Tuck-Thayer Adds Course and Lab in Motion Study

THIS month, as the second semester gets under way, six engineering-management students in Dartmouth's Tuck-Thayer curriculum will be introduced to a new course in Work Simplification. At the same time they will get a look at a new type workshop for the course, a Work Simplification Laboratory currently being installed at Thayer.

The new course and laboratory are the brainchild of Prof. George A. Taylor who, with the cooperation of Dean William P. Kimball '28 of Thayer School, will introduce Tuck-Thayer students into the relatively new field of work simplification, methods engineering, or motion studywhichever name you may prefer.

One desire lies behind such a programto make life for the average industrial worker easier, more interesting and more efficient, and to bring large savings to industry as well. This is a pretty large order, but Professor Taylor and his colleagues feel that the new course and laboratory will at least make a start in this direction.

As with most courses, the students will meet work simplification on the theoretical end in the classroom to start. Following this introduction and armed with some of the fundamentals of work simplification, they will then move into the laboratory, where on specially constructed work benches and with fixtures and aids of their own devising, the students will tackle actual problems supplied by the industrial world.

Working in teams of two or three, they will tackle the intricacies of industrial processing, assembling, packaging and layout. Typical of the projects to be undertaken this semester are the simplification of the assembling of a steering gear for the Ford Motor Company of Canada, the study of aspects of production methods for the Whiting Corporation of Illinois, and the speeding up of the packaging of ice cream.

Upon completion of each project, the process steps will be recorded by motion picture cameras and shown in slow motion as an aid to further analysis and improvement. Finally, each student group will attempt to "sell" the improved project to the class as a whole, just as in the industrial world they would have to convince both labor and management of the soundness of their proposals.

Present plans, according to Professor Taylor, call for the new program to offer the facilities of the laboratory to other departments of the College and to industries in the area.

"We also hope," he added, "that Dartmouth alumni in business and industry who may be interested in this type of program will assist by sending in possible projects, donating equipment, and by giving us the benefit of their own experience in this field."

Working with a small grant, Professor Taylor hopes to be able gradually to expand the laboratory and the program until it rivals some of the similar work simplification laboratories which have been established at other colleges and universities.

Today an increasing number of industries are becoming aware of the importance of work simplification and aware of the need for the training of their personnel in the philosophy and operation of such a program. Even such fields as psychology and medicine can benefit by work simplification.

WORKER IS KEY MAN

But just as important as the techniques of the work simplification laboratory to Professor Taylor and his colleagues, is the philosophy behind such a program. In any such plan, the most important man, according to Professor Taylor, is not the "boss," nor even the technically trained industrial engineer, but rather the worker. It is the worker who lives with his machine, knows its operation, the delays and back-breaking toil, and who is best able to make work simplification a success. It is to the worker, in the final analysis, that such a program must look, for only with his suggestions and cooperation can such a plan succeed.

Many of the present-day industrial writers feel that this is a new spirit of democracy within industry and they suggest that this democratic approach is the best method of obtaining maximum efficiency and results.

A belief in the extreme importance of a work simplification program is shared not only by the men at Thayer who are responsible for the establishment of the new laboratory, but also by some of the nation's leading industrial engineers who assisted in setting up the project. Among these are such experts as Dean William T. Alexander and Prof. Robert J. Knowlton of Northeastern University, Dr. Lillian Gilbreth, internationally famous industrial consultant, Profs. Herbert F. Goodwin and Leo Moore of M.1.T., Prof. David Porter of N.Y.U., and Allen Mogensen, director of the Work Simplification Conference held annually at Lake Placid, N. Y.

CAIRNS AIDING ORGANIZATION

At the present writing the new work simplification laboratory is still only in the organizational stage. Walter J. Cairns '4B, a Tuck-Thayer major from Melrose, Mass., is doing a thesis on the set-up of the new workshop and is working closely with Pro- fessor Taylor on the overall program. Other departments of the College and of- ficials of Thayer and Tuck are also co- operating with the new venture. It is ex- pected that most of the equipment will be installed and the new laboratory ready in time for the February semester and that by June the entire project will be completed.

Already a group of productivity trainees from France who are studying at Tuck School under the EC A program have had several lectures by Professor Taylor on work simplification. These students, Professor Taylor reports, are vitally interested in such a program as it is an important factor in assistipg them to accomplish their aim—the rebuilding of French business and industry. Several of the men intend to make work simplification their life work —mostly serving as industrial consultants.

COLLEGES RECOGNIZING FIELD

The idea of work simplification is not a new one, nor is a work simplification laboratory a new idea. In 1928 Professor Taylor studied work simplification under Prof. David Porter at New York University. However, it is only in recent years that some colleges and universities have recognized the importance of this program by installing laboratories for this type of work and by placing increased emphasis on better management training for men entering the industrial field. Both the University of Connecticut and the University of Massachusetts are now installing work simplification laboratories, while North- eastern University is expanding its own laboratory facilities.

"We must rely on Dartmouth alumni in the fields of engineering and industry in general to help us with our program," Professor Taylor says. "With their cooperation and with the support of the College, I am confident that the new course will become an integral part of the work being done at Thayer School."

POINTING OUT SIGNS OF PROGRESS: Walter J. Cairns '48, Tuck-Thayer major, indicates them on his planning board for the new Work Simplification Laboratory being installed at Thayer School, while Dean William K. Kimball '28 (foreground) and Prof. George A. Taylor look on. Cairns is writing a thesis on the organization of the new laboratory.