The acetate department's product consisted of about twenty 4. Mixing batches was under the direction of the group different kinds of viscous liquid acetate used by another leader and was rather like baking a cake. Following a department to manufacture transparent film to be left clear prescribed formula, the group leader, mixers, and helpor coated with photographic emulsion or iron oxide. ers operated valves to feed in the proper solvent and Before the change: The department was located in an old manually dump in the proper weight and mixture of four-story building as in Exhibit 8.16. The workflow was solid material. The glob would be mixed by giant egg- as follows: beaters and heated according to the recipe. 1. Twenty kinds of powder arrived daily in 50 -pound paper bags. In addition, storage tanks of liquid would 5. When the batch was completed finished-product storage tank. be filled weekly from tank trucks. 6. After completing each batch, the crew would 2. Two or three acetate helpers would jointly unload pal- thoroughly clean the work area of dust and empty lets of bags into the storage area using a lift truck. 3. Several times during a shift, the helpers would bring the the finished product. bagged material up in the elevator to the third floor, To accomplish this work, the department was structured as bagged material up in the elevator to the third floor, To accomplish this where it would be temporarily stored along the walls. in Exhibit 8.17. ExM 8.19 Elevation View of Acetate Department before Change Organizational Chart of Acetate Department before Change The helpers were usually young men 18 to 25 years All in all, the department was a pleasant place in of age; the mixers, 25 to 40 ; and the group leaders and which to work. The work floor was a little warm, but foremen, 40 to 60 . Foremen were on salary; group leaders, well lit, quiet, and clean. Substantial banter and horseplay mixers, and helpers were on hourly pay. To produce 20 million pounds of product per year, the particularly on the evening and night shifts. The men had department operated 24 hours a day, seven days a week. a dartboard in the work area and competition was fierce Four crews rotated shifts: for example, shift foreman A and loud. and his two group leaders and crews would work two Frequently a crew would go bowling right after weeks on the day shift ( 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.), then two work, even at 1:00 a.m., because the community's weeks on the evening shift (4:00 p.m. to midnight), then alleys were open 24 hours a day. Department turntwo weeks on the night shift (midnight to 8:00a.m.). There over and absentecism were low. Most employees spent were two days off between shift changes. their entire carcer with the company, many in one During a typical shift, a group leader and his crew department. The corporation was large, paternalistic, would complete two or three batches. A batch would fre- and well-paying and offered attractive fringe benefits quently be started on one shift and completed by the next including large, virtually automatic bonuses for all. quently be started on one shift and completed by the next including large, virtually automatic bonuses for all. shift crew. There was slightly less work on the evening and Then came the change. night shifts because no deliveries were made, but these The new system: To improve productivity, the acetate crews engaged in a little more cleaning. The shift foreman department was completely redesigned; the technology would give instructions to the two group leaders at the changed from batches to continuous processing. The basic beginning of each shift as to the status of batches in pro- building was retained but substantially modified as in cess, batches to be mixed, what deliveries were expected, Exhibit 8.18. The modified workflow is as follows: and what cleaning was to be done. Periodically throughout 1. Most solid raw materials are delivered via trucks in the shift, the foreman would collect samples in small botlarge aluminum bins holding 500 pounds. tles, which he would leave at the laboratory technicians? 2. One handler (formerly helper) is on duty at all times on the first floor to receive raw materials and to dump the The management and office staff (department head, bins into the semiautomatic screw feeder. staff engineer, lab technician, and department clerk) worked only on the day shift, although if an emergency 3. The head operator (former group leader) directs the mixing operations from his control panel on the arose on the other shifts, the foreman might call. ExHIDT 8.1 department offices. The mixing is virtually an auto- This technical change allowed the department to matic operation once the solid material has been sent greatly reduce its workforce. The new structure is illusup the screw feed; a tape program opens and closes the trated in Exhibit 8.19. One new position was created, necessary valves to add solvent, heat, mix, and so on. that of a pump operator who is located in a small, sepmitting at a table before his panel, the head operator arate shack about 300 feet from the main building. He monitors the process to see that everything is operating within specified temperatures and pressures. ExHI 8.4 Organizational Chart of Acetate Department after Change Under the new system, production capacity was Unfortunately, actual output has lagged well below increased to 25 million pounds per year. All remaining capacity in the several months since the construction work employees received a 15 percent increase in pay. Former and technical training were completed. Actual production personnel not retained in the acetate department were is virtually identical with that under the old technology. transferred to other departments in the company. No one Absenteeism has increased markedly, and several judgmenwas dismissed. tal errors by operators have resulted in substantial losses. Questions 1. How does the technology change from small-batch to 3. Why do you think production might be lagging with continuous process in the Acetate Department reflect this new technology? What suggestion would you make the differences in structural characteristics suggested by Woodward in Exhibit 8.4? 2. How do you think task variety and analyzability changed in the Acetate Department