda, the founder (and second president) of Toyota Motor Corporation.

Waste can manifest as excess inventory, extraneous processing steps, and defective products, among other instances. All these "waste" elements intertwine with each other to create more waste, eventually impacting the management of the corporation itself.

The automatic loom invented by Sakichi Toyoda not only automated work that used to be performed manually, but also built the capability to make judgments into the machine itself. By eliminating both defective products and the associated wasteful practices, Sakichi succeeded in rapidly improving both productivity and work efficiency.

Kiichiro Toyoda set out to realize his belief that "the ideal conditions for making things are created when machines, facilities, and people work together to add value without generating any waste." He conceived methodologies and techniques for eliminating waste between operations, between both lines and processes. The result was the Just-in-Time method.

Via the philosophies of "Daily Improvements" and "Good Thinking, Good Products, TPS has evolved into a world-renowned production system. Even today, all Toyota production divisions are making improvements to TPS day-and-night to ensure its continued evolution.

The Toyota spirit of monozukuri (making things) is today referred to as the "Toyota Way." It has been adopted not only by companies in Japan and within the automotive industry, but in production activities worldwide, and continues to evolve globally.

https://global.toyota/en/company/vision-and-philosophy/production-system/  Accessed on 4 April 2021

Kaizen

In his 1986 book Kaizen: The Key to Japan’s Competitive Success, Masaaki Imai defines kaizen this way (p. xxix):

“Kaizen means ongoing improvements involving everyone – top management, managers, and workers.”

https://bobemiliani.com/toyotas-secret/

Toyota's Expertise - Toyota Production System

 

The Toyota spirit of monozukuri (making things) is today referred to as the "Toyota Way."

https://global.toyota/en/company/vision-and-philosophy/production-system/

By applying Toyota’s expertise in technology, safety, and the environment, we seek to resolve urban transportation challenges, expand options and access for personal mobility, and design human-centered mobility solutions for the future.

http://toyotamobilityfoundation.org/en/about-us.html

 Making good parts requires a lot of research and development. Having the parts made by companies that have expertise in their own fields allows us to obtain high-quality parts. Toyota's suppliers make seats, wheels, steering wheels, windshields, headlights, and meters, for example.

https://www.toyota.co.jp/en/kids/faq/d/01/04/

14 Jan 2021

Inspired by the Skills of Professional Drift Drivers, Research Seeks to Combine the Technology of Vehicle Automation with Artificial Intelligence Algorithms.

https://pressroom.toyota.com/toyota-research-institute-and-stanford-universitys-dynamic-design-lab-study-how-to-improve-automotive-safety/

Technical Development - Design

https://www.toyota-global.com/company/history_of_toyota/75years/data/automotive_business/products_technology/technology_development/design/index.html

Productivity Management - F.W. Taylor

 F.W. Taylor suggested many new ideas in productivity management in his writings.

Excerpts from:

TAYLOR, F. W., "A Piece-Rate System, Being a Step Toward Partial Solution of the Labor Problem,"

Transactions of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers 16, 856-903, 1895

The advantages of this system of management (Taylor's Piece Rate System) are :

The manufactures are produced cheaper under it.
The system is rapid  in attaining the maximum productivity of each machine and man

The system introduced by the writer, however, is directly the opposite, both in theory and in its results. It makes each workman’s interests the same as that of his employer, pays a premium for high efficiency, and soon convinces each man that it is for his permanent advantage to turn out each day the best quality and maximum quantity of work.

The writer has endeavored in the following pages to describe the system of management introduced by him in the works of the Midvale Steel Company, of Philadelphia, which has been employed by them during the past ten years with the most satisfactory results.

The system consists of three principal elements :

( i ) An elementary rate-fixing department.

( 2 ) The differential rate system of piece-work.

( 3 ) What he believes to be the best method of managing men who work by the day.

The advantages of this system of management are :

First. That the manufactures are produced cheaper under it, while at the same time the workmen earn
higher wages than are usually paid.

Second . Since the rate-fixing is done from accurate knowledge instead of more or less by guess-work, the motive for holding back on work, or “ soldiering ”, and endeavoring to deceive the employers as to the time required to do work, is entirely removed, and with it the greatest cause for hard feelings and war between the management and the men.

Third. Since the basis from which piece-work as well as day rates are fixed is that of exact observation, instead of being founded upon accident or deception, as is too frequently the case under ordinary systems, the men are treated with greater uniformity and justice, and respond by doing more and better work.

Fourth, It is for the common interest of both the management and the men to cooperate in every way, so as to turn out each day the maximum quantity and best quality of work.

Fifth. The system is rapid, while other systems are slow, in attaining the maximum productivity of each machine and man ; and when this maximum is once reached, it is automatically maintained by the differential rate.

Sixth. It automatically selects and attracts the best men for each class of work, and it develops many first-class men who would otherwise remain slow or inaccurate, while at the same time it discourages and sifts out men who are incurably lazy or inferior.

Finally. One of the chief advantages derived from the above effects of the system is, that it promotes a most friendly feeling between the men and their employers, and so renders labor unions and strikes unnecessary.

5. The modem manufacturer, however, seeks not only to secure the best superintendents and workmen, but to surround each department of his manufacture with the most carefully woven network of system and method, which should render the business, for a considerable period at least, independent of the loss of any one man, and frequently of any combination of men.

36. Yet it is the opinion of the writer that even if a system has not already been found which harmonizes the interests of the two/ still the basis for harmonious cooperation lies in the two following facts :

First . That the workmen in nearly every trade can and will materially increase their present output per day, providing they are assured of a permanent and larger return for their time than they have heretofore received.

Second. That the employers can well afford to pay higher wages per piece even permanently , providing each man and machine in the establishment turns out a proportionately larger amount of work.

39. The most formidable obstacle is the lack of knowledge on the part of both the men and the
management (but chiefly the latter) of the quickest time in which each piece of work can be done ; or, briefly, the lack of accurate time-tables for the work of the place.

40. The remedy for this trouble lies in the establishment in every factory of a proper rate-fixing department ; a department which shall have equal dignity and command equal respect with the engineering and managing departments, which shall be organized and conducted in an equally scientific and practical manner.

44. Yet this elementary system of fixing rates has been in successful operation for the past ten years, on work complicated in its nature and covering almost as wide a range of variety as any manufacturing that the writer knows of. In 1883, while foreman of the machine shop of the Midvale Steel Company of Philadelphia, it occurred to the writer that it was simpler to time each of the elements of the various kinds of work done in the place, and then find the quickest time in which each job could be done, by summing up the total times of its component parts, than it was to search through the records of former jobs and guess at the proper price. After practising this method of rate-fixing himself for about a year as well as circumstances would permit, it became evident that the system was a success. The writer then established the rate-fixing department, which has given out piece-work prices in the place ever since.

45. This department far more than paid for itself from the very start ; but it was several years before the full benefits of the system were felt, owing to the fact that the best methods of making and recording time observations of work done by the men, as well as of determining the maximum capacity of each of the machines in the place, and of making working-tables and time-tables, were not at first adopted.

46. Before the best results were finally attained in the case of work done by metal-cutting tools, such as lathes, planers, boring mills, etc., a long and expensive series of experiments was made, to determine, formulate, and finally practically apply to each machine the law governing the proper cutting speed of tools, namely, the effect on the cutting speed of altering any one of the
following variables : the shape of the tool (i.e., lip angle, clearance angle, and the line of the cutting edge), the duration of the cut, the quality or hardness of the metal being cut, the depth of the cut, and the thickness of the feed or shaving.

47. It is the writer’s opinion that a more complicated and difficult piece of rate-fixing could not be found than that of determining the proper price for doing all kinds of machine work on miscellaneous steel and iron castings and forgings, which vary in their chemical composition from the softest iron to the hardest tool steel. Yet this problem was solved through the rate-fixing department and the “ differential rate,” with the final result of completely harmonizing the men and the management, in place of the constant war that existed under the old system. At the same time the quality of the work was improved and the output of the machinery and the men was doubled, and in many cases trebled. At the start there was naturally great opposition to the ratefixing department, particularly to the man who was taking time observations of the various elements of the work ; but when the men found that the rates were fixed without regard to the records of the quickest time in which they had actually done each job, and that the knowledge of the department was more accurate than their own, the motive for hanging back or “ soldiering ” on this work ceased, and with it the greatest cause for antagonism and war between the men and the management

It is evident that this job consists of a combination of elementary operations, the time required to do each of which can be readily determined by observation.

This exact combination of operations may never occur again, but elementary operations similar to these will be performed in differing combinations almost every day in the same shop.

A man whose business it is to fix rates soon becomes so familiar with the time required to do each kind of elementary work performed by the men, that he can write down the time from memory.

In the case of that part of the work which is done by the machine, the rate-fixer refers to tables which are made out for each machine, and from which he takes the time required for any combination of breadth, depth, and length of cut

49. While, however, the accurate knowledge of the quickest time in which work can be done, obtained by the rate-fixing department and accepted by the men as standard, is the greatest and most important step toward obtaining the maximum output of the establishment, it is one thing to know how much work can be done in a day and an entirely different matter to get even the best men to work at their fastest speed or anywhere near it.

50. The means which the writer has found to be by far the most effective in obtaining the maximum output of a shop, and which, so far as he can see, satisfies the legitimate requirements, both of the men and management, is the differential rate system of piece-work.

This consists briefly in paying a higher price per piece, or per unit, or per job, if the work is done in the shortest possible time and without imperfections, than is paid if the work takes a longer time or is imperfectly done.

53. Whether cooperation, the differential plan, or some other form of piece-work be chosen in connection with elementary rate-fixing, as the best method of working, there are certain fundamental facts and principles which must be recognized and incorporated in any system of management before true and lasting success can be attained ; and most of these facts and principles will be found to be not far removed from what the strictest moralists would call justice.

54. The most important of these facts is, that MEN WILE NOT DO AN EXTRAORDINARY DAY’S WORK FOR AN ordinary day’s pay ; and any attempt on the part of employers to get the best work out of their men and' give them the standard wages paid by their neighbors will surely be, and ought to be, doomed to failure.

61. As far as possible each man’s work should be inspected and measured separately, and his pay and losses should depend upon his individual efforts alone. It is, of course, a necessity that much of the work of manufacturing — such, for instance, as running roll-trains, hammers, or paper machines — should be done by gangs of men who cooperate to turn out a common product, and that each gang of men should be paid a definite price for the work turned out, just as if they were a single man.

In the distribution of the earnings of a gang among its members, the percentage which each man receives should, however, depend not only upon the kind of work which each man performs, but upon the accuracy and energy with which he fills his position.

In this way the personal ambition of each of a gang of men may be given its proper scope.

66. Of the two devices for increasing the output of a shop, the differential rate and the scientific rate-fixing department, the latter is by far the more important The differential rate is invaluable at the start as a means of convincing men that the management is in earnest in its intention of paying a premium for hard work, and it at all times furnishes the best means of maintaining the top notch of production ; but when, through its application, the men and the management have come to appreciate the mutual benefit of harmonious cooperation and respect for each other’s rights, it ceases to be an absolute necessity. On the other hand, the rate-fixing department, for an establishment doing a large variety of work, becomes absolutely indispensable. The longer it is in operation the more necessary it becomes.

67. Practically, the greatest need felt in an establishment wishing to start a rate-fixing department is the lack of data as to the proper rate of speed at which work should be done.

There are hundreds of operations which are common to most large establishments ; yet each concern studies the speed problem for itself, and days of labor are wasted in what should be settled once for all and recorded in a form which is available to all manufacturers.

68. What is needed is a hand-book on the speed with which work can be done, similar to the elementary engineering hand-books. And the writer ventures to predict that such a book will, before long, be forthcoming. Such a book should describe the best method of making, recording, tabulating, and indexing time-observations, since much time and effort are wasted by the adoption of inferior methods.

74. As before stated, not the least of the benefits of elementary rate-fixing are the indirect results.

The careful study of the capabilities of the machines arid the analysis of the speeds at which they must run, before differential rates can be fixed which will insure their maximum output, almost invariably result in first indicating and then correcting the defects in their design and in the method of running and caring for them.

75. In the case of the Midvale Steel Company, to which I have already referred, the machine shop was equipped with standard tools furnished by the best makers, and the study of these machines, such as lathes, planers, boring mills, etc., which was made in fixing rates, developed the fact that they were none of them designed and speeded so as to cut steel to the best advantage. As a result, this company has demanded alterations from the standard in almost every machine which they have bought during the past eight years. They have themselves been obliged to superintend the design of many special tools which would not have been thought of had it not been for elementary rate-fixing.

76. But what is perhaps of more importance still, the rate-fixing department has shown the necessity of carefully systematizing all of the small details in the running of each shop, such as the care of belting, the proper shape for cutting tools, and the dressing, grinding, and issuing sairfe, oiling machines, issuing orders for work, obtaining accurate labor and material returns, and a host of other minor methods and processes. These details, which are usually regarded as of comparatively small importance, and many of which are left to the individual judgment of the foreman and workmen, are shown by the rate-fixing department to be of paramount importance in obtaining the maximum output, and to require the most careful and systematic study and attention in order to insure uniformity and a fair and equal chance for each workman. Without this preliminary study and systematizing of details it is impossible to apply successfully the differential rate in most establishments.

77. As before stated, the success of this system of piece-work depends fundamentally upon the possibility of materially increasing the output per man and per machine, providing the proper man be found for each job and the proper incentive be offered to him.

78. As an illustration of the difference between what ought to be done by a workman well suited to his job, and what is generally done, I will mention a single class of work, performed in almost every establishment in the country. In shovelling coal from a car over the side on to a pile one man should unload forty tons per day, and keep it up year in and year out, and thrive under it.

With this knowledge of the possibilities I have never failed to find men who were glad to work at this speed for from four and a half to five cents per ton. The average speed for unloading coal in most places, however, is nearer fifteen than forty tons per day. In securing the above rate of speed it must be clearly understood that the problem is not how to force men to work harder or longer hours than their health will permanently allow, but rather first to select among the laborers which are to be found in every community the men who are physically able to work permanently at that job and at the speed mentioned without damage to their health, and who are mentally sufficiently inert to be satisfied
with the monotony of the work, and then to offer them such inducements as will make them happy and contented in doing so.

85. 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.

86. Above all it is 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.

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

Excerpts from:

TAYLOR, F. W., Shop 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." 

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, and in the writer's judgment the existence or absence of these two elements forms the best index to either good or bad management.

This book is written mainly with the object of advocating high wages and low labor cost as the foundation of the best management, of pointing out the general principles which render it possible to maintain these conditions even under the most trying circumstances, and of indicating the various steps which the writer thinks should be taken in changing from a poor system to a better type of management.

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.

That there is a difference between the average and the first-class man is known to all employers, but that the first-class man can do in most cases from two to four times (under favorable circumstances) as much as is done by an average man is known to but few, and is fully realized only by those who have made a thorough and scientific study of the possibilities of men.

The writer has found this enormous difference between the first-class and average man to exist in all of the trades and branches of labor which he has investigated, and these cover a large field, as he,
together with several of his friends, has been engaged with more than usual opportunities for thirty years past in carefully and systematically studying this subject.

It must be distinctly understood that in referring to the possibilities of a first-class man the writer does not mean what he can do when on a spurt or when he is over-exerting himself, but what a good man can keep up for a long term of years without injury to his health. It is a pace under which men become happier and thrive.

In referring to high wages and low labor cost as fundamental in good management, the writer is most desirous not to be misunderstood.

By high wages he means wages which are high only with relation to the average of the class to which the man belongs and which are paid only to those who do much more or better work than the average of their class.  It would seem to be the duty of employers, therefore, both in their own interest and
in that of their employees, to see that each workman is given as far as possible the highest class of work for which his brains and physique fit him.

The aim in each establishment should be:

(a) That each workman should be given as far as possible the highest grade of work for which his ability and physique fit him.

(b) That each workman should be called upon to turn out the maximum amount of work which a first-rate man of his class can do and thrive.

(c) That each workman, when he works at the best pace of a first-class man, should be paid from 30 per cent to 100 per cent according to the nature of the work which he does, beyond the average of his class.

And this means high wages and a low labor cost. 

These conditions not only serve the best interests of the employer, but they tend to raise
each workman to the highest level which he is fitted to attain by making him use his best faculties, forcing him to become and remain ambitious and energetic, and giving him sufficient pay to live better than in the past.

Under these conditions the writer has seen many first-class men developed who otherwise would have remained second or third class all of their lives.

In almost all  complicated cases the large increase in output is due partly to the actual physical changes, either in the machines or small tools and appliances, which a preliminary time study almost always shows to be necessary. For the purposes of illustration the simple case chosen is the better, although the gain made in the more complicated cases is none the less legitimately due to the system.

The writer chooses from among a large variety of trades to which these principles have been applied, the yard labor handling raw materials in the works of the Bethlehem Steel Company at South Bethlehem, Pa., not because the results attained there have been greater than in many other instances, but because the case is so elementary (pure manual work) that the results are evidently due to no other cause than thorough time study as a basis (to understand speed of work possible), to develop principles related to that work.

Task Management

The essence of task management lies in the fact that the planning and control of the speed problem rests entirely with the management based on scientific study and theory.

What the writer wishes particularly to emphasize is that this whole system rests upon an accurate and scientific study of unit times, which is by far the most important element in scientific management. With it, greater and more permanent results can be attained even under ordinary day work or piece work than can be reached under any of the more elaborate systems without it.

In 1895 the writer read a paper before The American Society of Mechanical Engineers entitled "A Piece Rate System." His chief object in writing it was to advocate the study of unit times as the foundation of good management. Unfortunately, he at the same time described the "differential rate" system of piece work, which had been introduced by him in the Midvale Steel Works. Although he called attention to the fact that the latter was entirely of secondary importance, the differential rate was widely discussed in the journals of this country and abroad while practically nothing was said about the study of "unit times." Thirteen members of the Society discussed the piece rate system at length, and only two briefly referred to the study of the "unit times."

With accurate time study as a basis, the "quickest time" for each job is at all times in plain sight of both employers and workmen, and is reached with accuracy, precision, and speed, both sides pulling hard in

the same direction under the uniform simple and just agreement that whenever a first-class man works his best he will receive from 30 to 100 per cent more than the average of his trade. 

Difference in Production Quantity between a first class man and an average man - F.W. Taylor

That there is a difference between the average and the first-class man is known to all employers, but that the first-class man can do in most cases from two to four times (under favorable circumstances) as much as is done by an average man is known to but few, and is fully realized only by those who have made a thorough and scientific study of the possibilities of men.

The writer has found this enormous difference between the first-class and average man to exist in all of the trades and branches of labor which he has investigated, and these cover a large field, as he, together with several of his friends, has been engaged with more than usual opportunities for thirty years past in carefully and systematically studying this subject.

The difference in the output of first-class and average men is as little realized by the workmen as by their employers. The first-class men know that they can do more work than the average, but they have rarely made any careful study of the matter. And the writer has over and over again found them utterly incredulous when he informed them, after close observation and study, how much they were able to do. In fact, in most cases when first told that they are able to do two or three times as much as they have done they take it as a joke and will not believe that one is in earnest.

It must be distinctly understood that in referring to the possibilities of a first-class man the writer does not mean what he can do when on a spurt or when he is over-exerting himself, but what a good man can keep up for a long term of years without injury to his health. It is a pace under which men become happier and thrive.

The second and equally interesting fact upon which the possibility of coupling high wages with low labor cost rests, is that first-class men are not only willing but glad to work at their maximum speed, providing they are paid from 30 to 100 per cent more than the average of their trade.

The exact percentage by which the wages must be increased in order to make them work to their maximum is not a subject to be theorized over, settled by boards of directors sitting in solemn conclave, nor voted upon by trades unions. It is a fact inherent in human nature and has only been determined through the slow and difficult process of trial and error.

The writer has found, for example, after making many mistakes above and below the proper mark, that to get the maximum output for ordinary shop work requiring neither especial brains, very close application, skill, nor extra hard work, such, for instance, as the more ordinary kinds of routine machine shop work, it is necessary to pay about 30 per cent more than the average. For ordinary day labor requiring little brains or special skill, but calling for strength, severe bodily exertion, and fatigue, it is necessary to pay from 50 per cent to 60 per cent above the average. For work requiring especial skill or brains, coupled with close application, but without severe bodily exertion, such as the more difficult and delicate machinist's work, from 70 per cent to 80 per cent beyond the average. And for work requiring skill, brains, close application, strength, and severe bodily exertion, such, for instance, as that involved in operating a well run steam hammer doing miscellaneous work, from 80 per cent to 100 per cent beyond the average.

There are plenty of good men ready to do their best for the above percentages of increase, but if the endeavor is made to get the right men to work at this maximum for less than the above increase, it will be found that most of them will prefer their old rate of speed with the lower pay. After trying the high speed piece work for a while they will one after another throw up their jobs and return to the old day work conditions. Men will not work at their best unless assured a good liberal increase, which must be permanent.

In referring to high wages and low labor cost as fundamental in good management, the writer is most desirous not to be misunderstood.

By high wages he means wages which are high only with relation to the average of the class to which the man belongs and which are paid only to those who do much more or better work than the average of their class.  It would seem to be the duty of employers, therefore, both in their own interest and in that of their employees, to see that each workman is given as far as possible the highest class of work for which his brains and physique fit him.

Developing and Employing First Class People in an Organization - F.W. Taylor
http://nraoiekc.blogspot.com/2013/08/developing-and-employing-first-class.html

F.W. Taylor - Shop Management

Updated on 20 March 2021, 3 August 2013

Productivity Engineering by F.W. Taylor

 

Taylor developed productivity science. As an engineering, he  did engineering to implement the discoveries of productivity science. Industrial engineering is primarily engineering to enhance productivity of the engineering processes to give output of goods and services. Industrial engineers need good amount of engineering knowledge and have to use in specific direction to increase productivity of engineering resources used in engineering systems and prevent waste of engineering resources and also output due to defects.

Read the elaborate engineering of the system for circulating cutting fluid (water) by Taylor to get productivity increase of 40% by increase in cutting speed. Industrial engineers have to be educated and trained to do engineering for implementing productivity ideas.

Excerpts for the Art of Metal Cutting by Taylor

SYSTEM FOR CIRCULATING THE COOLING STREAM OF WATER 

593 Cooling the nose of a tool by throwing a heavy stream of water or other fluid directly upon the chip at the point where it is being removed by the tool from the steel forging enables the operator to increase his cutting speed about 40 per cent.‘ The economy realized through this simple expedient is so large that it is a matter of the greatest surprise that experimenters on the art of cutting metals have entirely overlooked this source of gain. So far as the writer is aware, no experiments upon this subject have as yet been published. In spite of the fact that (as a result of our experiments) the whole machine shop of the Midvale Steel Company was especially designed as long ago as 1893 for the use Of a heavy stream of water (super-saturated with soda to prevent rusting) upon each cutting tool, until very recently (1906) practically no other shops in this country have been similarly equipped.

598 (B) With high speed tools a gain of 40 per cent‘ can be made in cutting steel or wrought iron by throwing in the most advantageous manner a heavy stream of water upon the tool.

599 In designing slide rules or tables, etc., for assigning daily tasks to machinists a 33 per cent increase in cutting steel or wrought iron should be allowed for instead of 40 per cent, owing to the fact that workmen are more or less careless in directing the stream of water to the proper spot upon the tool.

600 (C) A heavy stream of water (3 gallons per minute) for a 2-inch by 2-inch tool and a smaller quantity as the tool grows smaller, should be thrown directly upon the chip at the point where it is being removed from the forging by the tool. Water thrown upon any other part of the tool or the forging is much less efficient. 

601 (D) The gain in cutting speed through the use of water on the tool is practically the same for all qualities of steel from the softest to the hardest. 

602 (E) The percentage of gain in cutting speed through the use of water on the tool is practically the same whether thin or thick chips are being removed by the tool. 

603 (F) With modern high speed tools a gain of 16 per cent can  be made by throwing a heavy stream of water on the chip in cutting CAST iron. 

604 (G) To get the proper economy from the use of water in cooling the tool, the machine shop should be especially designed and the machine tools especially set with a view to the proper and convenient use of water. 

605 (H) 1n cutting steel, the better the quality of tool steel, the greater the percentage of gain through the use of a heavy stream of water thrown directly upon the chip at the point where it is being removed from the forging by the tool. The gain for the different types of tools in cutting steel is: a Modern high speed tools 40 per cent; b Old style self-hardening tools 33 per cent; c Carbon tempered tools 25 per cent.

606 This fact, stated in different form is that: The hotter the nose of the tool becomes through the friction of the chip, the greater is the percentage of gain through the use of water on the tool. 

THE PORTION OF THE TOOL ON WHICH THE WATER JET SHOULD BE THROWN

607 A series of experiments has demonstrated that water thrown directly upon the chip at the point where it is being removed from the forging by the tool will give higher cutting speeds than if used in any other way.

611 The most satisfactory results are obtained from a stream of water falling at rather slow velocity, but with large volume, at the proper point upon the tool; since a stream of this sort covers a larger area of the tool and is much freer from splash.

612 This water supply should be delivered through pipes fitted up with universal friction joints, so that the apparatus can be quickly adjusted to deliver the water at any desired point (the pipe being supported by a rigid bracket attached to the saddle of the lathe, preferably on the back side so as to be out of the way). In the case of short lathe beds the water supply can be delivered from overhead through a rubber hose, and in the case of long lathe beds through telescoping pipes attached to the saddle (smooth drawn "brass pipes telescoping inside of ordinary wrought iron pipes, with suitable stuffing boxes being used).

613 About three gallons of water per minute are required for adequately cooling a very large roughing tool, say, 2 inches by 2 inches section; and proportionally smaller quantities as the tool grows smaller.

614 For economy, the same water should be used over and over again, and it should be supersaturated with soda to prevent the machines from rusting. Wrought iron pipes about 1 inches diameter should lead the water from beneath the machine below the floor to the main soda water drains at the side of the shop. These drains are made of pipe from 3 to 5 inches in diameter, with a chain extending through them from one end to the other, the chain being twice as long as the drain through which it extends. In case of sediment forming in this pipe or in case of chips passing by the double sets of screens and double settling pots which should be supplied at each machine, the drain can be quickly cleaned by pulling the chain back- ward and forward through it once or twice.

615 The soda water is returned through this system of underground piping to a large central underground tank, from which it is pumped through a small, positive, continuously running pump, driven by the main line of shafting, into an overhead tank with overflow which keeps the overhead soda water supply mains continually filled and under a uniform head. If the shop is constructed with a concrete floor, a catch basin for the water can be molded in the concrete directly beneath each machine. Otherwise, each machine should be set in a large wrought iron pan or shallow receptacle which catches the Soda water and the chips. In both cases, however, two successive settling pots—independently screened so as to prevent the chips, as far as possible, from getting into the return main—are required beneath each machine. _

616 The ends of the 1} inch wrought iron pipes which lead the water from the machines to a large drain at the side of the shop should be curved up with a sweeping curve so that their outer ends come Close to the top of the floor of the shop. The sediment and chips must be cleaned from these pipes from time to time by means of a long round steel rod up to 1 inch in diameter, which, after removing the plug at the outer end of the drain pipes, is shoved through the pipe. Apparatus of this type has been in successful use for about 23 years with no trouble from clogging.

624 Taylor-White tools similar to those described above, having been carefully standardized, showed a cutting speed when run without water of 60 feet per minute, and when run under a heavy stream of water of 83 feet, thus indicating a gain of 1.39 to 1.0 from the use of water. The average gain then through the use of water on the tool for hard and soft forgings is about 40 per cent.

625 In 1906 after the writing of this paper was well under way it occurred to us that we had accepted as true without verification through accurate experiments the fact that water could not be used in cutting cast iron. This is another of the many instances in which an absolutely erroneous opinion prevails throughout all of our machine shops without any foundation in fact. It is likely, however, that this opinion has become so firmly rooted in the minds of all mechanics and foremen from the fact that a water finish cannot be made on cast iron, while it is in many cases most desirable for steel.

626 To determine the effect of a heavy stream of water in cooling a tool cutting cast iron, experiments (similar to those described above) were made by us during the summer and fall of 1906 on a test piece consisting of exceedingly hard cast iron with cutting tools of three different chemical compositions. 

 Gain through use of water  was 16 per cent.

Productivity Engineering of Belting - F.W. Taylor 1893

Industrial engineering is redesign of engineering products and processes to increase productivity and reduce costs. The call for cost reduction of engineering products and products made through engineering processes was made by the first President of ASME in 1880. Various persons presented papers. Taylor presented his first paper in 1893 and explained how the cost of belt systems used for power transmission can be reduced by keeping records for cost accounting and measurement and taking engineering decisions based on the analysis of data. Many commentators, present in the seminar remarked that the paper was the first systematic effort to collect cost and do engineering decision making based on cost analysis to reduce cost of engineering activity, task or process.

Taylor contributed to development of productivity thought and cost reduction thought in engineering by clearly conceptualizing three important activities of productivity improvement in engineering products and processes.

"Notes on Belting" is the first paper presented by F.W. Taylor on Productivity Engineering. Taylor's commitment to productivity science can be seen in this first paper.  The Paper on Piece Rates presented in 1895 contains both productivity engineering and productivity management aspects.

Taylor wrote in the "Piece Rate" paper that to increase productivity, systematizing that is systematically studying and improving all of the small details in the running of each shop, such as the care of belting, the proper shape for cutting tools, and the dressing, grinding, and issuing tool, oiling machines, issuing orders for work, obtaining accurate labor and material returns, and a host of other minor methods and processes has to be done. Then only on the basis of productivity improvement estimates, piece rates that provide motivation or incentive to operators to participate in the high productivity redesigned process can be given. 

Incentives are not increasing the productivity. Productivity science and  engineering improve productivity. Incentives are part of productivity management, where by operators are recruited and trained to work in high productivity processes.

"Notes on Belting" 

Presented at the New York Meeting (December, 1893) of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and forming part of Volume XV. of the Transactions.

You can access it from https://archive.org/stream/transactionsof15amer/transactionsof15amer_djvu.txt

pp. 204-259.

125 paragraphs are there in the paper.

The purpose of the paper was to present conclusions to be used in design and use of belting so as to obtain the greatest economy and the most satisfactory results.

It is important to understand carefully the terms "the greatest economy and the most satisfactory results." Taylor always took care to state multiple objectives involved in decision making. The output of a process has to give the most satisfactory results. The customer satisfaction and stakeholder satisfaction especially that of operators involved in the process were always emphasized by Taylor. The greatest economy is to be obtained by assuring first the satisfaction of results. Effectiveness has to be first designed and then only a redesign can be attempted to find lower cost alternative materials, design alternatives and process alternatives.

Important points are extracted from the paper and are given below. Understanding this paper is a foundation to using engineering knowledge to determine the cost collection criteria, cost analysis and redesign of engineering elements to reduce cost.

In using belting so as to obtain the greatest economy and the most satisfactory results, the following rules should be. observed : 

2. The chief consideration has to be the maximum of work from belting cost. Two most important considerations to realize it are securing the minimum of interruptions to manufacture by increasing the durability of the belt to the maximum. This criterion has not hitherto received due attention in belt system design. The one consideration which should have more weight than all others in making up  rules for the use and care of belting is "how to secure the least possible interruption to manufacture from the breakdowns of belts."

3. It is the writer's judgment that belts should be made heavier and run more slowly than theory and accepted rules would indicate, not only for the sake of reducing the belt bill in the long run, but even more to avoid the frequent interruptions to manufacture. In figuring the total expense of belting, and the manufacturing cost chargeable to this account, I think that most careful observers soon come to the conclusion that by far the largest item in this account is the time lost on the machines while belts are being replaced and repaired. This is certainly the case even where the process of manufacture is such that any one machine can be stopped without affecting the running of its neighbors, but far more so in those establishments where the running of a series of machines is dependent one upon another, and the stoppage of one machine involves delays on others. 

4. While working as foreman of a machine shop, the writer became convinced that the belts, which were laced according to the ordinary rules, were a great source of loss to the company — not so much from the cost of the belting and the labor of lacing as from the incidental delays to the machines, and the diminished output of the shop resulting therefrom. The belting was then shown to be by far the largest source of trouble in the shop.

5. But of equal importance in formulating rules for belting is the knowledge of what tension can be surely maintained through a term of  months, or what elements chiefly affect the durability of belting; yet these considerations appear to have been rather neglected by experimenters. Very little information could be obtained either as to the cost of maintenance of belts, or in regard to the interruptions to manufacture from belting, when used under known and uniform conditions as to tension and general treatment.

8. As a result of experience in the old shop, the tight and loose pulleys on the countershafts were made much larger in diameter and of wider face, so that the belt power from main line to countershafting was made about two and one-half times as great as formerly. All belts were made endless by splicing, glueing, and pegging, instead of lacing or hooking, and double belts were used throughout the shop. 

9. In all cases the countershafts were mounted on independent frames, which could be raised and lowered in tightening the belts by the interposition of wooden packing pieces of varying thickness between the frames and the supporting stringers overhead. For this purpose standard packing pieces, varying by eighths of an inch in thickness, were always kept in the tool room. With this method of tightening it was seldom necessary to resplice a belt, since six to ten inches of stretch could be taken up in the belt, by gradually raising the countershaft, before resplicing became necessary. 

10. Belt clamps were used having spring balances between the two pairs of clamps, so that the exact tension to which the belt was subjected was accurately weighed when the belt was first put on, and each time it was tightened. 

11. Experience soon demonstrated about the length of time that each belt would run without requiring to be tightened, and at approximately regular periods the spring-balance belt clamps were put on to each belt and the tension of same weighed, and the countershaft raised just enough to maintain the belt at its proper tension. For this reason, it was a matter of very rare occurrence that a belt slipped during working hours. And as the belts were generally tightened on Sundays (the shop working night and day), the minimum of delay was caused on the machines from this source.

14. At intervals of about three months for the first two years of the test, and after this time at intervals of about five months, each belt was scraped clean, and greased with the kind of dubbing recommended by the maker of the belt. 

15. An accurate account was kept of the original cost of each belt, and every item of expenditure, both for labor and materials used in the maintenance and care of same ; also the exact stretch of each belt was recorded, and its method of treatment throughout (*both engineering details and cost are recorded). 

18. In considering the results of the experiments made,  it should be borne in mind that the belts called "shifting" are those running from the main line of shafting to tight and loose pulleys on the countershafts, and that these belts were used so as to have about two and one half times as great transmitting power as the ordinary belting rules would demand; while the "cone" belts, extending from the countershaft to the machine, are used according to the ordinary rules for belting. 

63. In considering the above table, the most interesting and important fact noticeable is the superiority of the shifting to the cone belts in every respect except first cost, and this superiority is even much greater than the figures would indicate, since, generally speaking, the cone belts which are still in use are nearly worn out, having reached a point at which it is doubtful whether it pays to repair them, while the shifting belts are, to all appearances, in almost as good condition as when they first went into use, and should last twice as long as they have already. 

I think it would be safe to say that the life of the shifting belts will be three times that of the cone, and already the total cost of the shifting belts per year of service is less than that of the cone.  

66. It is interesting to note that after 8.8 years of life the total cost of maintenance and repairs of the shifting belts  amounts to only 30.4% of the original cost, while with the cone belts the maintenance and repairs through a life of 6.7 years amounts to one and one-half times the first cost.

67. In the writer's judgment, by far the greatest point of advantage of the shifting belts lies in the fact that the interruptions to manufacture go down drastically.  Each shifting belt required tightening or  repair  on an average only 6 times during nine years, while the cone belts averaged 32 interruptions to manufacture in 0.7 years. The shifting belts ran on an average twenty-two months without tightening, while the cone belts ran only two and one-half months. 

73. Summarizing the above, we may state that the total life of belting, cost of maintenance and repairs, and the interruptions to manufacture caused by belts, are dependent upon

 (1) the "total load" to which they are subjected, more than upon any other condition; and that, in our judgment, the other conditions chiefly affecting the durability of belting are: 

(2) Whether the belts are spliced, or fastened with lacing or belt hooks. 

(3) Whether they are properly greased and kept clean and free from machinery oil. 

(4) The speed at which they are run. 

77. Based on the evidence, the most economical total load for belting must lie between 174 lbs. and 357 lbs. per square inch of section of belt.

For several years past the writer has used the following rules with satisfaction, and he believes them to represent the most economical practice: 

80. The average total load on belting should be 200 to 225 lbs. per square inch section of belt. 

81. Six- and seven-ply rubber belts, and all double leather belts except oak tanned and fulled, will transmit economically a pull of 30 lbs. per inch of width to the rim of the pulley. 

82. Oak tanned and fulled double leather belts will transmit economically a pull of 35 lbs. per inch of width. 

83. The most economical speed for belting is 4,000 to 4,500 feet per minute. 

103. If the principle is correct, of using thick belts on account of their lateral stiffness and consequent durability, it becomes of the utmost importance to determine the minimum diameter of pulley which can be used with a given thickness of belt, and still have the belt last well. The writer is quite sure that double leather belts 2 inch thick will last well and give excellent satisfaction on pulleys as small as 12 inches in diameter, as he has had many belts in use for years under these conditions. 

For some time past he has had a triple leather belt 12 inches wide, 0.56 inch thick, running about 4,5(>0 feet per minute, with an idler pulley pressing lightly upon it, and transmitting about 100 H.P. to a pulley 12 inches diameter. This belt has up to date given excellent satisfaction, and has already lasted much longer than the two double leather belts which preceded it. 

The writer feels certain, from his experience, that it is safe and advisable to use — 

A double belt on a pulley 12 inches diameter or larger, 

A triple belt on a pulley 20 inches diameter or larger, 

A quadruple belt on a pulley 30 inches diameter or larger ; 

and it his opinion that it is advisable to use double, triple, and quadruple belts on pulleys respectively as small as 9 inches, 15 inches, and 24 inches diameter.

104. Regarding the question of fastening the two ends of the belt together, I think it safe to say that the life of belting will be doubled by splicing and cementing the belt, instead of lacing, wiring, or using hooks of any kind. When belts are subjected to the most severe usage, the spliced portion should be riveted, iron burrs being preferable to copper.

109. The best location for the idler pulley on high-speed belts is on the slack side of the belt, and about one-quarter way from the driving pulley. In this position it wears the belt far less than if placed close to the driven pulley, as is customary ; and the tendency of the idler to guide the belt off the pulley, in case it is slightly misplaced or the belt stretches unevenly, is far less. The writer is aware that this is contrary to the accepted theories on the subject, and has only arrived at this conclusion after repeated trials.

112. The faces of pulleys should, where practicable, be made about one-quarter wider than the belts which run on them, to allow for possible uneven stretch or running of belt, and a certain amount of chasing. 

120. Belts should be cleaned and greased every five or six months, just enough grease being put on to keep the surface of the belt moist and prevent it from cracking. It was found in the above experiment  that every three mouths was oftener than belts required greasing. 

123. Serious repairs to belting, as well as to all other machinery in a mill, should be prevented as far as possible by systematic and careful inspection at regular intervals, and the writer has found a tickler, having a portfolio for every day in the year, from which reminders to inspect and examine are issued daily, an invaluable aid in caring for the machinery of an establishment. With this method, a belt should rarely slip or give out while in use, and most repairs can be made out of working hours.

124. Much time is saved by having all of the repairs and adjustments to belting made by one or two men. A day laborer can soon be taught to repair belting after working hours, and do it much more thoroughly and systematically than if it is attended to by the high-priced men who run the machines during working hours. 

125. In figuring the probable running expenses of an establishment, it is frequently desirable to know about what the yearly belt bill will average. This issue was discussed in the paper.

Industrial engineers have to observe number of modification done by Taylor and the observation of the benefits of those changes. Industrial engineers have to make engineering changes and they must have the engineering knowledge to make those changes. They have to develop engineering expertise in the operations being done in their plant, at minimum operations and processes under their service and continuously increase knowledge of developments in the field.

Also, Taylor paid attention to maintenance. He even mentioned a planning device to send instructions at the appropriate time to maintenance persons. He also indicated that maintenance can be even taken up by part-time persons who come after the production shift is over and do it. Thus we can the areas of productivity science, productivity engineering and productivity management in the project carried out by Taylor in the area of belt systems in 1893. Taylor carried the idea of life of belt and the interruptions in production that a smaller life of belt will created into machining wherein he developed the equation for optimal tool life.

The core of industrial engineering is improvement of engineering elements for cost reduction or productivity improvement.

DISCUSSION.
Henry B. Towne 

The paper is remarkable as covering the record of an unusually large series of experiments, inaugurated on an intelligent and exceptionally comprehensive plan, and subsequently consistently carried out during the extraordinary period of nine consecutive years, under conditions not of the laboratory but of actual practice. 

Perhaps the most salient fact, and the most important conclusion of Mr. Taylor's argument, relates to the value of increased thickness of belts, and to the larger and more general use of double belts.

Having established this point, the paper then presents rules, and the experience on which they are based, governing the conditions under which thick belting can most efficiently and economically be used. These rules pertain less to the theory than to the practice of belting, and cover the questions of speed, diameter of pulleys, modes of tightening, distance of pulleys apart, kind and frequency of dressing, methods of lacing, and the efficiency of different kinds of belting. Previous investigations have dealt rather with the theory of belting than with the question of economy in its application and use. One of the most valuable features of Mr. Taylor's work consists in determining the conditions of application and use of belting which conduce to the lowest ultimate cost (productivity science). In other words, his investigation carries the subject through the field of mechanics into that of economics, and reduces the equation finally to a commercial form. However much the theoretical questions involved may interest the student and engineer, the commercial facts are those which chiefly interest and concern the mill manager and owner. In this, as in similar cases, the work of investigation is not completed until it has been carried to a point which includes both mechanical and commercial factors. 

Mr. Taylor has wisely refrained from further investigation of it, and has directed his observations and reasoning to the other elements involved, and for the purpose of arriving at rules for obtaining the best practical and commercial results. The records show that the coefficient of friction is itself variable, and depending upon the kind of belt, the condition of its surface, and other variable factors. Hence it follows that, in most cases, it is practically unnecessary to consider the coefficient of friction at all, the other more important factors which determine the proper conditions of use, especially those conducive to the best economy, and which determine the transmitting efficiency, being such always as to preclude any slipping of the belt.

Mr. Taylor properly gives much consideration to the question of economy in time of men and machines by using belting in such way as to secure the maximum freedom from interruptions to manufacture due to this source. In this, as in other details, his rules aim to secure results which are not only the best mechanically, but also commercially. The evidence submitted sustains the assertion that to obtain the highest economy in belting it is necessary to limit both the initial tension and the total load to a point much below that fixed by former rules, and which Mr. Taylor has sought to deduce from his observations. To accomplish this reduction he resorts to the use of double belting, adduces facts tending to show that this can be used on  pulleys as small as twelve inches in diameter, and shows that, for most uses, double belting is not only as available as single, but in many respects better, more desirable, and more economical. 

He sums up his conclusions by the statement that the most important factor in determining the life of belting, and its cost for maintenance and repairs, is the total load to which it is subjected, meaning thereby the pull per square inch of cross section. Other things being equal, therefore, the life and economy of the belt will, up to a certain limit, vary directly with its thickness. The conclusions on this point are that the point of best economy of total load lies between 174 lbs. and 357 lbs. per square inch of cross section. Mr. Taylor states that he has adopted a limit from 200 to 225 lbs. If his other conclusions and rules are adopted, further observation and experiment may well be addressed to a closer determination of this factor, in order to either verify the correctness of Mr. Taylor's conclusions, or else to indicate a new and better value for adoption in practice.