Continuous Improvement: The Lessons of History (or, There is nothing new under the sun) SCM 352 Dr. Ron Lembke
Eli Whitney introduced interchangeable parts in large musket contract for U.S. Army Interchangeable parts the true secret of Ford’s success Made possible by advances in measurement and tool steel
Frederick W. Taylor Frederick W. Taylor: Father of “Scientific Management” Find ways to improve work environment and work processes Quantify, measure & track everything: Time required to haul wheelbarrow:
Factory Life “Schmidt” Taylor’s Factory
Frank and Lillian Gilbreth Systematically study a work environment and find the best way to achieve a particular task With Taylor, pioneered “industrial engineering” -- time and motion studies “Cheaper by the Dozen”
Motion Capture Lights illuminate key motion joints For Computer Generation, convert to 3D
Tim Lincecum
Chronocyclegraph light-1914
Typesetter
Bricklayer
Pencil Holder Color coded slots Groove for grabbing pencil
Ergonomics
Ergonomic chairs
Andrew Carnegie Telegraph operator to RR division superintendent Adopted latest technology, built first steel plant laid out to optimize flow Focused on knowing, lowering unit cost Raise prices with everyone else in booms, slash prices in recession
Andrew Carnegie 1902 9,138,000 1,862,000 Steel Prices: (per ton) Production: US England 1868 8,500 111,000 1902 9,138,000 1,862,000 Steel Prices: (per ton) 1870 $100 1890 $12 How? Continuous Process Improvement
The Richest Man in the World Found out strike organizers, fired before 1886 “Triumphant Democracy”, Forum magazine- workers’ right to unionize 1889 “Gospel of Wealth:” rich need to help the poor ($25m annual income) 1892 Homestead strike: 12 hour gunfight, Pinkerton defeated (12 died), state militia called in, strike breakers hired 1901 sells out to J.P. Morgan: $480m Built 2,500 libraries. “The man who dies rich dies disgraced.” 1919 dies, having given away 90%
Skibo Castle
#2 Richest person EVER Data from Forbes. Picture from BusinessIntelligence.com
Henry Ford Continuous Process Improvement Advances in metal cutting allowed him to cut pre-hardened steel, produce identical parts Standardized parts facilitated standardization of jobs, moving assembly line Model T: 1908 $850 1920’s: $250
Vertical Integration Owned forests, iron mines, rubber plantation, coal mines, ships, railroad lines Dock facilities, blast furnaces, foundries, rolling mills, stamping plants, an engine plant, glass manufacturing, a tire plant, its own power plant, and 90 miles of RR track 1927 Model A Production begins 15,000,000 cars in 15 years 120,000 employees in WWII
Henry Ford 1919 bought paper Buys newspaper Jan, 1919 May, 1920, anti-Jewish articles start Mein Kampf, p. 929 Grand Cross of the German Eagle, 1938 1920, German version 1922 1925 1919 bought paper
Denial “Shocked!” Closes paper, 12/27 Apologized 4/5 of letters to Ford in July, 1927 were supportive, from Jews. Jan, 1937 disavows “any connection whatsoever with the publication in Germany of a book known as The International Jew.” With son Edsel, 1927
Details to the Max In his autobiographies “My Life and Work” (1922), and “Today and Tomorrow” (1926), Ford gives great detail on innovations he and his company have made, including: Glass making, Artificial leather Steering wheels out of Fordite heat treating -- saved $36m in 4 years (1922) Forging parts, wiremaking Riveting, bronze bushings, springs
Kingsford Charcoal
Shigeo Shingo and Toyota Toyota’s quest for Quality Focused on allowing product to flow through the plant as evenly as possible. Kanban and JIT are two important ways to achieve this Continuous Process Improvement 1977 1989
The Lessons of History Continuously improving your products, your services is the only way you will survive Ignore your customers, and they’ll go away Those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it.