The First Five Year Plan- USSR
The first five year plan was created to start rapid and large-scale industrialisation across the USSR (1). The Supreme Council of the National Economy (VSKNH or Vesenka) became the main group for industrial planning, coordinating industrial branches and control of fulfilling plans. Vesenka made a contract with the Walter Polakov Company of New York City in 1929. The owner, Walter N. Polakov arrived in Russia in December 1929. His first assignment was a machine tool factory where over 5,000 workers were employed. He found there were many idle men and machines, excesses of some items and shortages of others in the storeroom, the factory floor cluttered with half-finished products, and the inspector’s table buried under piles of work. It was undoubtedly a chaotic environment.
He proposed the use of the Gantt Chart to improve scheduling and reduce inefficiencies. He was met with resistance at first because of the Russian’s mistrust of Western ideas. However a compromise was reached and he began with the storeroom. Polakov created a daily order of work chart for the storeroom as it was the most pressing problem in the building. He was so successful that he was allowed to create machine-record charts, man-record charts and progress-record charts for the entire factory.
Under the direction of Vesenka, Polakov moved onto other assignments. It was reported that the Gantt Chart method had led to an annual savings of one million rubles in 1930, in the machine-tool plant, which also reported a 400% increase in output (2).
Construction of the Hoover Dam
In 1928, the construction of the Hoover Dam was authorised by Congress. The Black Canyon Area in Nevada and Arizona was chosen as the sight of construction. Construction began in 1931 and finished in 1936. At the height of the project, 5,251 workers were employed to build the structure. Temperatures often reached 49°C (3). A Gantt Chart was used to plan the construction of the Hoover Dam bypass. The first task marks a milestone in the project which is the start of designing. After design was completed, six separate yet overlapping projects were needed to complete the bypass. Projects were put in order to increase competition and quality, pairing industry capabilities with work requirements (4). The bypass, known as ‘The Mike O'Callaghan–Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge’ was opened to traffic in October 2010.
That's everything on Gantt Charts. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2022, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Five-Year-Plans
Daniel A. Wren, 1980, https://www-jstor-org.elib.tcd.ie/stable/257800#metadata_info_tab_contents
Trevor English, 2020, https://www.engineersireland.ie/Covid-19-information-base/the-engineering-behind-the-hoover-dam#:~:text=In%201928%2C%20Congress%20authorized%20the,and%20was%20completed%20in%201936.
Mike O’ Callaghan-Pat Tillman Bridge, Bronze Chart, https://ganttchart.com/history_of_the_gantt_chart/
