Frederick Winslow Taylor was an American mechanical engineer whose studies of workplace efficiency, published as The Principles of Scientific Management in 1911, are usually credited with founding industrial engineering as a distinct discipline. His time and motion study methods, developed at Midvale Steel and other American factories in the 1880s and 1890s, aimed to find the single most efficient way to perform a given task and remain a foundation of modern industrial and operations engineering, even as his own rigid application of them has been widely criticized.
Facts
FAQs
What did Taylor achieve at Bethlehem Steel?
With Maunsel White he developed high speed steel.
Taylor joined Bethlehem Steel in 1898 to solve an expensive machine-shop capacity problem. There he and Maunsel White, with a team of assistants, developed high speed steel, which paved the way for greatly increased mass production. Grace's Guide adds that he is particularly remembered for the Taylor-White process of treating tungsten steel, which allowed a dramatic increase in machine tool cutting speeds.
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Associated With
Mass Production, Methods Taylor scientific management principles of standardized, timed tasks directly shaped the division of labor mass production and the assembly line depend on.
Source A History of TechnologyCharles Singer, E. J. Holmyard, A. R. Hall and Trevor I. Williams, editors
In Field
Source A History of TechnologyCharles Singer, E. J. Holmyard, A. R. Hall and Trevor I. Williams, editors
Invented
Source Scientific Management (Taylor) Explained (Toolshero)
Source Time and motion study, Wikipedia
Long-Form Articles
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Nationality
Also in Geography Atlas: the nationality of this subject.
Origin Of
Also in Economics Atlas: which originated in this subject.
Source Frederick Winslow Taylor's Scientific Management Principles Birthed Modern-Day Industrial Engineering (Stevens Institute of Technology)
Sources
1. A History of Technology
Charles Singer, E. J. Holmyard, A. R. Hall and Trevor I. Williams, editors, Oxford University Press, 1954View the Source Technology: A World History
Frederick Winslow Taylor (Wikipedia)
Biography, Bethlehem Steel paragraph
between 1898 and 1900 Taylor and Maunsel White (né Maunsel White III; 1856-1912; grandson of Maunsel White; 1783-1863) conducted comprehensive empirical tests, and concluded that tungsten alloyed steel doubled or quadrupled cutting speeds
In Group: Industrial and Production Engineers, Introduction
He was widely known for his methods to improve industrial efficiency.
View the SourceScientific Management (Taylor) Explained (Toolshero)
Time and motion study, Wikipedia
Invented: Time and Motion Study, Lead sectionQuote, Invented: Time and Motion Study, Lead section
A time and motion study (or time-motion study) is a business efficiency technique combining the time study work of Frederick Winslow Taylor with the motion study work of Frank and Lillian Gilbreth (the same couple as is best known through the biographical 1950 film and book Cheaper by the Dozen).
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