What
Is A Socio-Technical System?
 In
the early 1950's Eric Trist and the Tavistock Institute
studied the English coal mining industry where mechanization
had actually decreased worker productivity. Trist proposed that
manufacturing (and many other) systems have both technical and
human/social aspects that are tightly bound and interconnected. Moreover,
it is the interconnections more than individual elements that determine
system performance.
The technical
system includes machinery, processes, procedures and a physical
arrangement. We usually think of a factory in terms of its technical
system.
The social
system includes people and their habitual attitudes, values,
behavioral styles and relationships. It includes the reward system. It is
the formal power structure as depicted on organization charts and the
informal power structure deriving from knowledge and personal
influence.
Mechanization
In The English Coal Mines
In
the coalmines, mechanization had broken up
tightly knit teams that had previously performed the entire
extraction process from blasting to hauling to sorting.
-
With
mechanization, different people performed the various steps of extraction
on different shifts and this caused coordination
problems.
-
The
equipment was so loud people could not communicate and this
inhibited teamwork and team development.
-
The
pay system went from a group incentive system to an hourly wage system and
this destroyed monetary motivation.
-
People
felt alone, isolated, and unappreciated deep in the earth. This
destroyed the powerful intrinsic motivators of pride, satisfaction and
belonging.
The overall result
for the English mining industry was
decreased productivity and labor strife.
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Joint optimization is the goal of
socio-Technical design. For example, a manufacturing workcell that requires high teamwork will not produce in
an environment of suspicion and command/control. A self-directed work
team will be ineffective when the layout of their area prevents
communication or does not require cooperation.
The
social and technical systems must integrate and assist one another.
When
Lean Manufacturing goes awry, the root cause is often failure to
appreciate the nature of the system. The socio side is often (though not
always) neglected. Team development, training and
culture are just as important as fast setups and cellular arrangements.
Practical
Application
Principles
of Socio Technical Design
Converting Line To
Cellular Manufacturing
Converting Functional To
Cellular Manufacturing
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