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Here's some little-known facts about Industrial Engineers, historical perspectives on IE, and the impact of "Efficiency Experts" on modern society. If you have an interesting bit of history or a story to contribute, please contact us.
"Do you believe in life after death?" the boss asked his junior consultant.
"Yes, sir," the man replied.
"Well then, that makes everything just fine," the boss went on. "After you left early yesterday to go to your grandmother's funeral, she stopped in to see you."
The Devil tells a consultant, "OK, I can make you richer, more successful, and more famous than any consultant alive. In fact, I can make you the greatest consultant that ever walked the planet."
"Great," says the consultant, "What do I have to do in return?"
The Devil smiles. "Well, of course you have to give me your soul," he says, "but you also have to give me the souls of your children, the souls of your children's children and, just for good measure, you have to give me the souls of all your descendants throughout eternity."
"Wait a minute," the consultant says cautiously. "What's the catch?"
Ever wonder where the term "Work Smarter...Not Harder" originated? Allan F. Mogensen, the creator of Work Simplification, coined the phrase in the 1930s. A more modern equivalent term for the current era is probably "Business Process Reengineering."
Frederick Taylor, the "Father of Scientific Management," and an "efficiency expert," is generally acknowledged to be the first true Industrial Engineer. He conducted studies at Midvale and Bethlehem steel plants. One of Mr. Taylor's famous experiments had to do with increasing the output of a worker (named "Schmidt") loading pig iron to a rail car. With time and motion study, he increased the worker's output from 12 to 47 tons per day! Taylor used improved methods plus rest periods of specific interval and duration to improve the output. One fact not frequently mentioned was that Schmidt was a prime physical specimen who jogged to and from work each 12 hour day! Not exactly an average operator!
Did you know that one of today's operating room procedures was developed by Frank Gilbreth (along with Frederick Taylor, one of the founders of Industrial Engineering), in an efficiency study of medical operations? The next time you see a surgeon extend an opened hand and a nurse place an instrument into it, think of Industrial Engineering. Prior to this change in method, doctors wasted much time (frequently while the patient bled) searching for the right tool.
Early in his career Frederick Taylor spent a great deal of time developing methods and time formulas for metal cutting operations. One little-known contribution of his and an associate was the development of high-speed tool steel (HSS), still used today in many machine shop cutting tools.
One of Frank Gilbreth's first "motion studies" concerned the age-old craft of bricklaying. Bricklayers stooped over to pick up every brick and then stooped again to get mortar. Mr. Gilbreth designed and patented special scaffolding to reduce the bending and reaching, increasing output over 100%. At the time, unfortunately, unions resisted his improvements, and most workers persisted in using the old, fatiguing methods.
Ever wonder why typewriter or computer keyboards are arranged in the so-called "QWERTY" pattern? It was because, in the early days of mechanical typewriters, proficient typists could type so fast that the keys frequently jammed against each other. In an effort to space often-used keys apart to prevent jamming, the familiar but illogical QWERTY pattern was developed.
Speaking of typing, one of Frank Gilbreth's clients in the early 1900s was the Remington Company, then a famous typewriter manufacturer. Mr Gilbreth was enlisted to help train a fast typist to help Remington win a world-wide typing competition, then a public relations coup. He trained the typist to continually focus on the copy, not the keys. The world champion typist in 1916 typed 150 words per minute, from strange copy, with no mistakes! Along the way, he also helped develop the Dvorak keyboard, a more efficient way of arranging keys (in contrast to the QWERTY arrangement above).
Frank Gilbreth studied the body motions of individuals performing work, in order to develop the most effective motion paths. After the outbreak of World War I, he was able, as an Army officer, to tell which military conscripts were faking body ailments (such as limps) to avoid service. He also used his expertise to produce training films and procedures. One example was a procedure to disassemble and reassemble a machine gun while blindfolded.
Frank Gilbreth's partner in both life and business was Lillian Moeller Gilbreth, who was a scientist in her own right. Lillian lived for many years after Frank's relatively early death, and carried on his career works in industrial productivity. A trained psychologist, she achieved national acclaim and was recognized by Congress for her work. Among other things, she patented an electric food mixer and a trash can with a step-on lid opener. A popular book and 20th-Century Fox movie, "Cheaper By The Dozen," tells the story of their marriage and family. A sequel, "Bells On Their Toes," was written by one of the Gilbreth daughters.
A final story about Frank Gilbreth.. In the course of studying manufacturing methods, Mr. Gilbreth developed his own system of "shorthand" to describe motions. Each motion had a symbol, somewhat like Egyptian hieroglyphics. He used about 40 distinct symbols, many of which were later adapted into commercial predetermined method/time systems. As an example, his symbol for focusing the eyes was a sketch of an eyeball, viewed from the side. He named a unit of time the "Therblig", his name spelled backwards (with two letters reversed for practicality).
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