John Calder (1866 - 1936)[1] was a Scottish/American mechanical and consulting engineer, business manager, business executive, organizational theorist, and author on management and industrial relations. He is noted for a series of accomplishments in the field of industrial engineering in the first part of the 20th century.
At the turn of the century Calder created one of the first business process modelling analyses at C. W. Hunt Company, published in 1903.[2][3][4] In the next twenty years he managed several American companies, and build an international reputation for his work in industrial relations.[5]
In the late 1920s and early 1930s Calder supervised the construction of several tractor factors in the Russia for which he was awarded the Order of Lenin.[6][7]
Biography edit
Youth and early career edit
Calder was born in Glasgow in 1866, where he grew up. After attending regular education he studied mechanical engineering at the College of Science & Arts in Glasgow, nowadays the Royal College of Science and Technology, where he graduated with honor.[5] At the age of 20, in 1887, he won a Whitworth scholarship.[8] After graduation Calder became a regular apprentice with the W. and A. McOnie, manufacturer of sugar machinery in Glasgow, and with the shipbuilding company William Denny and Brothers in Dumbarton.[1]
After the four years of apprentice he started as consulting engineer in 1892, and was Her Majesty's Inspector of Factories for the North of Scotland for seven years.[9][1] Based on his engineering experiences he wrote his first book The Prevention of Factory Accidents. This book wore the subtitle "Account of Manufacturing Industry and Accident, and a Practical Guide to the Law on the Safe-guarding, Safe-working and Safe-construction of Factory Machinery, Plant and Premises," and was published in 1899. After a dispute about travel expenses in 1899, he got dismissed as civil factory inspector,[10] and emigrated to the United States with his young family.[1]
Early career in the States edit
After his arrival in the States Calder got a job at the C. W. Hunt Company, whose large works were located on Staten Island, where he worked his way up to executive engineer.[11]
In 1903 he moved to the Remington Works, of Ilion, N. Y., where he served as general manager for nine years.[11]
Mr. Calder's unusual record for the introduction of economic administration in these large industrial establishments attracted the attention of Mr. W. C. Leland, of the Cadillac Motor Car Company, one of the best-known and most successful administrators in the automobile industry, who invited Mr. Calder to become associated with him in the production departments of the Cadillac Company, which enjoys an enviable reputation for its efficient and economic manufacturing departments. This way Calder became associate general manager of the Motor Car Company, of Detroit.[11]
In 1913 Calder, accepted the appointment of acting vice president of the International Motors Company, manufacturers of Mack, fourer and Hewitt trucks. Mr. Calder will have general supervision over, engineering design and production of the company's three manufacturing plants at Plainfield, N. J; Allentown, Pa., economic administration of industrial establishments in the United States and los been associated as industrial engineer and general works manager with manufacturing corporations whose names are legion for the quality of their product and their large successes.[11]
Around that time Mr. Calder's activity in the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, of which he was a full member, had gained for him a marked reputation as an authority on industrial safety, hygiene and industrial efficiency.[11]
Further career in the States edit
Construction work in Russia edit
Work edit
Shop and Sales System at C. W. Hunt Co. edit
Construction of tractor factories in Russia edit
Publications edit
- John Calder, The Prevention of Factory Accidents: : being an Account of Manufacturing Industry and Accident, and a Practical Guide to the Law on the Safe-guarding, Safe-working and Safe-construction of Factory Machinery, Plant and Premises. 1899
- William Thomas Flanders, John Calder & R. D. Foster, Galvanizing and tinning; a practical treatise on the coating of metal with zinc and tin by the hot dipping, electro galvanizing, Sherardizing and metal spraying processes, with information on design, installation and equipment of plants, Publisher New York, David Williams company, 1916.
- John Calder, Course in modern production methods. New York city, Business training corporation. Vol 1-6, (at haiti.trust), 1918-19.
- John Calder. Experiences with employees' representation plans during periods of business depression. Dept. of Publications, Society of Industrial Engineers, 1922.
- John Calder. Capital's Duty to the Wage-Earner: A Manual of Principles and Practice on Handling the Human Factors in Industry. 1923
- John Calder, Modern industrial relations; policy and practice, New York, Longmans, Green, 1924.
- Articles, a selection
- Calder, J., Contribution to the discussion of Charles Day’s paper: the machine shop problem, Transactions of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Vol. 24, 1903. p. 1320-21 (see here).
- John Calder, "Shop and Sales Systems of the C. W. Hunt Co.," The Iron Trade Review, August 6, 1903. p. 72-76
- John Calder, "ldeals In industrial engineering (D)." ASME transactions. Vol. 27 (1906), p. 356
- John Calder, "Rapid Production in Machine Work." ASME transactions. Vol. 32 (1910), p.
- John Calder, "The Assembly of Small Interchangeable Parts," Journal of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Vol. 33, 1911, Nr. 1-6. p. 55-
- John Calder, "The American engineer and prevention of accidents," Journal of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Vol. 33, 1911, Nr. 1-6. p. 133-167
- Calder, John. "My seven rules for system." Factory, Nov., 1912, v. 9: 407.
- Henry R. Towne, Oberlin Smith, John Calder, A. C. Higgins, and A. Falkenau, "The Human Element in Scientific Management," Iron Age, vol. 89, 1912 p. 912-3
- John Calder. "Metal Spray Processes in Engineering and Art." Journal of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Vol. 37, 1915, p. 379-384
- Calder, John. "Overvaluation of Management Science." Iron Age, March 6, 1913, vol. 91, p. 605.
References edit
- ^ a b c d Whitworth Society. The Whitworth register, 1940s, p. 50
- ^ Calder (1903)
- ^ Horace Lucian Arnold, The Factory manager and accountant, some examples of the latest American factory practice; collected and arranged by Horace Lucian Arnold (Henry Roland). The Engineering Magazine company, 1903. p. 320
- ^ Charles D. Wrege et al. "What we do not know about management history," (1999, 419)
- ^ a b The Rotarian, Vol. 24, nr. 3, March 1924, p. 6
- ^ George Jean Nathan, Henry Louis Mencken (1960), The American Mercury, Vol. 90, p. 49
- ^ Antony C. Sutton (1971), Western Technology and Soviet Economic Development; 1930 to 1945, Second volume of a three-volume series
- ^ English Mechanics and the World of Science, Vol. 45, 1887, p. 604
- ^ Calder (1899, iii)
- ^ Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Sessional Papers. Vol. 44, 1901, p. 135
- ^ a b c d e The Philadelphia Inquirer, Sunday Morning, March 28, 1913
Authority control databases – John Calder | |
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Category:1867 births
Category:1930s deaths
Category:American mechanical engineers
Category:American business theorists
Category:American organizational theorists
Category:Scottish mechanical engineers
Category:People from Glasgow
Category:Recipients of the Order of Lenin