DEPARTMENT OE COMMERCE

Division of Simplified Practice

Washington

MONTHLY NEWS BULLETIN June 15, 1925 No. 3

TURNOVER AND SIMPLIFICATION

The rapidity of turnover is the life of Business. If turnover is imp§cT ed or slowed up, Business is crippled or dies.

Often in this circulation system of Business there are leaks

or impediments which are not readily traceable yet which seriously

affect progress and cut profits to the vanishing point.

These hidden handicaps are due in many cases to too much

variety, which results in needlessly large investments, lost motion and

wasted material.

Simplification, as developed By industries with the co- operation of the Division of Simplified Practice, is one of the Best

means of revealing such conditions. Sales analyses, Bases on actual

denan, show where lie the slow-moving, the obsolete, the freak or odd

size commodities which constitute some of the stumbling Blocks in any

line. These analyses and surveys are the diagnosis of Business life.

Simplified Practice has Been declared By a group of leading

Business executives of the country to Be one of the ten most important

factors in modern Business administration.

How this test and this service can Be applied to yo\ir Business will Be outlined on request By the Division of Simplified Practice,

7/hich will also gladly give information as to its procedure and as to

the progress and results in industries where Simplified Practice has

Been achieved.

* * * * Studies made By the Division of the diverse sizes of motor

license plates and Brackets have Been taken up By the Eastern Conference

of Motor" Vehicle Administrators, and a committee on simplification and

standardization is considering possible action. This committee's

report will Be taken up at a meeting of the Conference next month.

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Because of the increasing use of taper roller Bearings, a

number of manufacturers indicated to the Division their Belief that fewer

sizes would satisfy ordinary needs. A meeting of the manufacturers and

users, with representatives from the Society of Automotive Engineers

Began a study of the problem on June 15»

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The Division has established further contact with educational

institutions. Thirty seven colleges and universities have asked to bo

placed on the permanent railing lists of the Division for material which

will be of interest to their students, from anong whom many future ex- ecutives of industry will come. In addition to a lecture by Hr. A.E.

Foote of the Divisj on- before the Harvard School of Business Administration, Hr. H.M. Hudson, Chief of the Division, spoke last month before

business classes of Washington University,: St. Louis. _ ... ... .

.V 'Simplification has direct-' benefits for buyer' as well as producer and distributor. Economies accinaing, to, the last-named must be.

shared with the'' buyer- where there, i.s competitiph. Improved quality,

better' service .and greater ease of %mai'iit'enanch1iai, iD ' s'ome of the consumer’s

benefits. ' In recognition of • this, ton .overseas offices- of the Bureau of

Foreign ’& Domestic' Commerce have declared: .'their intention of emphasizing

to .foreign buyers of American goods the advantages of buying ’’simplified

lines”.

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• ,* Along the same, line, attention of members of the Savings Bank 4:; Division of .the. American Bankers Association is being directed through

State secretaries to the benefits , .land to the influence which purchasingorganizations can exert toward, the promotion off sim.pl if ication as a ,

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modern form of thrift. ... ^ U -,y . .. q

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-"km-'flie Hation.il - As so. elution' of Purchasing -'Agents. i s being asked

to survey opportunities or fields' for simpl if feat ion -as seen from the

viewpoint of the consumer* • The j Nati anal. Machine ry... and Supply Distributors

Association has been asked to undertake a. similar" action from- the angle

of: the distributor*. The government through Col. H*C. Smither, Chief Coordinator , U.5. Bureau of the Budget, is to carry on a- like study as re- lated to government requirements.

With these surveys in hand, added to the 1 ,000, opportunities

already outlined by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, there

will be a guide for directing future simplification efforts in fields

that promise the greatest good to the greatest number#

* * * * Formal acceptance of the. Standard Inquiry, Purchase Order and

Invoice Forms, adopted at a general conference early this year, is being

received in large numbers# To date more than 20 trade associations, 32

railroads, 95 individual companies, supply houses and others have written

to the Division enclosing their pledge to use their best efforts for the

achievement of simplification in these important business documents. The

letters indicate a keen desire to end the annoyances, the costly misunderstandings and other handicaps from lack of uniformity in thie field.

* * * Reduction in sizes and brands of grocery paper bags from £280

to 4700 was adopted by a general conference of manufacturers, the paper

trade and consumers cn Fay 26th. Fixing of standards of cubical contents

for bags of nominal sizes was a feature of the program which is being presented to the Bureau of Standards for formal approval and for permission
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to use an emblwm on each, hag made in the standard size.

* * * * Paint and varnish brush makers, distributors and users meeting

on May 22 adopted a program eliminating 342 of the 480 sizes of those

commodities now made. Hardware retailers, master painters and others indorsed the program as a long step toward economy.

* * * * Simplification of hack saw blades cannot be completed, the

Division has been informed, because such a program could not become effective unless supported by important concerns which have declined to participate. A number of manufacturers had developed a program of elimination,

but unless action could be unanimous, further efforts would be fruitless,,

it was decided.

* sfc * * Ten thousand copies of recommendations of manufacturers as to

simplified thicknesses of box beard, set up ana folding boxes have been

sent to members of 35 national shipper organizations- as a preliminary to

final conference action on the simplification program.

* * * Boxed elastic webbing was reduced from 11 widths to 7, and

rubber sizes used in this product from 8 to 3 by vote of a general con- ference held in the Department of Commerce on May 22. This program was strongly endorsed by representatives of department and retail dry goods

-Ye#noe- stock® -of- a- perishable - commodity.

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• Bxisfcdfcg'' .variations of size' of wood office' desks arid tables are being surveyed, a simplification of manufacturers office executives,

purchasing agents, distributors and others having begun work on June 2.

Steel furniture will not be included in this survey. - * * * *

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' Mr. A.E. Foote, assistant chief of the Division, is in Europe

for three months, during which, in addition to serving as a delegate to

the International Chamber of Commerce in Brussels, he will study the progress of simplification in other countries.

* * * * Representatives of the American Farm Bureau Federation, the

National Ganners Association, the American Seed Trade Association and others

met on May 28 to consider, simplifying nomenclature of seeds. More than

14,000 varietal names are used for but 1,000 actual and distinct varieties of

vegetables, it was said. The Departments of Commerce and of Agriculture are

to cooperate with the seed trade and canners associations and the Vegetable

.Growers Association to determine the varieties representing the major proportion of the demand.

* * * * Reduction of the existirg variety of tire sizes is favored by 12

makers of passenger automobiles, 5 automobile clubs, 12 manufacturers of

motor tracks, 34 pneumatic tire makers, 5 wheel and rim manufacturers, and

••'53 other manufacturers of chains, covers, display racks, repair molds, rim

tools, 9 tc

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