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His most famous showcase project was the optimization of workers loading pig iron onto carts at the
Bethlehem Steel Company. Through his methods he increased the loading of iron from 12 ton per day
to 47 ton per day – albeit modern research showed that he was definitely fudging his numbers there.
In any case, he established the entire field of scientific management by measuring work and trying to
improve efficiency.
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thousands of lives, and pissed off the surgeons after they found out that he used the same methods
for bricklayers. Surely those holier-than-thou doctors deserved better than to be compared to a
bricklayer. 😉
Overall, his work was the basis for any system of predetermined motions in use nowadays. His work
was also a perfect addition to Taylorism.
The Conflict
Taylor was good at optimizing work. But even more than that, he was stubborn. Anybody who wanted
to work with Taylor had to agree with him or be prepared for an endless fight – and it didn’t matter who
paid who’s salary. Taylor would not hesitate to fight his employers and clients over the right way to do
things.
As such, he quarreled with many other researchers. He did initially give Gilbreth credit for his work, but
he soon started to quarrel with him too. Taylor considered his methods unsuitable. After Taylor’s
death, his Taylor society even kicked it up a notch, and Gilbreth found himself under constant
academic fire from the much stronger Taylor society. They took the approach from Gilbreth – thank
you very much – but attributed it to their own society while at the same time trashing Gilbreth.
While Taylor had established a large society of followers, Gilbreth was working only with a small
group. Hence, after Gilbreth died, it looked like the Taylor society has won. However, there was one
woman who made a difference!
After the death of her husband, she managed to promote her husband’s work, consult these methods
in industry, and make peace with the Taylor society. Not only did the Taylor society end the conflict,
they even acknowledged the contributions of the Gilbreths and praised their work. It is mainly due to
her work that the name Gilbreth is now recognized as a major contributor to modern workplace
efficiency.
PS: If you would like to read more about history of manufacturing, then check out my book:
Roser, Christoph, 2016. “Faster, Better, Cheaper” in the History of Manufacturing: From the Stone Age
to Lean Manufacturing and Beyond, 439 pages, 1st ed. Productivity Press.
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Ernst
Swanepoel
So glad to see Lillian and Frank Gilbreth, my favorite couple, get some notice. I
consider them to be as Lean as they come. Thank you for featuring them.
Jack
McKee
They were amazing. I am sure you read “Cheaper by the dozen”, with lots of
funky details on their family. I also consider Lilian to be a real power woman,
most impressive! I definitely like them more than Taylor, which often manipulated
the truth to his liking and did not accept compromises.
Christoph
Roser
On my first few visit to Japan to study the Toyota Production System, I quickly
appreciated that they had developed their own form of ‘Scientific Management
Thinking’. The main difference to the Taylor model was that they had engaged all
their people positively in the process.
Hi Sid, thanks for the long comment. You should definitely also check out my post
“100th Anniversary of the Death of Frederick Winslow Taylor, the Father of
Modern Scientific Management“. Taylor was indeed quite a character, with strong
good and bad sides!
Christoph
Roser
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