Abstract
The aim of this paper is to investigate the historical function of the Taylor system in the American arms industry. For this purpose, I treat firstly, what was the main problem of management in the arms industry in the late 19th century, and secondly, what role did the Taylor system have in this sector.
The Taylor system of management was first brought into the arms industry at the Watertown Arsenal in 1909, followed by the New Heaven Plant of the Winchester Repeating Arms Co. in 1915. Till the introduction of the Taylor system, the New Heaven Plant adopted the line production method, while at the Watertown Arsenal, layout of the production line was so confused that they did not even bring machinery of the same type into the same section of the shop. Both of these plants, however, were managed by the similar traditional simple line organization. In both cases, such a management organization resulted in the functional disorder of management before the end of the 19th century.
The Taylor system, being introduced into the two plants for the purpose of reform, by separating the management function from operation and subdividing it into specialized functions, created the base of the modern line and staff organization in the arms industry.
