Frederick Winslow Taylor Essay, Research Paper

Introduction

This paper is in response to the assignment for a paper and short speech concerning a

person with relevant contributions to the world of management. Frederick Taylor is

affectionately referred to as the ?Father of Scientific Management.? The modern systems of

manufacturing and management would not be the examples of efficiency that they are today,

without the work of Taylor. Frederick Taylor was instrumental in bringing industry out of the

dark ages by beginning to revolutionize the way work was approached. Taylor was able to

increase wages, productivity and reduce per piece costs at the same time. Taylor?s work was

eventually adopted in a wide array of applications. Taylor?s ideas had a significant influence on

the industrial life of all modernized countries. Even Lenin went as far as to publish an article in

Pravda , ?Raising the Productivity of Labour,? based on the writings of Taylor. Thus Taylor

changed the way the world conducted business. Taylor?s work was an extension of technology.

It was a marriage of human work and technology. His Priniciples of Scientifiic Management

was conceived to be free of value judgement.

The Younger Years

Frederick W. Taylor was born into a well-to-do family in Philadelphia in 1856 . His

family was not wealthy , but they were well exposed to the high culture of the local society.

Growing up it was expected that Taylor would study to become an attorney. Taylor attended

Phillips-Exeter Academy. He was a devout student, doing very well with his studies. To achieve

good grades, Taylor studied many long hours. It was quite unfortunate that Taylor was to miss

Harvard Law School due to bad eyes that doctors attrributed to studying in the poor light of a

kerosene lamp. In later years it was realized that his eye problem was actually caused by stress,

as it improved after he left Phillips. Taylor moved back home after graduating from Phillips. He

realized that he should take up a trade and got a job as an apprentice machinist and pattern

maker. Having spent four years learning his trade, Taylor got a job as a yard laborer at Midvale

Steel Company.

Taylor realized that at this point he needed to continue his education. He convinced the

people at Stevens Institute of Technology to allow him to attend classes long distance. He would

study in his spare time in Philadelphia and go to the school in New Jersey to take his exams. In

June of 1883, Taylor graduated with a Mechanical Engineering degree. He subsequently

joined the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME).

Midvale Steel Company

The Midvale Steel Company was part of the post Civil War expansion of industrialized

Philadelphia. They made steel railroad tires. Due to poor management, Midvale failed in 1873.

Fortunately for Taylor, the company was sold and prospered under the direction of the new

owners. There were two reasons for the success of the company. The first was that the company

was able to improve their scientific processes. The second reason was they were to receive

contracts to manufacture Naval gun forgings. By the 1890?s, Midvale was one of the countries

largest defense contracters. The company was in period of rapid growth. Taylor advanced

quickly at Midvale. In eight years he would be promoted from ordinary laborer through the ranks

of time keeper, machinist, gang boss, foreman, assistant engineer to chief engineer of the plant.

Taylor was promoted to gang boss due to the business turn around and the subsequent influx of

orders. As gang boss Taylor was well aware that the workers could be producing at much

higher levels than they were. As Taylor tried to increase production, he met a lot of resistance

from the workers. This fight to increase production gave Frederick Taylor his first look at the

unsystemized managerial methods commonplace in industry. Typically the fly by the seat of the

pants approach was used to manage manufacturing facilities. Taylor realized that there was a

scientific approach to technical problems. Yet, the current approach to dealing with production

problems such as worker behavior was destructive. There needed to be a way to combine

scientific techniques with constructive management. Conditions were favorable for Taylor to

begin his studies in management. First, his chief, William Sellers, was an engineer who

supported research. The second beneficial condition was that the machines his men were using

worked on heavy locomotive parts. The operating times on these machines were long, distinct

and easily measured.

After his appointment to gang boss, Taylor began to put pressure on the men to increase

production. The ensuing struggle caused Taylor to realize that the basis for the conflict was that

management did not understand a proper day?s work. Thus Taylor set out to evaluate a ?fair

day?s work.? By 1885 Taylor had devise a sysyem of production controls. He had introduced

stopwatch time studies, that he conducted to set production standards. Adifferential piece rate

system was set up to mandate that men increase production. In order to get the men to increase

their production and be happy about it, Taylor devised an incentive wage. This scientific

piecework system reconciled the managers desire for increased production and the workers

desire for a higher wage. Taylor found that on a task where production should have been 10 per

day, when a worker was paid 50 cents per unit that the worker finished only 4 or 5 pieces each

day. Taylor set a new per piece pay rate of 35 cents if the worker made 10 or more pieces. If the

worker produced 9 pieces or less, his piece rate was only 25 cents. Anyone who refused to

cooperate was terminated. For two or three years, Frederick Taylor discharged some workers

and lowered the wages of others. All through this period, he always had the support of upper

management. This differential piece rate system was applied to every task from unloading pig

iron and sand, white washing walls, painting, and even changing light bulbs. This system waas

the answer to the inefficiencies of workers performing manual tasks. The company was able to

pick the best workers available, since the worker would be earning a higher than average wage.

Taylor was also conducting a trial and error search for a set of laws governing the application of

cutting tools. He was experimenting with different combvinations of material,speed and angles,

the rate of feed and the power required. The results of ths study had management hooked.

Taylor was allowed to hire Henry L. Gantt, a classmate at Stevens, as an assistant. There were

three significant results of the combined efforts of Taylor and Gantt.

1883- The starting of a set of experiments on belting

1884- Construction of a room for storing and issuing tools already ground to the

men.

1885-1889- The making of a series of practical tables for a number of

machines…[by] which it was possible to give definite tasks each day to the

machinists who were running machines.

Taylor.?Art of Cutting Metals,? p38

Taylor writes of four steps to utilize standard information. The first basic satep is to

experiment. The initial managerial procedure is to continually measure, classify and file

standards related information. The second step is the formulation of manufacturing laws of

economy, standards. These standards would include:

_Specifications of Materials

_Material Handling

_Machines

_Machine Setup

_Tools,Dies, Cutters, etc.

_Proper Opreation Times

_Properly Trained Operator

The use of standards removes all variability from the process and the need for guesswork. The

third step is to plan the work. One must establish Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). This

step will eliminate idle times and miapplied efforts. Teh fourth step is to maintain the standards.

To achieve this one would establish a system of control. These controls would establish

procedures for inspection of conditions and performance and compare them to the standards.

Experiments

Until 1885, Frederick Taylor?s experiments were conducted only as a gang boss trying to

improve his crew?s performance. He would study problems as they arose. At this time Taylor

was promoted to chief engineer and he became more familiar with the machinery in other

departments. He began to develop a broader perspective and to study and experiment in

different departments.

Most of Taylor?s inventions involved metal cutting. He devised a tool grinder, a machine

tool table, a chuck, a tool-feeding devise for lathes, a work carrier for lathes, a boring-bar

puppet, and two boring and turning mills. The most impressive of his invemtions was an

elaborate set of forging equipment. This made use of a powerful and reliable steam hammer. In

designing this hammer, he studied the strengths and weaknesses of other hammers. He

incorporated the best parts, using flexible components.

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Cambridge,1970.

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Thompson, Clarence Bertrand. Scientific Management: A Collection of the More

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