Cyclopedia of Commerce, Accountancy, Business Administration, v. 02 (of 10)

by American School of Correspondence

METHODS OF TIME KEEPING

6. Time keeping may be divided into two classes. The first class includes methods of recording the total time that the employe works during a pay-roll period. The second class includes methods of recording the results of the labor of each employe—the quantity produced, expressed in the units adopted by the trade in which he is employed.

BATTERY OF HYDRAULIC PRESSES (3000 AND 4000 TONS CAPACITY) IN HEAVY FORGING SHOP OF THE J. G. BRILL COMPANY, PHILADELPHIA, PENNA.

Ordinarily, trading concerns require records of the first class only, the pay of the employe being based on the time spent, rather than on the quantity of his production. This is because of established custom and the difficulty of measuring his production. Primarily, the pay of the employe is based on his efficiency, but it is not always practical to attempt to reduce the results of that efficiency to standard units.

Manufacturers require records of both classes. Not only is it necessary to know how many hours each employe has worked, but the quantity of production must be known.

It is true that a manufacturing business requires the services of some employes whose productiveness is not readily expressed in standard units, in which cases the first method only can be used. These are the men who are necessary to the economical operation of a department or shop, or of the plant as a whole, but whose time cannot be charged to a particular job. Labor of this class is termed indirect or non-productive.

The labor of most employes in a manufacturing plant is applied directly to the production of specific articles, or to the completion of certain definite jobs. This makes it possible to reduce the results of their labor to definite units. Labor of this class is termed direct or productive.

Records of production, as well as records of time, are necessary for two reasons. First, when the piece rate or the more modern premium system is used, employes are paid according to the number of units produced. Second, to obtain accurate records of costs, it is necessary to have accurate records of production.

For the purpose of determining the amount of wages due the piece worker, time records are not needed; records of production supply the information required. But to determine the actual labor cost per unit, time records are needed even in the case of piece workers. Piece rates are based on continuous production at a uniform rate. A marked falling off in production means a perceptible increase in the cost per unit for overhead expense. For example, we will suppose that a manufacturer has $50,000.00 invested in machines operated by piece workers. One of the definite items of expense to be apportioned to the product of these machines is interest, at say five or six per cent. If production falls to one-half of the normal quantity, because one-half of the machines are idle, the amount of this one item of expense that must be borne by each unit of production is doubled. Or, we may have two workers operating identical machines on the same class of work, the production of one being twice that of the other. The overhead expense is the same for each employe and each machine, consequently the cost of the finished product is affected by the factor of time. The piece worker who fails to maintain the rate of production established as standard in his or her trade, is not a profitable worker.

7. Time-Keeping Systems. There are several systems or methods of time keeping in use. No one system is adapted for use under all conditions. Like all other classes of records, the time-keeping system must be selected with reference to the conditions under which it is to be operated. The system used in a factory, where all operatives are housed in one or more buildings, is not well adapted to the needs of a contractor whose men may be working on jobs located at points widely separated.

In this discussion, we will consider first the systems used to record the total time employed. This will be followed with descriptions of systems for obtaining records of production.

8. Time Book and Check Systems. Of the time-keeping systems that have been at some time considered standard, the oldest is the time book kept by the time-keeper. This system required the time-keeper to identify each man at work, and to record, opposite his name in the time book, the number of hours worked each day. Sometimes a special time-keeper was employed, or the foreman might keep the time book for his own men, the time books of all foremen being turned in for the purpose of making up the pay-roll. A system so dependent on the memory of one man never could become satisfactory.

With the object in view of doing away with the mistakes that were continually being made in the operation of the time-book system, the check system was introduced. This was probably the first attempt at automatic time recording.

Under the check system, each man is assigned a number and given a brass check on which his number is stamped. In entering the works the men are required to pass in front of the time-keeper's office and to hand in their checks. The time-keeper has, in his office, a large board with hooks numbered to correspond with the check numbers. As the checks are handed in they are hung in their proper places on this board. The checks on the board show what men are in the works, and from them the necessary entries are made in the time books.

When the men pass out at noon their checks are handed to them. Every man must pass out and take his check; otherwise he will not receive credit for the half-day's time.

The system does not prove entirely satisfactory for several reasons. It is not exact, for no accurate record of the time a man enters is possible. Usually the time-keeper's window is closed at starting time and opened fifteen minutes later to take care of the late arrivals. Thus the man who is one minute late pays the same penalty in lost time as the man who comes in fifteen minutes after the whistle blows. As a natural result, when a man finds that he cannot reach the works on time he takes the full fifteen minutes.

While the handing in of a check furnishes reasonable proof that the man has entered the works, it furnishes no proof that he is at his work. Many a man has turned in his check in the morning, left the works by another exit, returned a few minutes before noon, received his check and full pay for the half day.

In some manufacturing plants where the check system is still used, this difficulty has been overcome to a certain extent. The operation of the system is reversed, the men receiving their checks from the time-keeper as they enter the works. In the shops there are check boards on which the men hang their checks. These boards are hinged and provided with locks, the keys being carried by the foremen. Five minutes after starting time the boards are locked, and late arrivals are required to turn in their checks to the foreman who makes records of the time of arrival. Once during each working period, the time-keeper makes the rounds of the shops and takes the time records in his time book. At the quitting hour the boards are unlocked, the men take their checks as they pass out, and turn them in at the time-keeper's office.

9. Time Clocks. The modern system of time recording makes use of a time clock or mechanical recorder. Instead of trusting to the accuracy of a time-keeper, or depending on the workmen to keep records of their own time, the modern recorder automatically records the time of arrival and departure of every employe.

Mechanical time recorders, or time clocks, are of two general types, making two classes of records. One type records the time of one employe on a single card or sheet; the other makes a record of the time of several employes on the same sheet. For recording the total time of employes, both types are used, and certain advantages are claimed for each.

Fig. 5. Rochester Time Recorder,
Manufactured by
International Time Recording Co.

The records of the first type, most generally used, have a card for each employe on which a record is made of his time for an entire week or pay period. In operation, this system is very simple.

At each side of the clock is a card rack, as shown in Fig. 5. One of these is an "out" rack, the other an "in" rack. At the beginning of each week or pay period, cards are placed in the numbered pockets of the out rack, which is nearest the entrance—one card for each man. These cards bear the numbers or names of the men, or both if desired.

When the employe enters, he takes his card from the out rack, places it in the slot of the clock, makes an exact record of the time of arrival by moving a lever, and places the card in the proper numbered pocket in the in rack. When he leaves, the operation is repeated, this time the card being deposited in the out rack. In the meantime the recording device in the clock has been shifted so that it records the leaving time in the proper column on the card.

The form of record made by one of the best known clocks of this type is shown in Fig. 6. It will be noted that the recording device prints the letter representing the day of the week in front of each record—out or in. Another feature is the dash under the afternoon registrations; a glance shows whether the registration was made at, for instance, 6 o'clock in the morning or afternoon.

Fig. 6. Weekly Time
Pay Card Used in the
Rochester Recorder

This form requires an exceptionally small number of entries to figure the time for the week. In the outside column, at the right, is entered the time lost or the overtime for each day. At the end of the week, the net total of this column is added to or subtracted from the total hours representing a full week, which gives the total number of hours actually worked.

Clocks of the second type record the time of several employes on one sheet, the record being made for one day, or for any number of days up to a week. Like the card machine, the record shows the in and out time, both forenoon and afternoon.

A recorder of this type is illustrated by Fig. 7. To register the time of arrival or departure, the employe places a key, bearing his number, in the clock, and gives it one turn. A bell rings, indicating that the hour and minute of the day have been printed on the record inside the register.

Fig. 7. The Bundy Time Recorder,
Manufactured by
International Time Recorder Co.

The form of record made by machines of this type is shown in Fig. 8. The records of all employes appear in numerical order on one sheet, with the various ins and outs in their proper columns. The record is inside the clock, under lock and key, and when removed can be used as a pay-roll sheet.

The fact that the complete record is on one sheet, is one of the advantages claimed for this type of recorders. On the other hand, an advantage is claimed for the card machine in the fact that the cards can be used for other purposes, such as for cost records.

Fig. 8. Weekly Time Record as Made by the Dey Time Register

Fig. 9. Work Order with Time and Material Records