Effect of Habit.

Every workman has his own idea of how things ought to be done, and every shop has a tradition in respect to methods of work; these two factors taken into conjunction make it difficult to introduce new ideas. Recently an employee complained that if he were allowed to work along his own lines, as he did formerly, he could do “just as much if not more.” Granted that it would be so on broadest lines, the small matters would be unrealised, and often these are omitted in the analysis. If the foreman plans, then he must work to that plan without divergence. This entails “best way.” methods in order to keep to schedule. For this reason, in addition to motion studies, standardisation has been largely accepted as another axiom, agreeing, of course, with the belief that fatigue will reduce the output. To overcome this difficulty and enable the worker to earn more wages (if it is piecework) compulsory rest periods have been introduced.

Dr. Taylor's example is so well known that it will be given briefly. A large steel corporation in U.S.A. employed seventy unskilled labourers to carry pig-iron up an inclined plank and tip it into a waiting truck. The average amount shifted per worker per day was 12 1/2 tons. Pigiron was a cheap commodity, but the method of handling it was cumbersome, so Taylor was asked to investigate. At once he put his finger on the weakness. He showed the futility of saying a man was working only when carrying iron. Energy was being continuously expended in walking, lifting and even standing motionless with the iron “up.” He thereupon standardised the procedure of lifting and carrying. Next he broke the day up into work spells and rest pauses, so that in actual fact the men worked, as the average employer understands the term, only 43 per cent. of the day unit, when the pigiron weighed 92lbs. By decreasing the weight of the pig-iron by 50 per cent. he discovered that 58 per cent. of the unit was worked. The combination of motion study and rest pauses of ten minutes after seven minutes work increased the output from the original figure to 47 1/2 tons per man per day. This was practically a 400 per cent. increase, with less exertion than had been used formerly. This example does not, of course, indicate that men should do this form of work, machinery could do it much more easily, but it gives point to method.