60, etc.;" these dates are 5, 10, 15, and 20 working days ahead. It will be noticed that the dies for this order on the axles are required on the date set at 65. All cards and sketches must be gotten out on the date corresponding to 40 days. This schedule is kept by the scheduling department, which keeps in touch with all the other departments and sees that the schedule is lived up to. When the allotted time elapses, if the schedule is broken, inquiries are set on foot to ascertain the cause of the delay. When notification of the completion of each of the sched uled events occurs, the square is blocked out; the unblocked squares are the ones to be watched. "Minor cards, such as are shown in Fig. 156, are made up for distribution to the different drawing departments. For example, the one shown is given to the section getting out groups 13, 14, 36, and 57. It shows the day on which their work is expected, and that department is held responIsible should the order fall behind on that date. These are usually dated a day or more ahead, in order to give that department time to transfer the drawings, etc., to the next. Draftsman 80 Smith Schedule Delivery 4/10/1911 2-8-0 Number of Engines Name of R.R. Engine Order No. 12 C.P.R. S. 783 SCHEDULE DATES ENGINE DETAILS 10 Ash Pau (Arrangement and Details) 0 11 Axles, Driving 0 11 Axles, Engine Truck 11 In the "Engineering Record" for Jan. 30, 1909 is an article (taken from the "Armour Engineer" for Jan., 1909) on some of the methods employed by the Stone & Webster Engineering Corporation, of Boston, in systematizing its field work so as to enable the home office to keep in constant touch with widely scattered jobs. The following paragraphs embody the salient and suggestive points of the discussion. The superintendent of construction on a job will have a certain organization of his own, large or small as the conditions may warrant, and he will be empowered to do a certain amount of purchasing, sub-contracting, etc. The object of the system is, by the use of suitable charts, schedules, etc., to make plain, both to him and to the home office such matters as (1) what plans, bills of material, etc., are to be made by each; (2) what purchasing will be handled by the home office and what by him; (3) what work will be done by a contractor and what by the owner or his own force; (4) dates promised for delivery of material or completion of sub-contracts; and (5) the scheme of cost-accounting to be used on the job. The first three items and the matter of scheduled performance of subcontractors is epitomized in a "Working Schedule"; the delivery of material to the account of the superintendent is planned and recorded by a "Delivery Schedule"; a "Progress Report" shows scheduled and actual performances; a suitable cost-data system keeps the superintendent and the home office informed regarding unit costs, total cost as compared with estimated, etc.; and an "Organization Chart" shows graphically the extent, organization and relative authority of the working force. The "Working Schedule" is made on tracing cloth, changes or additions being made as desired, and revised prints sent to the superintendent every week. "It has a number of vertical columns in which, by the use of letters designating the engineering department, the local construction department and the sub-contractor, the source of the plans, specifications and bills of material for any particular part of the job in hand is indicated. By the use of the same letters in other columns the parties responsible for the purchase and installation or erection of the materials for each part of the job are indicated. Still other columns give the order or contract number for each part of the job, the date when the factory shipment is promised, and the dates of delivery and erection promised. "This schedule is sent to the superintendent in duplicate, and each week he returns one copy of the old schedule with the letters corresponding to completed work cancelled thereon. The system is found to eliminate a large amount of letter writing, lost motion, and uncertainty as to responsibility for the various details of the work. "The 'Delivery Schedule' is corrected and forwarded to the superintendent once a month or once a week as the job may require. This schedule gives the contract or order number, shipper's name, material, original date of factory delivery, revised date of factory delivery, and dates of partial shipment for all unfilled orders originating in the home office of the work. The schedule is made in triplicate, one copy going to the construction department where a watchful eye is kept on the delivery of material, and two copies going to the superintendent, who returns one copy to the purchasing department with any changes he desires noted in a column left for the purpose and headed "Delivery Desired." The purchasing department will then apply special pressure to the shippers of these items. "Progress reports are made graphically. The home office prints on tracing cloth a list of the items on which progress is to be reported. These items are arranged one under the other, and to the right are a series of columns, four for each month. The original estimate of the time taken to finish the work is indi cated by a horizontal blue line extending to the right to the vertical column representing the day of the month of the estimated completion. The percentage of work done at the time of the report is shown by a black line above the blue line. The actual time spent and the revised estimate of the time of completion is shown by a red line below the blue line." "By simply drawing two straight lines, one black and one red, the superintendent tells how much he has done since the last report, how much in all and how long he has been in doing it, how much remains to be done and how long it will take to do it. There are, of course, a multitude of forms that such a chart may follow, and the element of cost as compared to the estimate can be combined without greatly complicating it." (See Figs. 153, 162 and 163; Auth.) FIG. 158.-Chart for showing condition of manufacturing orders: (1) Orders received; (2) orders shipped; (3) orders in production. An "Organization Chart" (presumably of the "family-tree" type, Auth.) is required of the superintendent as soon as his force is organized, and revised copies at proper intervals. This chart has the following advantages: (1) It compels the superintendent to justify the existence of his principal assistants; (2) it calls his attention to desirable increases or decreases in the size of the force; (3) it "shows the men to whom they are responsible and so eliminates disputes as to authority;" (4) it enables the construction department to detect faulty organization-methods or to make helpful suggestions, and (5) it has "the moral effect on the superintendent of putting his line-up on paper, with the consequent clarifying of his own ideas," the copy posted in the office staring him in the face every time he goes in. The subject of cost keeping in general is discussed in the article, but neither the plan nor details of the system employed are indicated. A GRAPHIC COMPARISON OF THE CONDITION OF MANUFACTURING ORDERS The chart shown in Fig. 158 is adapted from "Factory Organization and Administration" by Hugo Diemer (McGraw-Hill Book Co., N. Y.). The method of compiling it is apparent. One of its principal uses consists in its ability to show at a glance the relation of the number of articles in stock or in production to the number of orders received. Should the latter (shown by the No. 1 line) approach closely or overlap the number in production (shown by the No. 3 line), a speeding-up in the manufacture of the particular machine would be indicated as being probably desirable. A GRAPHIC MONTHLY COMPARISON OF MANUFACTURING COSTS The chart illustrated by Fig. 159 is adapted from Hugo Diemer's "Factory Organization and Administration" (McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc.). The method of its compilation is apparent. In using it, it will A Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Supervision and Clerical Labor. Unskilled Labor per Monthly Pay-rolls. Skilled Labor per Monthly Pay-rolls. Materials Used in Month's Production. Expense of Materials for Office, Shop Operation and Maintenance. Estimated Profit between Shop Cost and Estimated Value. Dec. be seen that the "labor and material costs are compared graphically with the estimated value of the product" and that "so long as the area underneath the sixth line does not project above the seventh line there is a probability of a profit." In common with other charts of this character, it also serves to point at once to any increase in the costs of any particular department or expense item. Such increase may, therefore, be made the subject of immediate investigation. The same comparison can, of course, be made by tables of figures, but, in most cases, in not such a convenient and striking manner. A PROGRESS CHART FOR CONCRETE BRIDGE CONSTRUCTION An article on "Office System for Construction Work" in "Eng.Contr." for Dec. 17, 1913, is referred to below; see p. 404. In this is given, also, a progress chart for a concrete bridge construction which is reproduced in Fig. 160. The method of developing it is apparent. One of its valuable features is its use "in connection with the cost data, as FIG. 160. Specimen progress elevation and profile of a bridge. it explains many things regarding unusual unit costs for any particular month." A PROGRESS CHART FOR TRACK RECONSTRUCTION In the "Eng. News" of Sept. 26, 1912, is shown such a chart, reproduced in Fig. 161. It was prepared by the street railway company to ensure restoration of street service within the time granted by the Board of Public Works at Vancouver, B. C. A little study of the chart will render its utility clear; modifications, such as separate charts for each operation, and a system of colored marks to show the relation of the "work performed" to the "work planned" will also be suggested. |