Efficiency Methods
An Introduction to Scientific Management

44 EFFICIENCY METHODS The American engineering periodicals have lately contained many articles, both theoretical and descriptive, on costing, and frequent advertisements are to be seen by individuals offering expert help in the work. It has been the subject of much dis- cussion both in technical and commercial circles. It has not so far roused anything like the same interest on this side the Atlantic ; a fact which has been very largely due to the smaller proportion of automatic machinery in use in this country. But now the need for huge supplies of munitions of war has resulted in an enormous increase in the number of automatic and semi-automatic tools, which entirely alters the state of affairs, and puts British manu- facturing in much the same position as American. But even in a business not using automatic or semi-automatic machines at all, it is essential to accurate costing to know the cost of running each separate machine in the factory. If running expenses are added as a “ flat rate ” on the work- man’s time cost, as is frequently the case, the resulting figure is bound to be inaccurate. On this system, an hour’s work on a small drill which costs a few pence per hour to run is charged at the same price as an hour’s work on an expensive heavy lathe, with an actual running expense six or seven times greater—if we assume, as we well may, that the wage-rates of the two operators are the same. The inaccuracy which results is obvious. A method often used as an improvement to the flat rate is to make the percentage charge different