MONTHLY NEWS .BULLETIN

of the

DIVISION OF SIMPLIFIED PRACTICE

DEPARTMENT OF uQi.m'i itRUE

Washington

October 15, 1926. **°* ^-3* MANAGEMENT WEEK AND SIMPLIFIED PRACTICE

By Ray M. Hudson, Chief, Division of Simplified Practice,

Ten days hence, business men in more than 100 cities throughout the United

States will interrupt other occupations to take stock, as it were, of "Progress in

Waste Elimination", which is the topic for Management Week 1926.

The sponsoring organizations are; American Society of Mechanical Engineers;

American Management Association; American Institute of Accountants; Society ef

Industrial Engineers; Taylor Society; Division of Simplified Practice, Department

of Commerce.

Business leaders, engineers and others in these centers have voluntarily

given countless hours and a vast amount of effort, both individually and through

organisations of which they are members, to develop programs for Management

'leek which would be of benefit to the entire community through the improvement

of Management. In some cases they have volunteered their services as speakers at

gatherings in other communities and have agreed to defray their own expenses as

-.heir contribution; in others they are undertaking the leadership of Management

leek meetings. 'The success of such meetings will be of lasting credit to these

men.

Three reports have been placed in the hands of hundreds of business men for

consideration of the "Progress in Waste Elimination" — the report of the Hoover

Committee on "Waste in Industry", the Committee on Business Cycles and Unemployment, and the National Distribution Conference.

Scores of Chambers of Commerce and service clubs such as Rotary, Kiwanis,

Civitan, Lions and executives 1 organizations, as well as many trade associations

with nationwide membership have given their cooperation to the National Committee

and the local committees on Management 'Week.

Erom all of these meetings, it is certain that those who attend will have a

new comprehension of the gains made in waste elimination through improvements in

management, through Simplified Practice, and other activities* And it is equally

certain that a new recognition of the importance of management will result in tne

exchange of experiences on the part of local business men, and a general contribution to good citizenship.

In centers where- there are no Management Week programs, it is possible for th

business men to take a little respite from other duties to check his own business

with the standards of his industry; In the subject of costs, is he making a careful analysis? Is he on the alert to find the leaks of the business and to check

them? Is he thoroughly familiar with the quality of the products he handles, wi ch

the policy and standing of their manufacturer? Is he taking ail possible advantagof discounts? Is he gaining from the constructive ideas offered by his basiness

papers and the salesmen who call on him? Has hi 3 industry adopted standards, or simplified its products, either as to the materials used or the procedure? Is he

working with his trade association for the advancement of his industry? These and

a score of similar questions deserve -his attention from a management standpoint,

whether he is taking part in Management Week or not.

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Business is liKe anything else in that the more one puts of himself into it,

the more he may expect from it. Management has been indicted in a number of

notable instances for failing to meet the test, for being responsible for serious

wastes. Yet business, science and government are alike striving to raise the level

| end correct the faults; and the cooperative effort of Management V»eek committeemen

in various cities bespeaks an interest on the .part of the individual for betterment of the entire nation.

* * * * * * "Industrial Msrchani di sing" proposes a platform for Industrial distributers as

follows;

1

(1) Develop an accurate cost system.

(2)

Budget my business-.

(3)

Stand up for fair profits.

(4)

Concentrate on Natural territories.

(5)

Develop an aggressive, creative sales force.

(6)

Organize in local groups*'

(7)

Worm for enabling legislation on resale price maintenance.

(8)

Support manufacturer s who have consistent policies of distribution.

( S ) Cooperate with the Simplificatio n nrogram of the Department of Oomm-rc

(10) Support my Association,

* * * * * *

n A signal development of the next twenty years will be astounding increases

'.o both selling and advertising efficiency, and the elimination of what will then b'„ •egarded as the stupendous waste of the previous double-decade", says Walter Mann.

• ^en we lock back at the myriad production wastes of the previous generation, and

i'jo way in which they were conquered, we are led to hope and to Know that our decad<

x oo will nr ke a valuable contribution to modern .business progress* And since we

. .-.now the direction in which the progress is to be made; i.e* sales and advertising

ifficiency, the cattle is half-won before we start. The Division of Simplified

rr act ice Relieves that the degree of nation-wide interest in waste elimination will

1 le an important factor in determining what comes next and whether or not we have no aore hard -times.

* * * * * * The following article, which appears in the July ICtn issue of the Iron Trade

review, may be of interest to those who are not thoroughly conversant with the

:o operative services of this Department in the program for the elimination of waste.

"Efforts of the National Committee on Metals Utilization and the Simplified

practice Division, Department of Commerce, to eliminate waste in many industrial

fields have been hampered to some extent, it is stated, by certain technical and

scientific organizations, which see imperfections in one working plans. The plans,

.t is admitted, are of a preliminary nature, and consequently they, are subject to

revision, but the procedure of the Department of Ccaueree has been to allow for

annual revisions to overcome obvious ercie-s.

"The acid test of any formlo;. cr the :, / is the extent to which fct can be., applied practically and 'succeoc hilly . The' tact is the I) -y ai tment of Commerce has

riidrable f&nilitie^ for “broa hasting and pv hr ' ug- over those waste eiimtuati on

rograms, even though they 'may be subject to change as they are tested. Where - -onths and years might be consumed in bringing, before ini v-Stu ies the plans cf

simplification and standardization by technical and scievoific be he;., aver, though

flans might be more finished, scientifically, .he Departs zrt of Couwiree is able, to

place them in v»oi£V3g order in a much shorter time. If they are icund. impractical

in s^me r$sp3Cts, they can be revised at the end of six months or a year. The

s conomies th%se however, are effective at the start, it has been found.

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At the Third Educational Exposition held by the Oregon Agricultural College,

in February of this year, an exhibit showing the advanta ges of siraplif ication

was the object of much interest and discussion. The purpose of the Exposition

is to give educational guidance to high school students, so that they may have

an opportunity to see what the future offers in higher education. The Division

of Simplified Practice will be glad to cooperate in furnishing exhibit material

to other schools and colleges throughout the country engaged in similar activities.

In a recent article by an Internationally known banker this rather significant statement is made -- "Bankers, today, have a particular responsibility to

take stock of the economic situation and to acquaint themselves with underlying

conditions and tendencies that determine the course of business as a whole.

Contacts established through the American Bankers Association, the National

Chamber, and through all the other valuable cooperative agencies which American

business has set up for intelligent industrial teamwork, must be used by the

banker so that he may have a broad and far-seeing view of business conditions, not

alone as they effect one branch but as they effect the whole industrial mechanism,,

It is his part not only to wa rn of untoward developments and to exert his influence to stabilize business, but also to direct attention to healthy and progressive forces which make for national prosperity; and, when conditions warrant it,

to encourage the extension of legitimate activities of business,' 1 Many bankers

are focusing their attention on the movement for the elimination of waste through

simplification as a very important factor in stabilizing business.

•One of the large electric cornnanies of this country reports that their product is being sold today at practically what it sold for in 1914, In answer to

the question "Hew can you do it", the reply was -"by weeding out all obsolete

machinery and replacing it witfy modern machinery designed to give the maximum

production at the minimum cost and by substituting better but more economical

materials," Better materials are produced through the application of simplification.

The Committee on Standardization and Simplification of Store Stock of the

Purchasing and Stores Division, American Kailroad Association expressed the opinion that they could make much greater progress if other divisions of the A,R,A„

representing the users of materials, could be induced to lend the weight of their

influence toward convincing their members of the benefits they may derive from

the application of real stands rdiza tion and simplification.

:|i & * 5|i s|< "Eliminating Waste in Office Supplies & Equipment" vras the subject of an address by Mr, John Mitchell, Bureau of Methods, General Electric Company, before

the 13th annual convention of the Society of Industrial Engineers at Philadelphia,

By adopting the central control method, the stock of standard forms, stationery

and office supplies of the General Electric Company is maintained on. a maximum

and minimum basis. Thousands of dollars have been sa-"-cd by eliminating certain

grades of paper and envelopes and by the use of labor saving devices.

>(c 5|c V "Manufacturers News", the official publication of the Illinois Manufacturers

Association, is among the most recent of business papers to devote considerable

space to progress in waste elimination, simplified Practice, and kindred subjects.

'X
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.

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j n an

. °ditoi ial or, ’Preventable Waste”, which appeared in a recent exchange

,vt_u ion is called to the untold millions of wasted dollars every season, due to

ie gross excess of variety in decorative furnishings with the following tomeiv. . ,f

r f

* s f

thought every retailer of home furnishings and every manufacturer

3 pith w i °^tctrt" Curing the past five years, several hundred industries / ~ a~rc,a y adopted new production policies or are preparing to do so.

"

•

• h -enex competition for the home furnishing industries from some of those

’• f?

much PreTCntatle waste. Gan there be any doubt that the

* . nrinqt a i 0r^' e carpet and the textile mill, should fall into line in this

n f

. The ^ 0D£ er they delay, the weaker their position in the .o%ress oi industries.”

One

* * * *

Vvrnnirh hofi- cant examples of industry’s progress in reducing costs

6 ma eria-i handling, is that of one of the large automobile manufactur

rfr at • The

p ^ ant ^akes just one type of body, in just one

-"ssible

n° variations * Simplification is, of course, w!

finish. It

lat mames it

. , c npHpr

F r °ti atle to build and equip so expensive a plant, and to turn out in

i. a oetter product at a lower cost.

A

P'ornit

* *

d!;t ^e

. f01' the painting of patterns has been adopted by the Joirt

-n Qrn equipment standardization, upon which nine interested national

r '^J f

^^ted. The American Foundrymen’s Association, which is sponsoring

,..is projec*. , has prepared a chart illustrating the recommendations.

^ ******

in one of the Publications of the pulp and paper industry

V.''vpd nm

raS ed

y_ of ^aste Is Preventable Waste." That when the railroads

,* paTiPr u-v/v,

ln a singq e ye^* by discarding old type locomotives for the new,

,,:-p enprt ff an dnKtng. And when it was shown that l/5 of their payrolls

nj tp • fV ~° r A 6 * me> they gasped and thought, "Well, maybe we do have some

-niii/ht + ~ business." The paper manufacturers are giving serious

I

: ' ^-mp 1 nation of sises of paper stock, standard commercial forms, Etc.

* * * * * ^;^on the "certification” plan of the Euerau of Standards to

! ^ . 6 0 specifications, a questionnaire was sent out by the National ...ocidtion of Purchasing Agents to 10,000 purchasing agents, designed to reveal

the extent to which federal maot O r» A -PA X -! * O 0 ‘V 1 1 *

. . , , W 1C^ federal master specifications are Known to and used by public

.*

. ^ 1Va 6

“f® 1,3, res'u-lts of this survey will prove of vital interest to the

* nCUS fla Wor * Replies are being analyzed daily and summary of responses will

appear in an early issue of the Purchasing Agent.

* * * *

,, United States during the first quarter of the year totals

41,500,000,000, an increase of $260,000,000 over the total of $1,200,000,000 for

I, e corresponding period of last year, according to a nation-wide survey just comea

' ^ the Indiana Limestone (^uarrymen’s- Association. Preliminary figures for

4axch indicate 1550,000,000 worth of building in that month. The report embodies * a^em^nt by Thomas J. Vernia, president of the association, to the effect that a .instruction volume of $5,000,000,000 is indicated for 1926 . Simplification and

standardisation of building materials as well as stability in material and labor

~osts are expected to aid greatly in continued broadscale activity. ******

In spite of the fact that the manufacturer of lighting equipment can be

classified largely as a style business in which public taste will change, some savings in expenses would result from carrying fewer stylos and varieties,

according to a recent bulletin, there is a tendency on the part of manufacturers

to make a complete line, that is cheap line, medium grade and high grade. This

undoubtedly adds to the cost of production and it is recommended t'ftat all manufacturers study carefully this phase of their business, with a view cf reducing the number of items made and producing only those linos they are best

equipped to manufacture. This is a waste that any manufacturer should aim to

eliminate.

* * * * Accepting simplified practice recommendations on steal reinforcing bars and

steel spiral rods, one of the important manufacturing concerns in Texas says of

the former; " It is evident that the simplified practice as applied to this

commodity has been of great assistance to all interests and has lowered costs,"

0

r the latter it says; "it is our opinion that the schedule adopted is in every

way adequate for all buildings, and, as a result of the simplified practice,

costs will he materially lowered,"

5fc The railroads have not reached the limit of their capacity says YJ.R. Cole,

President, Louisville and Nashville Railroad. "They must continue to expand.

The greatest field for real, constructive improvement lies in the coordinat ion

and intensification of facilities by further refinements in the existing plant,

so that one output of transportation "service per' man, per unit of facility and

per dollar of investment will he increased.

* * * In the "1926 Book of Facts" prepared by the Business Survey Department of

the Chicago Tribune, "Simplification in Distribution" is discussed as one of

the modern trends in marketing.

* if. * * On a number of occasions the American Society for Testing Materials has

called attention to the fact that "their standards produce their full usefulness only when they are applied as widely as possible in the purchase of materials ; and that it helps and strengthens the work of the Society when its standards are used in this way, and especially when credit is given to the Society

in using them. It has been well stated that if purchasers of materials who

make use of A.S.T.M. standards in writing of their own specifications will so indicate in some suitable way, their specifications will not only have a mere

substantial basis but the effort towards simplification and standardization will

be recognized and appreciated by all concerned."

* * * * The Atlantic Refining Company, manufacturing 521 brands of candles, has

evolved a plan for simplifying production without disrupting the business. The

plan involved —

1. Creation of a clear record,

2. An analysis of the line,

3. Reduction of the number of prodxicts month by month, no matter how few were eliminated.

* $ $ 4= Count Eugenie Rebaur.dengo, director of the Fiat Automobile Cc., Turin, Italy,

who has been in the United States studying American Indus t^ial methods, has sailed

for home. Modern production methods of American factories great?

y

impressed

him and he expressed the belief that the world would prefit industrially if

various countries copied American organization and standardization in industry.

'

A large sewing machine company has adopted a control system to sca.Oj.iiee

production and to meet sudden fluctuations in demand. This system keeps workers

continuously busy and holds down inventories. Elements of this system a... e . (j.> the annual estimated demand of all types and styles; (2) the "Board of Control’ , (3)

the final regulation of work in process. Here is another example of simplification being applied with good results to a commodity which is afiecced by

style and design.

A questionnaire was recently sent out by one of the important organisations

of the country, in which inquiry was made for the six most important subjects j-X

the efficient management of a manufacturing plant* We give them chore in the orbs*

of their importance as indicated by the returns*

(1) Control your inventories closely-

(2) Increase your efforts to cut production costs.

(3) Increase the effectiveness of your sales organization.

(4) Keep close watch of general business conditions, through

the study of business statistics-

( 5 ) -Push simplificat ion (elimination of needless variety; » (6) Budget your sales, production and finances.

* * * * * * A group of representative manufacturers of punches and dies, meeting under the

joint auspices of the National Committee on Metals Utilization and the Division

of Simplified Practice of the Department of Commerce took initial steps on September 29 toward the simplification of their products.

some make

With a view to framing a tentative Simplified Practice Recommendation to be

presented to a general conference of manufacturers, distributers and users at

future time, a Simplified Practice Committee of the industry was appointed to

a survey of current practice, as a basis for a simplified list of sizes-

* * *t * * * A representative group of manufacturers of white glazed tiles and unglazed

ceramic mosaic have prepared tentative proposals for the establishment oi uniform

grade nomenclature and grade marks, the formulation of minimum grade specification,

ana the certification of grades. The Department of Commerce has been requested

to call a general conference of manufacturers, distributers and users of these

commodities, for October 27, 1926.

% afc 4c In accordance with the unanimous action taken on September 22, 1926 , of a

general conference of representatives of manufacturers, distributers and users of

vitreous china plumbing fixtures the Department of Commerce, is circulari zing the

industry for acceptance of the Simplified Practice Recommendation which was

developed, covering standard nomenclature definitions, and grading rules, as well

as simplified types, sdzes and dimensions of staple vitreous china plumbing fixtures. The Recommendations became effective October 1, 1926.

* h * * * >41 On September 23, 1926, a general conference of producers and consumers of

vetneer stock for wirebound boxes was held in Chicago, under the auspices of the

Department of Commerce. A Simplified Practice Recommendation was promulgated

overing a simplified list of dimensions for air and kiln-dried stock produced

from guru, pine & other soft woods. The recommendations will go into effect

November 1, 1926. ******

The Division of Simplified Practice will be very glad to furnish, upon request

tobies of the summary reports giving results accomplished at the general conferenc

referred to above. ******
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