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The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 1, Issue 8 (January 15, 1927)

New Methods At Petone

page 40

New Methods At Petone

Monthly meetings between the Workshops Manager and his various Foremen and Leading Hands have been initiated by Mr. A. E. P. Walworth, Workshops Manager at Petone, with the object of keeping all concerned acquainted with the latest developments in workshops practice, and devising plans, through the discussion and understanding of each others problems, for securing increased efficiency by co-ordinated action.

There is none of the formality associated with the usual club meeting, about these monthly gatherings. They meet in a cosily appointed car which, after running its million miles, has been relieved of its wheels and dedicated to the uses of education at Petone Workshops. There is no wearisome reading of minutes or other cumbersome routine, no moving of motions or counter-motions to eat up the choicest moments of the night. On the evening we were there Mr. Walworth, after a few brief words of introduction, plunged into the subject which was to be the principal business of the night, a consideration of graphs in relation to the practical conduct of work in the shops. His speech was closely followed by the full muster of foremen and leading hands who had thus willingly given up their own time in order to study the later phases of workshops production method.

Taking some specially prepared graphs (exhibited on easels) for his subject, Mr. Walworth remarked that though these did not appear to have much to recommend them at first sight, they were likely to prove invaluable as (1) a record of work, (2) a means of comparison, (3) an indication of the present position and (4) a guide for further action.

“In the old days,” he said, “you might have trouble with the Stores Department and be held up perhaps a fortnight. You would know an order had gone in, but, without much searching, could not just be sure how long you had been kept waiting. Now, when an order goes in the date is graphed, and as time proceeds the whole period between order and supply is recorded.” When he called at Head Office he was sometimes asked, “How are you standing for that job? What are you waiting for?”—the reference being, perhaps, to some work which had assumed urgency. Well, in such a case, the graph would tell the story, either that there had been delay in supplying the prints, or in the receipt of stores, or in Workshops production. The picture which the graph presented was so telling that the Stores staff had developed the habit of coming across to view the graph, take notes from it, and use the information for the purpose of pushing the supply of those items which, on the picture, were beginning to show up.

Possibly an order might be sent to Addington for a transfer of materials needed to go on with. These supplies would reach the Stores Department, but the officers of the latter department might not be alive to the fact that the stores were urgently needed. Now a new form had been provided whereby the Workshops was advised the date such transferred materials were forwarded, and this enabled the Workshops requiring the goods to hasten their delivery. Every order should be graphed by leading hands in order that they might know at a glance the movements of material and thus increase their interest in their jobs.

Referring again to the graphs, Mr. Walworth drew attention to the yellow lines indicating periods during which jobs were delayed through non-receipt of blue prints. Mr. Walworth went on to say that with the business methods now required in the shops, they were reaching the point where they would have to adopt the same rule as contractors. The latter would never give estimates for jobs unless they first had the blue prints. Once these were received, their estimates were framed and any subsequent alterations required could be charged for separately. At the Workshops it was sometimes necessary to proceed with work on draftsmen's instructions, but without blue prints, and if, later, the print differed from the verbal instructions, it was not always easy to explain just where the additional cost occurred. In such cases, foremen could protect themselves and represent the whole proceeding by preparing a graph record. He said it would pay them all to make graphs. These were simple to prepare. All that was needed in most cases was a record of the order and receipt of supplies.

Here Mr. Walworth called on Mr. Barnes, Asst. Schedule Clerk at Petone, to explain the new graph the latter had prepared to record the progress of work in connection with the five new special sleeping cars. This graph was prepared in sections, with each Department of the Shops under a separate heading. The estimated cost for each branch of the work was shown by a black line. As the job progressed, a red line—covering the black—would be graphed, and would indicate at any given time how the cost compared with the estimate. By getting everyone interested in this feature it should help to reduce the cost, for where the price appeared to be running high the necessity for devising improved methods to keep the expense down would be page 41 apparent. In dealing with repeat orders they could take the cost of the last job as their estimate for the next one, but even here it would be shown that by watching the progress of work in relation to cost, opportunity could frequently be made for still further improving the production figure. Mr. Barnes remarked that motor competition had turned the attention of rail-ways in all countries to the necessity for reducing costs, and wherever scheduling methods had been adopted the desired result had been obtained.

In a general discussion which followed, the benefit to Foremen from graph records of labour expenditure was pointed out. These records, graphed for every shop, showed, alongside any sudden increase or decrease in overhead costs, a reference to the factors which had produced the variation. Mr. Walworth pointed out that by watching the graph record they would be encouraged to keep the average general expenditure charge for each shop as low as possible.

It was recognised that repair work was a different matter from new work, so far as scheduling was concerned, but even here, by keeping records, they would be able to estimate the cost of jobs coining in, and throughout the shops progress scheduling would show whether improvement was being effected in securing increased output and reduced expenditure.
Model of Walschaert Valve Gear, made by Fitter D. Rowles of Newmarket Workshops for demonstration use in the Running Sheds of the North Island. The Model is an exact replica in miniature of the valve gear used in Class Ab Locomotives, showing in section the Cylinder, Steam Chest. Valve and Diston. Standing behind the Model are:— Fitter D. Rowles (left). Assistant-Foreman L. De Vere (centre) and Leading-Hand J. B. Graham (right).

Model of Walschaert Valve Gear, made by Fitter D. Rowles of Newmarket Workshops for demonstration use in the Running Sheds of the North Island. The Model is an exact replica in miniature of the valve gear used in Class Ab Locomotives, showing in section the Cylinder, Steam Chest. Valve and Diston. Standing behind the Model are:— Fitter D. Rowles (left). Assistant-Foreman L. De Vere (centre) and Leading-Hand J. B. Graham (right).

The position in this respect was decidedly better than two years ago.

In summing up, Mr. Walworth assured them of his confidence that they could do work equal to that in any part of the world—not excluding America. (Applause.) In regard to the point that had been raised regarding ordering material as per blue print, he recognised the difficulties of the position. To effect improvement in this direction, Bills of Material would, in future, be issued for each large job, and officers concerned would take this list as their guide when ordering.

Mr. Walworth went on to say that the scheduled times for repair jobs were average times, and although there were sometimes big differences, as in the case of springs which might require any time from a quarter of an hour (for examination only) to 16 hours (to remake) the schedules could still be worked to by varying the amount of labour devoted to each job according to the actual amount of work required to be completed in the given time.

The discussion was interesting and enlightening to all concerned, and was conducted in an admirable spirit. An interested visitor was Mr. Worthington, Schedule Clerk at Newmarket. Petone Workshops is to be congratulated on this decisively progressive step in the direction of increased efficiency.