Industrial efficiency from the psychological standpoint : a series of four lectures delivered at the Imperial College of Science and Technology / by Charles S. Myers.

  • Myers, Charles S. (Charles Samuel), 1873-1946.
Date:
[1919?]
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Licence: In copyright

Credit: Industrial efficiency from the psychological standpoint : a series of four lectures delivered at the Imperial College of Science and Technology / by Charles S. Myers. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Industrial Efficiency from the Psychological Standpoint. THE Bjl CHARLES MYERS • LIBRARY NATIONAL INSTITUTE &F IWDUSTRI6^' 14, WEtBEGK STREET. LONDON, W.l, D .01 Charles E. Myers M.D., Sc.D., F.R.S. irector of the Cambridge Psychological Laboratory. t Lectures delivered at the Imperial College of Science and Technology.) Lecture I. DR. MYERS said there were four main determinants of industrial efficiency.: first, the mechanical; secondly, the phy¬ siological ; thirdly, the psycholo¬ gical ; and, fourthly, the social and economic. Of these the psycho¬ logical Was by far the most prominent and fundamental. “ Intelligence ” in improving mechanical conditions, and a sympathetic “ understanding ” of the standpoint of others were far more important than capital or labour. The physiological factor of muscular fatigue was now fast be¬ coming generally negligible in in¬ dustry, compared with the effects of “ mental ” and “ nervous ” fatigue and of weariness, want of interest, suspicion, hostility, etc. In the present series of four lectures, there¬ fore, the psychological factor would be the main consideration, and he (the lecturer) would endeavour to show its importance in (1) movement study ; (2) fatigue study ; (3) selec¬ tion study ; and (4) incentives study. In movement study it would be necessary also to take into considera¬ tion mechanical and physiological factors; in fatigue study physio¬ logical factors; in studying the selection of workers according to their special aptitudes, the stand¬ point Would be principally psycho¬ logical ; in studying the incentives towards increased efficiency, social and economic considerations would have to be introduced. Movement study, the subject of the present lecture, might be regarded from four aspects. The first of these was the planning of the factory or business. The second was the arrange¬ ment of tools and material. The third was the division of work among- skilled and unskilled employees. And the fourth was the learning of the best methods of work. The planning of the factory in¬ volved, amongst other things, the proper organisation of administra- ffive departments for specification, timing, costing, order of work, instruction, material, and stores, and the proper location of the different industrial operations. Into that particular subject it was not the lecturer’s intention—indeed, it Was beyond his capacity—to enter. He Would, however, quote a few striking instances where industrial efficiency had been improved by a better arrangement of tools and materials. The New England Butt Company, for example, was engaged in manufacturing machines for braiding called braiders, and Mr. F. B. Gilbreth Was called in to apply movement study to the factory. He found the tools lying anywhere, the base of each braider placed on an ordinary low bench, with the various parte kept on the floor or in boxes. BRAIDING MACHINE WITH ADJUSTMENTS BY MR. GILBRETH. No special method was being taught. The assemblers worked by tradition, or according to individual fancy. Mr. Gilbreth studied the best posi¬ tions for the tools and parts before assembly. The latter he arranged in definite order on a vertical trellis frame called a “ packet,” which he provided with hooks and arms, so as to allow the parts to be placed in the most convenient position for the assembler’s grasp. This packet was loaded by an apprentice, who was being trained in the principles of assembly. The tools were henceforth placed in pre-arranged order on the table, and the table Was so designed by Mr. Gilbreth that it could be also used when turned over on its side, thus providing a table of two heights, one for ordinary, the other for the taller or “ double-deck ” braiders. The result of these improvements was that without increased fatigue, and with increased earnings a man could assemble 66 braiders per day, in place of a previous output of 18 per day, that is to say, a 266 per cent, increase in rate of output. Another instance of the effects of movement study occurred in a certain British foundry which was engaged in making Mills grenades and what are called fuse hole plugs.” These fuse hole plugs fit into the top of shells in place of the fuse until they are wanted to be actually used. The managing directo r of the foundry came to the conclusion that he could improve the output enormously without involving a greater amount of fatigue to the workers, and he set to work, with one or two men whom he could trust, including his works manager, to time each small job in his and their cases, to analyse that job into its essential component movements, to time these movements with a stop¬ watch to see how he could improve the movements. Having' done that to his satisfaction, and having written a list of the times of each separate unit movement and the time in which the whole job should be performed, and calling that the standard time, he devised instruction cards into which these estimates were put. He deducted 10 per cent, from what he had evolved as a standard time to allow the worker 45 minutes during the day to attend to his personal needs, and also to allow for accidental waste of time ; and then, after making various improvements in the arrangement of materials, in the efficiency of the machining, and in the co-ordination of the