[Production Guide for Labor-Management Committees]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

Production Guide
FOR
Labor-Management Committees
Ways of Handling
<
Production Problems
War Production Drive Headquarters
WAR PRODUCTION BOARD • WASHINGTON, D. C.
NOTE
This pamphlet represents over 2 years’ experience of Labor-Management Committees in their work on production problems. While plant efficiency is a responsibility of management and some Committees have been uncertain as to how they could assist in this field, this guide reports on the variety of ways in which Committees have actually obtained results in improving production. As efficient war production must be maintained until the final peace and as hundreds of Committees report that they will continue in the post-war period, the guide is offered as an aid to management and labor representatives who are working together on technical problems, whether on urgent war production, cut-back situations, or on reconversion.
HANDLING PRODUCTION PROBLEMS
Page
Efficiency is 90-Percent Headwork_________________ 4
The Importance of Details_________________________ 4
Orders and-Cut-backs______________________________ 5
Improvements in Design__________________________   7
Stores Control____________________________________ 8
Maintenance_______________________________________ 9
Plant Lay-out and Housekeeping___________________ 12
Improving Quality________________________________ 15
Fatigue and Motion Study_________________________ 16
Nonfinancial Incentives__________________________ 20
Relations of Committees to Plant Executives___	23
Qualifications for Joint Committeemen____________ 24
One Hundred-Percent Participation________________ 25
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HANDLING PRODUCTION PROBLEMS
Labor-Management Production Committees improve production and plant efficiency through many joint activities. Some of these affect production directly, such as the Committee’s work on maintenance, inspection, stores, design, lay-out, routing. These are the responsibilities of the plant engineers but executives and engineers often welcome the ideas which develop through discussions with the men and women on the job. Especially in a period of rapid expansion it is difficult to tighten up every thread of the production process without the alert attention of everyone connected with it. In addition to Committee discussions, a well run suggestion system draws in the ideas of hundreds of workers who do not belong to the Committee but see possiblè improvements in the machine or set-up where they work.
Special subcommittees contribute directly to the furtherance of production through developing ideas for the conservation of materials and the care of tools and equipment. Others may concentrate on ways of improving the quality of work and of reducing rejections.
Less direct but equally important is the work of subcommittees which aim to have every worker on the job 100 percent—well, and full of energy. These are the Committees on health and nutrition, safety, transportation, housing, absenteeism, and turn-over. There are also the committees on publicity and education which help the worker to know what part he is making in the total product and its importance in our national program. They do this through posters and rallies, joint publications, motion pictures, and other ways, in cooperation with the War Production Board, the Army, the Navy, and the Maritime Commission.
This guide will discuss some of the Committee’s direct work on production problems. It will, however, leave to other handbooks the production subjects of conservation of materials and tools. Also, it will not treat the undertakings which improve production indirectly such as the activities just outlined as affecting the well being of the worker. Methods of handling individual suggestions for improving production have been treated previously. (See Suggestions Guide, War Production Drive Headquarters.)
Production problems may be handled by the main Labor-Management Production Committee or by a subcommittee on Plant Efficiency, or by joint
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committees in each department which watch for the bottlenecks and inefficiencies close to them. This guide applies to any type of Committee which has the job of improving production through the cooperation of labor and management.
EFFICIENCY IS 90-PERCENT HEADWORK
Efficiency is sometimes interpreted to mean “stop loafing and put your back into it.” This may be effective in some instances. But most improvement comes from better headwork—at the machine and in the flow of work. It is an observing and thinking job, not a driving job—teamwork, not “speed-up.”
Top management, minor supervisors, mechanics, production workers, individually and in Committee work, can pool their ideas, whether it be in technical changes or occasionally in getting everyone to work harder.
THE IMPORTANCE OF DETAILS
Sometimes it is difficult to put your finger on one thing that “did the trick.” For example, in a continuous process plant a certain product was needed at the rate of 350 tons per month. Before the United States entered the war, the demand went up to 450 tons, and the plant was able to get out that tonnage. But at the outbreak of the war, the demand shot up to 1,100 tons monthly! If there had been time, a new plant with this capacity would have been built. But there was no time, and the works manager appealed to the entire organization to cooperate in reaching this seemingly impossible tonnage. The joint production committee in the department helped; “suggestions were combed from all”; and the rate of production was increased by the needed 144 percent.
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By a series of relatively small improvements, what the works manager called “a miracle” was accomplished. Big economies come from a lot of little economies. The attention of the operators and other workers to the small wastes connected with each process in every part of the “servicing”— supply of work, tools, supplies, instruction, equipment, lighting, work assignment from job to job—all these add up to a significant total.
ORDERS AND CUT-BACKS
For a nation at war, the biggest production problem is the need for flexibility. Now it is full steam ahead for making tanks. Then it is heavy trucks. Again it is landing craft. And planes, planes, planes. The needs at the front change. The size of the order varies and specifications are revolutionized. The homefront in the mines, the forests, steel mills, shipyards, and in factories making the most delicate component parts, must be ready to—produce! Or to wait!
To meet this problem Labor-Management Committees have made a practice of discussing new orders and schedules both for the purpose of getting full cooperation throughout the plant and in order to draw together the ideas of the responsible management and labor representatives on the Committee. In plants in which there is a planning department or in which the works manager’s office handles the planning function, the manager or superintendent tells the Committee of the orders ahead, the schedules planned, outlining some of the problems to be met, such as space requirements, truck shortages, training needs, sequence of tool operations. Committee members, both management and labor representatives from the shops, make suggestions at this point which may not have occurred to those planning the schedule in the office. In smaller establishments where there is less formal planning the Committee may assist in foreseeing these and various other problems that will arise with each important order.
In large plants some responsibilities can be passed on to department committees. For example, a company has asked for an increase in its rate of manufacture so that 4,075 of a certain item, instead of 3,000, must be shipped every day. The superintendent, or the planning department, prepares figures for every part to be made in the plant, the number of presses needed to stamp out the right quantity of each of them, allowing for spoilage and breakdowns, the additional dies to be made and the dates when they will be ready. The top Committee may discuss the probable bottlenecks, make some suggestions for recruiting and training, and give the publicity subcommittee a job to do in interpreting to the workers the importance of this item in the war program. The department Committee, on learning the department’s
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assignment, can then discuss its tool and equipment needs and bring to light many possibilities of cooperative effort along the lines indicated in this pamphlet.
If a Labor-Management Committee can be helpful in meeting the production schedule it can also be helpful in meeting the situation caused by a significant cut-back. Drastic curtailment without warning develops scepticism and may lead to slackening in work that is urgently needed. Workers ask, “Why should machines become idle which, a few days before, could not be spared long enough for eyen a minor repair?” Rumors spread. Blame may be attached where no one is to blame. Absenteeism and turnover increase in departments in which there is no cut-back.
Many Labor-Management Production Committees report that management, as soon as it receives the information calls the Committee together and discusses the probable effects of the curtailment, the types of new contracts under consideration, and the outlook on reconversion. Some of the information must be confidential because of military security or business considerations. The Committee is so warned. If the change is a sudden one, the reasons are given. The labor members of the Committee inform the workers affected or the Committee calls a series of meetings by departments so that questions may be asked and answered. If the information is not confidential, the reasons for the cut-back and the plans for dealing with it are fully explained. If some information must be withheld, the labor members of the Committee are in a position to assure the workers that they know what is going on and that the plans are reasonable and necessary.
Besides this “morale” phase of the Committee’s work, there is much that can be done in the way of planning. In these days of uncertain labor supply the main problem is to plan in advance for orderly and well-managed change.
If hours must be shortened or lay-offs occur, labor members of the Committee may have suggestions to offer which reduce inconvenience and suffering and which the personnel department will be glad to consider. Transfer from one department to another, offers of laboring work instead of lay-off to skilled men, or temporary employment elsewhere in essential war work, may call for action by the collective bargaining machinery with due consideration for seniority and other union contract provisions. In most plants, where there is a recognized collective bargaining agent, at least one responsible union official sits on the main Labor-Management Committee. Such officials, together with management representatives from the production and methods departments, can survey the situation and make some preliminary recommendations for determination by the bargaining group of management and the union. In plants where there is no recognized bargaining agent, the Committee can serve to inform workers of the situation, and assist in plans that do not affect wages, hours or other bargaining issues.
Thus, in production urgency or in the face of cut-backs, the Labor-Management Committee can further the flexibility so sorely needed. It can also aid in other production problems as will be suggested under specific topics in thefollowing pages.
IMPROVEMENTS IN DESIGN
Ideas concerning changes in design which speed production have been among the greatest contributions to the war program by Labor-Management Committees. These have come from individual workers through the joint suggestion system set up by the Committees. A worker sitting at his or her machine often thinks of a better way to do a job than could be planned in advance of the actual performance of the work. The kind of suggestion most frequently made is the change in the design of a tool or some slight change in the part of a product. For example, a change in a tool may be suggested that will combine two operations, like threading and facing a shell in one operation. This is a tremendous timesaver in a product which is made in such large quantities as shells.
But suggestions come not only from individuals. The Committee itself proposes changes. The members “get talking” and stimulate each other. They also see the plant as a whole, not just the jobs in one department. In one Committee meeting it was proposed that an electromagnet be used for the thorough and quick removal of chips from a locomotive tender. Immediately electromagnets were proposed for two other uses in the same plant.
Sometimes the Committee does not know what to recommend but it reports a problem, thus leading to its solution. One Committee discussed the fact
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that certain racks which hold the product during a pickling process, were ruined by rapid corrosion. The matter was referred to the plant laboratory which shortly recommended a material for these racks which was uninjured by the pickling process.
The design of equipment may be made with great care to aid in an operation but without regard to the need for ease of repair. One yard Committee reported that heavy equipment was installed in such a way that removal and repair were made at unnecessary labor and expense. In one such case, by relocating the spigot it was possible to repair a great steel tank without moving it.
Facility for speed in operation sometimes interferes with the need for quality performance. One plant, turning out shells in millions, had tubes to transport them between operations. After one operation the shell was snapped into the tube and away so fast that the operator could not get a look at her finished product. A baffle introduced in the tube slowed down delivery enough so that she could pick up and inspect an occasional shell to make sure that nothing was occurring to interfere with the quality which must be maintained.
These examples concerning changes in design may serve to suggest many more which Committees, as a group, or through individual workers who use the suggestion box, may contribute to the improvement of production processes.
STORES CONTROL
The “control” of raw materials, supplies, and finished and unfinished parts, is the constant concern of management in the interests of uninterrupted production. Management must know that it has all the materials on hand for the orders that are underway. Most plants have this control for such materials. The minutes of Labor-Management Committee meetings show that
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Committees have helped in this connection. They have even requested that items not usually carried in stores should be controlled in this way. One Committee asked that lead sheeting and tubing, and iron and Wooden forms for concrete pouring be also under the control system. And it gave its reasons:
1.	These supplies can then be handled with the least delay and cost of moving.
2.	They can be kept without injury in appropriate bins, shelves and in other protected space.
3.	They will be readily available and not easily lost.
In addition to a central stores system, some Committees have asked for substations. These do not disrupt the control though they may require somewhat more help in the stores department. They appear to be particularly desired in sub and main assembly departments and in repair departments. Another proposal by a Committee was to carry in a proper rack or other container the necessary spares for a critical machine or crane. Thus one crane has a spare battery always at hand. Another Committee got a rack designed to carry spare parts for each size, of tube for their Adams filter. In such critical spots every minute of delay may mean an equal delay for the entire department.
Good control of materials is found to reduce the practice of hoarding. Workers will not ask for goods they do not yet need if they know that they can get them when they want them. This also holds good for tools. Many Committees have sponsored a locker-by-locker survey to collect all tools belonging to the company. Then the company has set up tool control for them by means of the check system or otherwise. In this way enough tools were found to meet the needs. They were available. Hoarding disappeared. (For further discussion of control of materials and work assignment see pamphlet, Plant Efficiency, issued by the War Production Board.)
MAINTENANCE
Eternal vigilance is the price of good maintenance. Everyone in an organization can be helpful to the man who is responsible for the maintenance of plant and equipment. The Labor-Management Committee can make everyone maintenance-conscious. For example, a Committee took up the problem of a conveyor chain which the workers Said broke because “it stretched.” After investigation, the Chief Engineer reported that the pins in the joints of the chain wore loose and this caused the lengthening of the chain. It was found that new pins could be put in the chain. An extra chain was kept
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ready to replace the chain whenever these pins wore to the point that there was risk of breakage. It was further agreed that there would be inspection every month to insure that the pins were checked and the replacement made in time.
This action on the conveyor chain illustrates three important principles of maintenance. First, seeking the facts. (The chain didn’t stretch, what did happen?) Second, prevention of break-downs by inspecting systemmati-cally the spots subject to wear and avoiding defects in the running parts of machinery and equipment. Third, the availability of spare parts ready for immediate replacement.
Seeking the Facts
Careful observation is possible when thousands of pairs of eyes are mobilized. Solutions follow if the workers report what goes wrong. In one situation damage to expensive tools was due to-the fact that shells got fed into the presses in reverse position. Injury from this was prevented by installing microswitches which stopped the press when a reversed shell came to the machine. Inquiry in another instance led to the discovery that sharp drills were less likely to break than those that had been in use. Another Committee reported complaints that lubrication wasn’t thorough or painstaking enough to cover all bearings. This led to the assignment of one maintenance man to full responsibility for lubrication in a certain department. A substantial amount of “down time” was saved in that way.
Preventive Work
One Committee reported that the leather belt conveyors were hard to replace and yet were deteriorating rapidly. Small particles of scrap metal got between the pulleys and belting and made cuts in the latter. The small cuts were soon enlarged by overloading and overstrain. The following program to conserve belting was adopted:
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1.	An all-out effort by Committee members and department foremen to avoid overloading in future.
2.	All Committee members, department foremen, and tool setters to keep a constant eye out for small belt cuts and to devise a means of removing scrap from under sides of belts.
3.	A man from the maintenance department to survey the entire belt situation and offer all possible suggestions concerning upkeep and conservation.
4.	Agreement that the maintenance staff was insufficient for its duties and a recommendation that it should be enlarged if at all possible.
There are numerous examples to show that Committees recognize the importance of systematic inspection to prevent breakdown. One recommended a periodic check-up of the compressed air system to discover and stop all leaks. Another proposed a check-up of the built-in lubrication system which was giving trouble on a battery of new machines. In still another instance Committee discussion led to an order that foremen were to check regularly the electric starting mechanisms in their departments.
Availability of Spare Parts
In certain heavy industries the cranes are used so constantly that when one breaks down it ties up a large part of the entire production. In continuous process industries many machines, pumps, filters, piping or other conveying equipment, are critical items which hold up the entire flow if they stop functioning. Illustrations are given (in the section on stores control) to show that “down time” can be shortened if spare parts are at hand for immediate use. One Committee even arranged that in a production department with an especially heavy schedule, a sharpened set of dies be kept on hand at each machine ready for use when needed.
Interdepartment Coordination on Maintenance
As maintenance affects every department, cooperation between departments has been furthered by many Committees. There follows here a plan of cooperation between the maintenance and production departments, worked out as a result of Committee discussion and recommendation.
1.	Oilers are instructed* to report both to their own supervisors and to the maintenance department every instance of needed repairs, especially minor ones.
2.	The production departments are instructed to supply the main-tenance department with an order of work, as it is called, so that
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the repair crew could tell which machines should get priority of attention when more than one was down at the same time.
3.	Any production department needing repair work done is to describe the nature of the difficulty so that the repair crew can bring the kind of tools needed.
4.	When a machine breaks down the production operator is to remove the heavy dirt so as to save the machinist’s time in taking down the machine.
5.	If greasy parts are to be removed, the maintenance men are to spread down sawdust so that cleaning the floor after the repair will be easier.
6.	The production departments agree to notify the maintenance department every time a machine has to be shut down for operating reasons so that the latter may be able to make any minor repair of which it has record.
Production Committees have also proposed various ways of making the best use of the limited supply of maintenance men. For instance they have urged that the men specialize, some taking responsibility for certain batteries of machines or for certain transmission machinery. This placed upon the machinist a defined responsibility and made him more efficient in handling a few types of machinery. The Committees have suggested also that even an experienced mechanic put on maintenance work can be greatly helped by special instruction. This pays in small plants and in large ones it is Considered indispensable.
PLANT LAY-OUT AND HOUSEKEEPING
While the arrangement of the entire plant and of individual departments is the responsibility of management, the Labor-Management Production Committee sometimes can be of assistance as a result of discussion among its members who have noted a minor defect in a floor plan or have found that a change in practices or conditions calls for some alteration. For example, at one plant, after it was decided to chrome plate the cutting dies, the Committee came forward with the recommendation that an electroplating unit be moved to the tool room, thereby saving two trucking operations.
Another Committee, as a result of its joint, deliberations, requested management to: (1) move the “Do-all” saw to the department where it had become chiefly needed, (2) move a threading machine from the pipe shop to the new “Navy” building, (3) move the time clock to a designated spot where it would save unnecessary walking and aisle congestion, (4) move
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a certain grindej and lathe to a specified tool crib to save time and steps and provide appropriate supervision.
Giving special’attention to relieve cramped space, one Committee made the following recommendations : ( 1 ) Provide doors for a certain shed which could then be used for storage space, (2) roof in a yard, surrounded by buildings, which could then be used for additional storage space, (3) move a pile of steel to storage Space to get rid of bottleneck in yard passageway which interfered with trucking, (4) move the paint shop to a new location so that the carpenter shop could be enlarged according to a lay-out plan submitted.
Order and Cleanliness
Labor-Management Production Committees have given considerable attention to keeping the workplace in order and clean. It is the kind of problem which requires the cooperation of everyone. So a representative Committee which outlines procedure for both workers and supervision is the means for getting the job done. An English union publication has summed up the task clearly : “An overcrowded shop is an inefficient shop. Keep the aisles clear. Arrange ‘In’ and ‘Out’ bays for materials in process. Painted lines on thé floor help to keep traffic running smoothly through the Works. Decentralized storage spaces reduce needless handling, transportation and loss of time. A dirty and disorderly workshop is not only depressing but causes confusion and loss of time in looking for materials, tools, and drawings.”
A simple example of the value of orderly practice came up for discussion in a production department where new, used, and spoiled cutters were left unidentified for the next shift. The cutters are now put into appropriately
là
labelled containers and the new shift starts off with the feeling that it “knows the signals” and can go ahead. In another division of the same plant a Production Committee suggested the order that “all men charged with machines” were to be responsible “that space around them is as clean as possible at all times and that blocks and chains are to be in their proper places.”
Some Committees have learned that new habits are not easily formed and that a follow-up of new standard practices needs to be made. An effective follow-up Committee may report some defects in the newly formed routine which was not foreseen when it was agreed upon. A trucker may be called “dumb” or “lazy” if he has failed to put a truck in the proper bay—especially when there is room for it there. Yes, but was there room when he brought the truck up? And if not, what was he supposed to do with the truck if the IN bay was full? Further details of the routine can be developed in such cases.
Good housekeeping has often begun with a campaign to arouse interest. One company has a monthly inspection after which the Committee rates the departments on their order and disorder. A large cardboard pig is hung in the department judged dirtiest, and a small one for “dishonorable mention” in the second dirtiest department. Another plant has made so much progress in good housekeeping that the employees look sourly at anyone who drops a match on the floor. In the latter case literally every employee appears to be cooperating to make the surroundings clean and pleasant. Painting in pleasing colors adds to the general cheerfulness of the walls and machinery. Yet this is a huge, noisy, hustling factory like thousands of others—except for its outstanding good order. Back of this success was a publicity campaign, an open-minded democratic attitude, effective organization, enthusiastic Committee work, and score boards which showed the progress of the plant in these factors of cleanliness and orderliness.
Other housekeeping discussions have led to Committee recommendations that every foreman survey his own department, that the firm establish periodic cleaning of the lighting units including windows and skylights, that stagnant pools of oil be eliminated by changing the shape of drip pans which were not draining.
As has been shown, many of the suggestions made by Committees are simple, easy remedies for minor or major irritations. Under the pressure of work such matters are sometimes allowed to slide. Companies report that it pays to have the Committee’s assistance. But to get good physical order often requires well thought out standards of practice. Here again the Committee is an important agency, bringing together the recommendations of people with viewpoints shaped by different kinds of duties.
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IMPROVING QUALITY
First because of material shortages and then because of manpower scarcity, Labor-Management Production Committees have turned their attention to tightening up inspectioh procedure and stimulating improvement of the •quality of work. In some instances a special subcommittee on quality is appointed. The work consists both in conducting campaigns and competitions for a quality record and also in studying the causes which interfere with quality performance. Quality campaigns get workers to operate carefully and according to instruction. Getting at causes for rejects, other than careless operation, calls for careful and tactful work by the Committee.
Sometimes spoilage is due to lack of information, sometimes to the need for closer cooperation between departments, and again to far more technical problems. The chairman of one successful Committee states that if workers know what tolerances must be obtained and can tell when the work is within those tolerances, they will invariably do good work—or know when to call for help. One Committee arranged for the establishment of “first part inspection” whereby the production worker is authorized to await an “0. K.”
■on his first piece before running the rest of the order. Another Committee arranged for closer relations between inspection and production departments in several ways. For a short period, half hour reports on the causes for rejections were secured so that the defects could be studied while they were fresh in the workers’ minds. In a department where a problem persisted, the Committee arranged to have a representative observe the inspection and, work with the production employees to reduce rejections.
A poor tie-in between die makers and die setters caused a high rate of rejections at another plant. Both groups were unaccustomed to the degree of precision required. Even after the die makers achieved sufficient accuracy in the dimensions of the dies, there was still difficulty in locating the die with sufficient uniformity. The die setters, not realizing this, set them up
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as though they had been accurately placed. When the joint Committee focused attention on the problem it was promptly solved and within 3 weeks’ time, the rejections were reduced by nine-ten ths.
Sometimes the remedy for spoilage is relatively simple. One Committee found that a certain brass product was often rejected because it was permanently stained by being pickled while dirty. A brief investigation disclosed that (1) cleaning the product prior to picklipg had been discontinued, (2) dirt got on the product because it was packed in dirty box trucks or because -the truck was packed too full and numerous pieces fell in the alley.
In other cases the problem can be highly technical. Even when the measurements of parts rarely exceed the tolerances, there are questions which involve the time of both inspectors and tool setters. For example: (1) Not only is the range of variation in the product small enough to be “safe,” but is either extreme of the range too near to the upper or lower limit of tolerance to be safe? (2) If the machine cannot be operated within the tolerances, what proportion of the pieces must be inspected in order to be sure there are no more out-sizes than the order will allow? Answers to such «questions may run into the realm of higher mathematics and call for the work of technicians. In the pursuit of quality, however, engineers, administrators, production workers, and publicity committee members, can work together to sustain interest and get results. Companies known to have unusually alert and competent management report on the value of Committee approach to the continuous problem of quality.
FATIGUE AND MOTION STUDY
Fatigue
Some workers hold themselves tense either because of a feeling of strain •or because of faulty posture that causes tight muscles. The Committee may be able to get workers to discover for themselves whether they hold themselves tense, for people seldom do realize it until it is called to their attention. If workers have this habit they cannot cure it “by one gigantic effort.” They must be taught to practice working with free muscles by thinking about it periodically, say “every hour on the hour,” Until the habit of easy muscular control has been formed.
Workers may help increase production as well as avoid needless fatigue by asking themselves another line of questions. Is the work at the right level so that hands and arms are not kept under needless strain? Is it possible to arrange the equipment so that one can work either standing or sitting? Is there good lighting, sufficient to do every part of the work without eyestrain and without contrasting glare and gloom? Is there an unwel-
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come rhythmic heat of the belting or machine which interferes with the natural rhythm of the work? And is there needless delay or fault in the previous operation which irritates? Any of these questions may furnish valuable suggestions for individuals or for more general use in the department. They may be pushed either through the suggestion system or througk the appropriate Production Committee.
Fatigue and Hours
One great cause for fatigue is excessively long hours. Yet that is a matter for the bargaining machinery and is beyond the scope of the Production Committee. These Committees may, however, find it important to refer such a matter to the bargaining machinery if it appears that the hours are so long as to interfere with full production. For the purpose, a reference to recent tests and opinions on the proper length of week for maximum output is made here.
A 13-month test in England showed that men engaged in heavy mànual work produced 22 percent more work at 56.6 hours than they did when working 61.7 hours. In another test there, lasting nearly 2 years, it was proven that girls turning aluminum fuse bodies produced as much work in 62.7 hours as they did in 74.5, and when their workweek was cut down to 55.3' hours weekly, the output went up 13 percent. Thus they produced nearly half as much again per hour when the week was cut by 19 hours.
IT
The gist of recent findings in American experience is given in recommendations by the War and Navy Departments, the U. S. Department of Labor, and five other Government agencies. “While a 40-hour week is generally, accepted in peacetime, for wartime production the 8-hour day and the 48-hour week approximate the best working schedule—for sustained efficiency in most industrial operations, Plants which are now employing industrial workers longer should carefully analyze their present situation with respect to output and time lost because of absenteeism, accidents, illness, and fatigue.”
Lighting, Ventilation, and Other Conditions
Production Committees have recognized that adequate lighting and ventilation reduce the strain of work as well as add to output, quality, and safety. Committee proposals have ranged all the way from suggesting a complete survey of all lighting to requesting that “the foremen survey the dark spots.” adding the slogan, “dark spots are dirt spots.”
Committees do not necessarily propose a wholesale change in the lighting equipment. When a change appears advisable they have suggested a limited test—say of four bays in one corner. By such tests money and material may be saved. Often the reputation of the Committee for balanced judgment is increased by showing caution in such matters. The Committee shows good strategy in recommending an inexpensive test, and relying on the test to demonstrate the value of the entire change.
Many Committees have found that the heaviest and most disagreeable occupations have been hardest to fill. They have made them less disagreeable not only by suggesting improvements in ventilation but by introducing equipment that cuts down heavy lifting. By having stockmen lift tote boxes, by proposing hoists, conveyors, and table high trucks, they have also paved the way for the use of women to replace men on certain other jobs. Committee members or workers may know where such equipment is in the plant and is not in use. In other cases the management members of Committees have obtained bids for new installations and have studied priority forms so that when a formal recommendation was made, the pros and cons were available.
Further ideas on the elimination of fatigue to aid production may also be found in the pamphlet, “Wartime Working Conditions—Minimum Standards for Maximum Production,” issued by the U. S. Department of Labor.
Motion Study
One effective way in which labor-management cooperation has developed worker participation has been through self-motion study. This, like self
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study of fatigue elimination, should be tried first, as a rule, by workers on the Production Committee, before they advocate it for the workers generally. One War Production Drive Committee (Plomb Tool Co., Los Angeles) has sponsored a pamphlet which provides excellent ideas, with sketches and photographs which explain, them well. The following questions illustrate their general approach:
1.	Does the work come to me so that I can pick it up with the least fumbling or poking around to get the right hold on it?
2.	Ask each of the next six questions for each motion of the operation.
Is this motion necessary? Could it be shortened or done with less effort if the work were rearranged?
Would the motion be shorter or easier if there were a change in the nature of the container (holding parts to be worked on), in its design or in its position?
Is the work laid out within easy reach of the hands? (If there are lots of parts to assemble, think of the organist with his levels of key and stops, forming a hollow hemisphere—the perfect answer.)
Is the movement of the two hands alike; that is, either parallel like a pianist’s when playing the scales, or opposite and balanced like the swimmer’s breast stroke?
Can one or both hands be freed from holding the work by means of some easily fastened fixture or clamp operated by the foot?
Is work planned so that fingers are used for light work, fingers and wrists when fingers alone are not sufficient, and so on, using forearm, full arm, trunk, or legs only when actually needed? (Remember that when one straightens up after leaning over, one lifts from 50 to 100 pounds, is it necessary to lean over?)
3.	Is the work laid out so that finished parts drop automatically or with the least amount of picking up? Can it be pushed to a position where it will drop instead of having to be handled? Can this be done so as to leave it easily handled by the worker on the next operation? (See question 1.)
4.	Are there clamps or fixtures fixed so that one can grind, buff, or perform some other operation for several pieces at a time?
5.	Is there time wasted getting the piece into exactly the right position? Could some stop or series of stops on the fixture or jig make this “positioning” sure fire and rapid?
Having settled upon the best way to do the work, find the rhythm of the job and learn to work in that rhythm.
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NONFINANCIAL INCENTIVES
Labor-Management Production Committees have agreed to leave to the collective bargaining machinery matters of wages, hours, and other issues which have to do with financial incentives. But Committees have worked on incentives which are not directly financial. In some instances they have arranged for meetings in the plant at which both management and union officials have given guarantees that maximum effort and maximum production do not mean a “speed-up” and that rates will not be “adjusted” to the disadvantage of the workers. An atmosphere of mutual confidence does much to maintain production during periods of constant change.
The very existence of the Committee and its subcommittees, with worker and management cooperation, provides considerable incentive. Cooperation means working together. All members of the “team” need to know what problems exist in the flow of work or its Coordination, the costs, the shipping promises or requirements. Suggestions are better directed and a Sense of responsibility developed through the knowledge of the pressure of work upon the group and of the impediments to be removed. The spirit of the team is strengthened when it sees riot only the problem but also the progress in solving it This can be accomplished partially through the aid of progress records and charts. Such records supply the periodical measurement of the results of team work or of individual effort on production, quality, safety or some other desired goal. They can be made from informatioh in the
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production, planning or cost departments. Progress charts and score boards need to be designed to fit the problems which they are intended to meet. A chart used in one plant cannot necessarily be copied for use in another. There are, however, certain findings which come from the experience with progress records: .
1.	Planning practical records is usually a job for the engineer, but the Labor-Management Production Committee can often improve on them through knowledge of what appeals to the worker.
2.	The more frequent the recordings of progress (daily or even hourly), ' the more interest and value they will have.
3.	The recordings should be made promptly at the close of the work period agreed upon.
4.	Suggestions for the improvement of the progress records should be welcomed.
5.	If the progress records do not create interest, there is something wrong which is worth investigating.
6.	Progress records should be treated as aids to headwork and not as speed-up devices. They may cause rivalries which add to the interest and the output, but this should not be their prime purpose.
One of the commonest kinds of scoreboards is shown in figure 1. This compares the schedule with the actual performance. But note that the word “schedule” here means the rate at which the work should be done according to the plan of manufacture which will avoid both bottlenecks and overproduction of certain parts. (See fig. 1.)
Figure 1.—A Progress Chart Showing Performance Compared With Standard.
Figure 1 shows the progress record of six machines. It compares output with the standard for the work. The standard is the amount to be done in one day. If the operator does the standard amount the lighter bar will extend across the entire space for the day. If the operator did less than the
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day’s standard (see Machine 2 for Monday), the lighter bar will go only part way across the space.
If the operator did more than the day’s standard (see Machine 1 for Tuesday or Machine 3 for Monday) an additional light bar to indicate the portion of additional production for the day is placed below the light bar which has already shown that the daily standard has been met. As each space is divided into five divisions it is easy to estimate in percent how much more or less than the standard was done.
The narrow heavy bar shows the cumulative figure of each machine. The wide heavy bar shows the cumulative figure for the department. For each day it represents six times the output which is represented by the narrow heavy bars.
If the chart is analyzed at the end of Wednesday Machine 1 has done about 40 percent of Thursday’s work. On the other hand, Machine 2, while improving, was 40 percent of a day behind. The letter H indicates that no help was available. The operator of Machine 3, as the record shows, made up his standard amount in spite of being absent half a day. The operator of Machine 4 did not. Machine 5 was held up for repairs as shown by the R. Other causes for delay which sometimes. appear on the chart are:
E—Waiting for set-up.	P—Lack of power.
M—Lack of material.	T—Lack of tools.
0—Lack of orders.	V—Holiday.
This chart might be used similarly to compare output with schedule instead of with the standard. In fact it may be used in many ways to give a clear picture of the production situation. It is commonly called the Gantt chart. Descriptions and pictures of this chart are given in a small book entitled “The Gantt Chart” by Wallace Clark, Ronald Press, N. Y. C.
Another kind of chart helps improve the quality of work. The use of a chart like that shown in figure 2 makes plain the way quality is going and, therefore, gives the worker an opportunity to change methods and gain a sense of mastery over his machine.
Figure 2 shows the measurement of pieces that have been ground for a diameter of 1.5000". The first piece was 0.0002" (two ten-thousandths of an inch) less than the measurement asked for on the specifications, but was within the tolerance of ±0.0003" (plus or minus three ten-thousandths). The following pieces were also within the specifications, but it is plain by the time the twentieth piece was “plotted” that there is something gradually going wrong, and that the pieces will soon be too big unless the work is reset on the grinder.
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Figure 2.—A Progress Chart of Quality Showing Measurements of a Diameter 1.5000 With Tolerance Limits* of ±0.0003.
UTL—Upper Tolerance Limit.
LTL—Lower Tolerance Limit.
It takes little time to put down the measurements in this way, yet such a chart will often give the worker information which would not be realized merely by seeing the micrometer reading.
The chart shows also that the pieces always vary a little from each other This slight variation cannot be prevented. The practical problem is to know when to “do something about it” and when to “leave well enough alone.” Sometimes this cannot be determined without statistical analysis. A method for doing this is explained in a pamphlet, “Control Chart Methods of Controlling Quality During Production,” issued by the American Standards Association, 29 West 39th Street, N. Y. Ç.
RELATION OF THE COMMITTEE TO PLANT EXECUTIVES
The Production Committee’s job is to encourage practical proposals for improvements in production and to see that they are carefully considered on their merits. Responsibility for production, however, resides in the executive in charge of the plant or the department concerned. Such responsibility cannot be divided if efficiency is to be maintained. Usually this executive is a member, perhaps a cochairman of the Committee. If a proposal does not seem workable, he can explain his objections then and there. Time is saved because discussion takes place between the Committee and
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the one who has authority to say yes or no. But even more important, the original suggestion, at first deemed worthless, may be improved upon because the discussion brings out some change which meets objections.
Much has been said about the part of the Works Manager and the department heads in the work of Production Committees. A word should be added concerning the role of the foreman. He is responsible for carrying out the plans of management. He represents management and must get results. Top management, therefore, pays tribute to him as well as to the employees in his section when any of the workers come forward with good ideas. He is not blamed for not having thought of the suggestion in the first place. Foreman participation is attained through membership on the department committee or representation on the top Committee. Committee recommendations, if approved by management, might well be put in writing and become a clear-cut plant program not to be debated further once they have been agreed upon.
Every good Committee accepts the principle of undivided responsibility. But this does not mean that it merely refers its proposal to the proper executive and concerns itself no more with the problem. If it is convinced of the worth of the suggestion, it will support it with all the facts it can gather. If dissatisfied with the decision, the Committee may have an obligation to bring up the matter again with additional facts or appeal it to an appropriate higher authority. The Committee, both management and labor representatives, may come in for criticism if it does not support proposals of merit to the best of its ability.
QUALIFICATIONS OF COMMITTEE MEMBERS
Committee members who work on production problems should be the kind who are ready to listen to the other fellow’s ideas and to pick out what is right as well as what is wrong with them. Sometimes a Committee is handicapped by having a management representative or a labor representative, or both, who have too recently come through a conflict over union recognition. Yet the Committee needs among its membership authoritative representa^ tives of the union and of management. While a good committeeman needs persistence, he may make matters difficult if he is a “scrapper.” If, for •example, one Committee member says that a suggestion is no good, a “scrapper” may blurt out: “says you,” and start a feud which hampers Committee meetings for several weeks. A “cooperator” may be just as much opposed to the suggestion as the “scrapper,” but he might say: “I don’t agree with you, but if you’ll give us an illustration, perhaps we’ll see what you mean and know what the issue is.”
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A cooperative Committee member recognizes that it is useless to prolong; debate when dinner time has come! He also notes occasionally that progress will be made if a recess is called and the management representatives and the labor representatives meet separately to discuss a proposal the effects of which are not quite clear.
Besides self-control and tolerance a Committee member needs courage. If he is convinced that the facts lead to a certain course of action, he must be brave enough to defend that course. If he is a union man, he may have to stand in a union hall and answer excited and, perhaps unfair, charges. If he is a management executive, he may have to “take” some angry words.
The Committee which works on production problems should include also members with technical qualifications—familiarity with a number of occupations, with conditions on different shifts, with women’s work, the occupational situation of a racial group. Management members should include men from the methods and planning departments, the Works Manager, if it is a top Committee ; the department head and foremen, if it is a department Committee. Men familiar with special subjects such as tool design, tool making and setting, inspection, safety, laboratory research, should be Committee members Or available for Committee meetings.
ONE HUNDRED PERCENT PARTICIPATION
After the purposes of the Labor-Management Production Committee are understood, the next problem is to help all workers realize that their ideas are needed. Committee members themselves are sometimes surprised to hear each other express thoughtful and ingenious proposals. “I didn’t know he had it in him,” they think. This leads them to secure the suggestions of all those whom they represent. Before Committee meetings they discuss
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-with them individually subjects that will be taken up at the next meeting, ask them where the bottlenecks are in their section, or request items to be brought up at future meetings. Minutes or summaries of meetings are included in the house organ and union paper. . Reports are made at executives’ conferences and at union meetings. It is important that workers and supervision know what the Committee is working on at all times. The Committees which show they need the help of all—workers, foremen, and executives— are the ones most likely to get 100 percent participation.
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WAR PRODUCTION DRIVE PUBLICATIONS
How to Establish and Operate a Labor-Management Production Committee.
Labor and Management News (Biweekly).
War Production Suggestions (Shipbuilding,, aircraft, machine industry, miscellaneous).
Individual Awards Plan.
Informational Materials.
Ways of Dealing with Absenteeism.
Music in War Plants.
Guides for Subcommittees (four-page folders).
Absenteeism.
Cut-backs.
Check Your Program.
Good Food.
Health.
Information (publicity committee).
Turn-over.
Safety.
Available on request War Production Drive Division War Production Board, Washington, D. C.
0. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1944
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