Scientific management

Bases

The idea of Frederick Winslow Taylor was to determine by studies, which was the best way of doing a work:

by breaking up the successive phases of this work,
by seeking the most effective Geste S,
by adapting the Tool S.

At Midvale Steel Co., its studies required many Temps and work, but the results were spectacular. It started to observe the Ouvrier S, to break up their gestures, with the Chronométrer, in order to find how to reduce their movements to the minimum. For example, with the handling of the pig iron and cast iron pig moulds, the workmen could handle without extra effort 48 tons per day against 12,7 tons before. The profits of Productivité were such as the Salaire S, could be with final increased by 60%.

The Chronométrage met an opposition of the Ouvrier S and Syndicat S. In order to circumvent its disadvantages, were invented method S making it possible to evaluate operational times by a fine decomposition of the movements (method of standard times or MTS, Method Time Measurement or MTM), then the method of the instantaneous Observations.

Four great principles

Frederick Winslow Taylor knew to summarize in four great principles the bases of the scientific organization of the companies:

the direction must develop scientifically a news Technique for each aspect of the task of a worker, to replace the method Empirique used traditionally.
the process of Décision must make it possible the direction to choose, involve, inform and to develop each worker, which, in the past, determined by itself the way of carrying out his task and was formed of sound better by his own means.
the direction must cooperate with enthusiasm with the workers to make sure that each task is carried out according to the principles and the techniques which were developed.
a fair distribution of work and Responsabilité S must be established between the direction and the workers. The direction must deal with the tasks for which it is provided better than the workers, while before almost all the work and the greatest part of the Responsabilité S were assumed by the workers.

Measurements

the study of the Factor Time, just as the tools and the methods necessary;
the supervision functional and distributed, and its advantages on the traditional system of the single foreman;
standardization of the Tool S and their context of use for each Trade association, as well as the gestures and movements of the workers of each trade;
the creation of a department or a room of Planning;
the application of the “principle of exception” in Management
the use of graduated mathematical rules and other tools allowing to save Time;
preparation of charts of instruction for the workers;
preparation of descriptions of tasks, accompanied by a broad profit for the success by this task;
the application of differential rates;
the use of mnemonic systems to index the manufactured goods just as the tools used in the Industry S;
the use of systems of routing;
the use of modern systems of Analysis of the costs.

Called into question of the OST

New Forms of Organization of Work develop because of the changes in the company which highlight the principal limits of Taylorism and the fordism… The fordism because of standardization of the products always does not answer a more demanding request, which requires differentiated products. In addition if the produced quantity is increased by the fordism, it is not inevitably the same of quality. Taiichi Ohno (1912-1990) then develops for Toyota the " ohnisme" or " toyotisme" whose objectives summarized around the 5 zeros will tend to a reduction of the costs and a better reactivity to the request. In spite of the organization productive posterior with Ford or Taylor, the organization of work based on the decomposition of the tasks and the tasks repetitive do not disappear. A growing number of employees denounce for example the repetitivity of the tasks which they achieve, including in the tertiary sector.

See too

Fordisme
Toyotisme