Making Hotplates CASE Edgar F. Huse if the new one did not work well. After several days A group of 10 workers were responsible for assembling hotplates of training, each worker began to assemble the (instruments for heating solutions to a given temperature) for hospital entire hotplate. and medical laboratory use. A number of different models of hotplates The change was made at about the middle of the year. Productivity were being manufactured. Some had a vibrating device so that the solu- climbed quickly. By the end of the year, it had leveled off at about 84 tion could be mixed while being heated. Others heated only test tubes. percent higher than during the first half of the year, although no other Still others could heat solutions in a variety of different containers. changes had been made in the department or its personnel. Control- With the appropriate small tools, each worker assembled part of a lable rejects had dropped from 23 percent to 1 percent during the same hotplate. The partially completed hotplate was placed on a moving belt, period. Absenteeism had dropped from 8 percent to less than 1 percent. to be carried from one assembly station to the next. When the hotplate The workers had responded positively to the change, and their morale was completed, an inspector would check it over to ensure that it was was higher. As one person put it, "Now, it is my hotplate." Eventually, the working properly. Then the last worker would place it in a specially pre- reject rate dropped so low that all routine final inspection was done by pared cardboard box for shipping. the assembly workers themselves. The full-time inspector was trans- The assembly line had been carefully balanced by industrial engi- ferred to another job in the organization. neers, who had used a time and motion study to break the job down into Questions subassembly tasks, each requiring about three minutes to accomplish. The amount of time calculated for each subassembly had also been 1. What changes in the work situation might account for the increase "balanced" so that the task performed by each worker was supposed to in productivity and the decrease in controllable rejects? take almost exactly the same amount of time. The workers were paid a 2. What might account for the drop in absenteeism and the increase in straight hourly rate. morale? However, there were some problems. Morale seemed to be low, and 3. What were the major changes in the situation? Which changes the inspector was finding a relatively high percentage of badly assem- were under the control of the manager? Which were controlled by bled hotplates. Controllable rejects-those "caused" by the operator workers? rather than by faulty materials-were running about 23 percent. 4. What might happen if the workers went back to the old assembly After discussing the situation, management decided to try some- line method? thing new. The workers were called together and asked if they would Source: From Edgar Huse, The Modern Manager, 1E. @ South-Western, a part like to build the hotplates individually. The workers decided they would of Cengage Learning, Inc. Reproduced by permission. www.Cengage.com/ like to try this approach, provided they could go back to the old program permissions