Celebrating 60 Years of Service to Industry
In 2006, we were proud of our 50 years. For an intentionally-small professional services firm, reaching 60 years is even more remarkable! We attribute this milestone to the enduring utility of our systematic planning methods, and to the loyalty of our many fine clients whom we are honored to serve.
To celebrate our 60th year, we published the 4th edition of Systematic Layout Planning (SLP).
As a “thank you” to our clients and supporters, we continue to make a soft copy of this classic text and several others available at no charge. Just register here.
Physical copies can be purchased from http://www.mirpbooks.com
The “SLP book” is a practical “how-to” guide for planning all kinds of facilities. Its chapters walk you step by step through the life cycle of layout projects. More than 200 illustrations, checklists and Working Forms will help you and your planning team find and agree on the best layout, every time!
To commemorate our long history and international following, we have assembled soft copies of our early textbook translations into Spanish, French, Italian, German, Dutch, Czech, Swedish, Japanese and Chinese. These are also available at no charge by registering here.
Remembering Our First 50 Years of Service to Industry
To mark our 50th year in the business of improvement, we published the documents below. They include historical timelines and charts, significant quotations from early industrial managers and engineers, and the proceedings of a distinguished panel on the next 50 years of industrial engineering.
We trust that you will find them insightful and useful in your professional development. If you are just discovering our firm and our Web site, please explore our other pages to learn more about our firm and its services.
Learn how industrial engineering impacted productivity and prosperity in the 20th century.
View the timeline: How We Improve! 100 Years of Industrial Management and Engineering
Copies of the timeline are available for purchase. Click here for an order form with instructions.
Hear what’s in store for the industrial engineering profession from an international panel of experts.
Read the panel proceedings: Industrial Management and Engineering – The Next 50 Years
Find useful reminders of the time-honored principles of industrial engineering.
Read collected passages from RMA’s historical research: Quotes from the Past…As we contemplate our future
“The principal object of management should be to secure the maximum prosperity for the employer, coupled with the maximum prosperity for each employee…” Frederick Taylor, 1911
“The ‘one best way’ is the best way that is known, or can be discovered, at any moment of consideration. It is not an ultimate best way but is in the line of progress and may be changed or modified immediately when a better way is discovered…” Frank Gilbreth, 1911
“Efficiency does not consist in extreme effort, but in the elimination of undesirable effort and waste of all kinds… Efficiency means that the right thing is done in the right manner, by the right men, and the right place, in the right time.” Harrison Emerson, 1911
“It is easy to test the efficiency of a plant because inefficiency is due to one of two causes. Either the principles of efficiency are not known, or they are not applied.” Harrison Emerson, 1911
“Many systems and methods, good in themselves, have utterly failed because the man that introduced them could only see ‘his system’ and he tried to bend and fit the factory to his system instead of shaping and fitting his systems to the factory conditions.” Henry Gantt, 1916
View a detailed history of our firm: RMA Historical Highlights 1956-2006
