REPORT FOR ANALYTICAL CHEMISTS
Centralization Streamlines Research Services by Wendell P. Metzner, Monsanto Chemical Co., St. Louis 66, Missouri rpYPICALLY
THE
OVERHEAD
COSTS
-*- of research are 100% or more of direct costs. Companies continue to struggle with this problem, par ticularly to cope with the trend to even higher supporting costs. When a new research facility is established, unusual opportunities develop to consolidate and rear range supporting functions to im prove services and lower costs. This report discusses the changes made in supporting services when the Monsanto Chemical Company Research Center was occupied in mid-1961. Approximately 35% of the company research effort was housed in eight buildings compris ing 560,000 square feet located at the site of the central headquarters in St. Louis County, Missouri. Planning started in August 1958, when representatives from five divi sions met with the Architectural Section to establish the scope and outline the methods of operation at the Center so that new facilities could be designed. Actual con struction started in September 1959, so that most concepts were worked out by that date. At the very beginning the com pany's Executive Committee speci fied: "As a guide, the policy shall be that all facilities and services common to the research groups shall be consolidated and operated centrally insofar as this is practical.
The achievement of the economies inherent in a center for research de pends largely upon the successful centralization of most non-technical and certain technical requirements of the research groups. This suc cessful centralization implies ade quacy of the services in quality and immediate availability." With this charter in mind, the Planning Committee studied the supporting activities at the eight company laboratories and visited other companies to take advantage of all experience to date. Labora tories located near manufacturing plants were of limited value since certain functions (especially shops, analytical, building maintenance, and purchasing were integrated with the plant organization. Further more, the requirements for services at the Center became much broader than those at any one location since the research activities cut across every facet of the company. Sub committees of one or two men were assigned to each supporting func tion to study in depth the require ments and recommend the scope of the service, the facilities, and staff indicated for the estimated 650 re search personnel. Provision was also made for growth within a few years to 1000 personnel and even tually to 2000-2500 persons at the site. The Administrator of Re search Center was named four
months before construction started. Part of this report describes the organization and procedures of the Research Center Department which were established to serve the five research and two engineering de partments at the site. The remain der of the report is devoted to the topics: sizing of the larger serv ices, innovations, cost control for services, and the use of advisory committees. An organization chart covering all of the research service functions is shown below. SIZING OF SUPPORTING SERVICES The size of each service took into account many factors including: the scope of the service to be pro vided, whether shift operation could be used, procedures to be used, and the experience gathered from the various Monsanto and other com pany laboratories. In addition, certain goals on cost performance dictated a limit which provided a challenge to meet the service re quirements within the cost speci fied. Tables I and II summarize the type of information available in 1959 to guide the decisions on From a paper presented on April 3, 1963, to the Division of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry at the 144th N a tional ACS Meeting held in Los Angeles.
Organization Chart, Supporting Services, R & Ε Division, Monsanto Chemical Co. Information Center
Analytical
Engineering Services
Personnel
Chairman
Manager
Manager
Manager
Business & Economics Library Information Research Reports Library Technical Library
Devices Instrumentation Service Techniques
Engineering Design Advanced Technology & Unit Operations Glassblowing Purchasing & Stores Safety Shops & Building Maintenance
VOL. 36, NO. 3, MARCH 1964 ·
29 A
REPORT FOR ANALYTICAL CHEMISTS
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the number of people chosen for the more extensive services and listed in the right hand columns. The ratio per 1000 total laboratory per sonnel was chosen to obtain some consistency in the data. In Table II the term "Technical Men" refers to professional scientists holding AB or higher degrees. It will be noted from these tables that a definite reduction in support ing personnel was effected. The de crease was actually 48 men from the original Monsanto units which included, in addition to the above reductions, the elimination of du plication of guards, power plant op erators, and janitors at three sites (these functions are not directly de pendent on the number of research personnel so they are omitted from the table). The data from the other com panies were quite useful in spite of some apparent inconsistencies. Un usual figures were explained during personal discussions as resulting from special circumstances such as extensive pilot plant operations re quiring a large number of shop people and laboratory policy calling for many storeroom attendants to
TABLE 1.
A
—
Analytical Eng. Design & Drafting Glass Blowing I n f o r m a t i o n Center Purchasing & Stores Shop & Bldg. M a i n . Total Personnel Total S u p p o r t i n g Personnel
Name Company Address City
Zone
State
Selectacel is produced by Brown Company and exclusively packaged and distributed for laboratory use by Carl Schleicher & Schuell Co.
Circle No. 180 on Readers' Service Card
30 A
·
ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
Com pany Β C
D
Monsanto Monsanto units Res. before Center move
7 32 30 79
89 15 2 25 13 110
81 21 8 35 23 66
53 11 8 21 17 54
710 325
960 400
930 300
645 172
121
9 5 19 25 92 3000 1050
3660 1500
—
S u p p o r t i n g Personnel for 1000 Technical Men
Keene, New Hampshire-Dept. AC-43.
Please send ffee the new Selectacel brochure on Thin Layer Chromatography.
Several opportunities for innova tion became apparent quite early since a divisor of 600-1000 research
55 9 1 19 16 67
Carl Schleicher & Schuell Co.
S&S
INNOVATIONS
Supporting Personnel Per 1000 Employees
Function
TABLE II.
handle complete telephone and de livery service. A second factor of size involves the space allotted to each support ing function. After the personnel was determined, a design of the ideal facility for each function was developed as the first point of de parture. Then a final decision was reached after weighing all factors of economics and performance of the service. All the critical features of each service facility were incorpo rated in the final design since they are the factors which permit mini mum operating costs year in and year out. Table III lists the space allotted to each of the more exten sive services. At the present time there is some excess space in each function since the research areas are not yet filled to capacity, but sized to accommodate 1000 occu pants. Provision was made for each service area to be expanded as the Center facility grows.
Function Analytical Eng. Design & Drafting Glass Blowing I n f o r m a t i o n Center Purchasing & Stores Shops & Bldg. M a i n . Total Technical Men Total S u p p o r t i n g Personnel
A
—
Company Β C
26 15 56 75 275
149 24 4 52 44 181
1000 1050
1350 1500
D
Monsanto Monsanto units before Res. Center move
19 87 80 212
181 32 4 51 28 224
140 36 14 62 40 123
103 21 15 40 '33 106
265 325
470 400
525 300
330 172
322
—
REPORT FOR A N A L Y T I C A L CHEMISTS
personnel permitted specialization and consolidation in many areas. S h a r i n g of Equipment
A study of the 7 departments to be housed at the Center disclosed much duplication of specialized equipment such as analytical instruments, autoclaves, mill rolls, universal testers, etc. Full advantage was taken of the continuation of a laboratory at Dayton, Ohio, under Monsanto Research Corporation by leaving much equipment there and sharing similar units with others at the Center. Many units were used only 20-2'5% of the time at the separate locations, but are now used 75—100% of the time under this policy of open access. This policy provides that all equipment is available to qualified persons from all divisions regardless of its location. Such equipment is purposely not left as "community units," but rather, the major user is
TABLE III.
Space For Supporting Functions
Space Per- Occupied sonne Sq. No. Ft. Analytical 34 15,300 Eng. Design & Drafting 7 1,600 Glass Blowing 5 2,100 Information Center 18 15,000 Purchasing & Stores 11 11,600 Shops & Bldg. Main. 35 14,000 Total Space at Center is 560,000 sq. ft.
given the responsibility for maintaining and scheduling their use. As programs change and certain equipment is no longer needed, it is returned to the Engineering Section or the Analytical Center who store or reassign it to another department. Several safeguards avoid the ordering of new equipment when adequate time is available on present units. The Analytical Center publishes a list of analytical instruments, their location, and the person responsible, so that everyone, including the directors of research, can check before a purchase order is placed. Likewise, the Engineering Design Section publishes a list of all other pieces of major equipment located at the site. Since one of these two sections is usually consulted about a potential purchase, duplication can readily be noted. As a final check, the Purchasing Agent has been asked by the Research Directors' Committee to notify them when he finds duplication is occurring. A n a l y t i c a l C e n t e r Function
During the Center planning phase, agreement was reached that the Analytical Center should not only serve the people at the site, but also include coordination of all company analytical methods and techniques throughout the country. A coordinate index system was established to cover all existing plant methods, as well as research laboratory methods, and it
is kept current by using the Analytical Center as a clearing house. An index is supplied to all locations and copies of methods are sent on request. The analytical services function adopted two methods of operation: (1) the more conventional one of
Organization of the Analytical Center at Monsanto Research Center Analytical Center Devices Design and construction of special apparatus not commercially available. Instrumentation Open-access program including (a) obtaining and starting new instruments; (b) schools and instruction; (c) special interpretation; and (d) upkeep and repair. Service Routine analyses at a fixed charge for each standard analysis and a set hourly charge for all others. Techniques Development of needed new analyses or improved methods, primarily to assist research and engineering personnel.
Dr. Wendell P. Metzner was administrator of Monsanto Chemical Company's Research Center at St. Louis from 1959 to June 1 9 6 3 . At present he is evaluator of company technology. Dr. Metzner received his A.B. degree in chemistry from Indiana University in 1933 and his Ph.D. degree in organic chemistry from the University of Chicago in 1937. He joined Monsanto in 1936 as a research chemist at St. Louis. In 1939 he was appointed a research group leader there, later transferring to the company's Dayton, Ohio, research laboratories. He served at Dayton from 1945 to 1 9 4 7 , when he was appointed an associate director of research at Nitro, W. Va. He moved to St. Louis in the same capacity in 1954, was appointed administrator of research center in 1959, and assumed his present post in 1963. Dr. Metzner has been active in educational activities for the St. Louis section of the ACS, serving as the section's first educational committee chairman in 1 9 5 6 - 5 7 . He was chairman of the Kanawha Valley Section of the ACS in 1 9 5 3 .
VOL. 36, NO. 3, MARCH 1964
·
31 A
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REPORT FOR ANALYTICAL CHEMISTS
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t^^abs I.·
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providing a trained staff to conduct analytical work on request and (2) an open access arrangement which encourages all research personnel to use the equipment and methods on a self-help basis. Training is provided on the many specialized instruments and manuals and flipcharts have been issued to aid the new man. Under this dual ar rangement the instruments have a fairly high use factor which has justified the installation of one or more models of each item that can be used. In addition, two small groups of well qualified technical men carry out the exploratory work which is essential to: (1) exploit the full capabilities of new analytical in strumentation and (2) develop new analytical techniques. The results of their work are incorporated into standard procedures to help the re search chemist through requested service or open access operation. The rapid move toward auto matic process requires that re search, and especially process de velopment work, be supported by a special devices laboratory. Al though mechanical and electrical
engineering as well as electronics are the usual disciplines in this work, these capabilities were aug mented at the Center by physicists and physical chemists. This was accomplished by incorporating the devices laboratory into the Analyt ical Center. This combination has been rather effective in sparking new ideas for the plant instrument sections throughout the company as well as serving the unusual needs at the Center for special reactors, very low volume pumps, control devices, etc. In moving to the Research Cen ter, Monsanto pulled together five divisional research departments, each of which had an analytical section operating in its own way. The five divisions did not have the separate sections of service, instru mentation, devices, and techniques; i.e., as a rule, each one was strug gling in the usual way to have most people trained to cover any and all of these functions as the demands required. Only one of the five di visions had a well developed selfservice system operating. Also, only one of the five had a Devices (Continued
on page 35 A)
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Monsanto ® Circle No. 41 on Readers' Service Card VOL. 36, NO. 3, MARCH 1964
·
35 A
REPORT FOR ANALYTICAL CHEMISTS Information Center
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Company or Institution Street City
State
Zip Code
Circle No. 17 on Readers' Service Card 36 A
•
ANALYTICAL
CHEMISTRY
The 3 " X 5" card catalog has been replaced by computer methods for indexing both internal reports and published information. The Applied Mathematics Department with its extensive computer equipment is located at the site to supply important support to this work. In this way, the Center now provides many services on a companywide basis for locations throughout the country. For example, the internal technical report index has been converted to a coordinate term index which is stored on tape and printed out to provide all technical persons ready access to information stored in these central files. Copies of the actual reports are then supplied on request. A printed catalog of books available in the Business and Technical Libraries has been distributed and is up-dated six times each year. Two new sections were established during the planning of the Center. The Business Library consolidated the holdings of several small departmental libraries at the General Offices Headquarters and expanded the holdings to serve the general needs of the company for business information. It is housed m the same area as the Technical Library. The other new section, Information Research, is concerned with upgrading methods of storage and retrieval of information. New computer methods were developed by this section for indexing internal reports, and attention is being directed to other information retrieval problems. Apparatus Repair
A step that proved to be most wise was the assignment of one mechanic to repair common laboratory equipment such as variable transformers, stirring motors, vacuum gauges, vacuum pumps, etc. This service is worth thousands of dollars per year to the company and is a real advance over the usual procedure of having all shop men do this on an occasional basis. The repairman is well equipped to return an item that not only operates right but looks like new. He also maintains a small supply of most items which can be obtained as an
exchange if the scientist cannot wait for the repair. Another specialist is maintaining the analytical instruments at the Center. Although manufacturers' representatives make periodic overhauls and major repairs, this man is now so familiar with the circuitry that he keeps complex units on stream almost continuously where days used to be lost waiting for the service engineer to arrive.
OFFICE SERVICES
Since the Research Center is located on the General Offices site, it was decided that many of the services already operating should be extended to the Center. Therefore, the administration of grounds, guards, mail, power plant, printing, building cleaning, and telephone services remained with the Office Management Department and are not included on the organization chart. Regular contact is maintained with these service managers to coordinate their operation with changes in occupancy and research programs at the Center. Cost factors involving number of people, supplies, etc. are checked monthly and standards of performance are maintained by regularly scheduled inspections. A representative of the Office Management Department attends the monthly supervisors' meeting of the Research Center Department, and vice versa.
COST CONTROL FOR SERVICES
One of the real difficulties in any research organization is the control of the cost of services and supplies. The problems are definitely compounded by a community of operation which occurs at a research center. Several assignments of responsibility have brought about a method of operation which is providing a definite measure of cost control at the Monsanto Research Center. Several of the following practices have been developed during 1.5 years of experience through a determined effort by many people. 1. All services must be competitive with outside sources. Periodic checks are made to assure this.
REPORT FOR ANALYTICAL CHEMISTS
TABLE IV. Monsanto Research Center Advisory Committees Directors of Research Analytical Engineering Services Information Center Safety Seminar Storeroom
This philosophy is emphasized to service personnel by listing it in a set of "operating guides" and discussing in all coaching sessions. 2. Service staffs are kept at an efficient level by providing many self-service opportunities and streamlined paper work. Also, outside contract work is used to cope with peak demands. 3. Except for the Information Center and rent, services are charged on a use basis rather than allocation by space or people. Rates are established per hour, per analysis, etc., so that the using departments have direct control over the extent of these services. The Information Center charges are allocated by technical head count and rent by square feet of space. Rent covers utilities, taxes, building depreciation and repairs, housekeeping and grounds' maintenance, and telephone. 4. Standard supplies are available on an open access basis, but items costing more than 25 cents are signed out by an IBM card system. In this way most charges go directly to the research departments where the responsibility for excessive use must rest. 5. Advisory committees representing the research departments regularly review the cost as well as the quality of each service.
ADVISORY COMMITTEES AND COMMUNICATIONS One of the major problems a supporting department faces is that of good communications with the research personnel. The personal relationships which serve so well in the small to medium size laboratory become somewhat limited in most Center operations due to the number of people involved. Unless the
supporting personnel can maintain a regularity of contact, the changes in research programs and other demands will keep them operating inefficiently at the end of a whipcracker. Three procedures are being used to advantage in bridging this communications gap at the Monsanto Research Center. 1. The seven advisory committees have proved to be quite effective in getting meaningful information for use in changing policies, procedures, etc. Committees are listed in Table IV. It is important that each member of these committees be given the authority to speak for his department so that constructive recommendations can be made at each meeting. Most of the committees meet bi-monthly with the others as the need develops. Each one has seven members and the chairman is the Center Department representative. 2. One approach which has supplemented the advisory committee contacts is the periodic attendance of service supervision at the five research department group leader meetings. This program was initiated by arranging for one series of meetings to be devoted to a presentation of each service function and the way a research man can best use it. Provision was then made to have a Center Department representative attend the various group leader meetings on a bimonthly or quarterly basis. This has permitted an exchange of plans and problems which keeps both the Center Department and the research departments aware of new developments and trends. 3. A procedure manual is issued to all personnel to acquaint them with the services available at the Center, whom to contact, and how to obtain the service. In addition, a colored section was placed in the company telephone directory listing all of the services alphabetically with the man's name and telephone number to call. As new people report to the Center, their indoctrination covers the many points given in the manual. A selfindoctrination audio-visual unit recently completed now presents these procedures in a far more effective manner.
36
No.
in the
ADVANCES IN CHEMISTRY SERIES FREE RADICALS IN INORGANIC CHEMISTRY These 17 papers presented before the Symposium on Inorganic Free Radicals and Free Radicals in Inorganic Chemistry were sponsored by the Division of Inorganic Chemistry at the 142nd ACS Meeting in Atlantic City in September 1962. They constitute the latest findings in this fast-developing area. In very recent years inorganic free radicals have been intensively and productively studied. Already they are proven or postulated intermediates in a variety of synthetic inorganic processes. The papers in this volume do not exhaust the subject of free inorganic radicals, but they aim rather to give a status report on what is believed will be an extremely active field of future chemical investigation. One of the best known inorganic free radicals, N02, is discussed in detail, as is also one of the most recently discovered, NF2. Thus, this book contains not only historical background material but also reports of recent research of the utmost timeliness and significance. 175 pp.
Paper bound.
Price: $7.00
Order from: Special Issues Sales American Chemical Society 1155 Sixteenth Street, N. W. Washington 6, D. C.
END
VOL. 36, NO. 3, MARCH 1964
·
37 A
