The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-02-12
COSTS.
Keep a Close Eye On
Them
TO MAKE MONEY.
Valuable Talk by a Local
Cost Expert.

Worcester County Mechanics Associa-
ton. was delivered in Washburn Hall
last evening by Mr. Hartley K. Green
leaf. head Of the cost department OF
the washburn & Moen Manufacturing
Company. Mr.. Greenleafs Well
known experience as chief cost COM
puter of one of the greatest business
concerns of the world. attracted a
large audience of manufacturers and
employees Of labor to the lecture. They
came in anticipation of obtaining some
practical ideas about the necessity of
keeping an efficient system of costs, -
as the title Of the talk read. and they
were not disappointed. Much practi-
cal information was impaired TO his
hearers by the speaker, who did not
oon6ne himself to a mere literary expo
Sition of his theme, but plentifully IL
hAstrated it by means of the black
board.
James Logan, president of the Me-
chanics Association, opened the pro-
ceedings with some interesting re-
marks, In which he referred to the
growing need Of q higher grade of in
telnaenee In the business or manufac-
turing world. Ignorant men make ig-
noreut competitors. How much in
jury an ignorant manufacturer can
work to his particular business and to
himself. could not be imagined 1t
would have TO be seen. as he has seen
within the past six months, by get
ting behind the scenes" of ten differ
ent manufacturing concerns in differ
ent parts of the country Mr.. Logan's
introduction Of the speaker of the eve
ming was greeted with applause.
In opening, Mr. Greenleaf said:
what does 1t cost? This is a homely
put important question. 1t meets US in
the home circle, in social life. In busi-
ness and in the affairs of state and ma
tion. Between us and desired pleasures
II presents itself as a barrier and Ink
uries We fam would enjoy are exiled by
It's presence. 1t permeates and is the
dominant factor in every field of econ
oinfes 1t is ever present and like Ban
quo ghost it viii not down.
Ignored, results the most disastrous
follow. Looked upon but lightly the re-
suits are questionable. Nicely calcu-
lated. our success is complete and sure.
HAD we known the cost we should
not have embarked on the enterprise
winch has proved so disastrous" is a
common and Oft heard phrase. And an
army OF unsuccessful men bemoan the
Gay when they failed to Calculate the
cost, or at best, figured it insufficientIv
as to detail. The excuse that they did
hot alloW for this or that in their es-
inmate or cost, does not remedy fhe avil
which their error produced.
never, perhaps, in the history of the
industrial world, has competition been
50 Keen as II Is now. In nearly every in
stance, monopOlieS have been s1ch hu+
Tor day The inventive genius of the
iaechahie Is ever on the alert, and the
Improvement or invention of TODAY
hnds its equal, if not its superior to-
morrow This, in its turn. is succeeded
py a stlll greater improvement or inno-
satIoh, ana so II goes, competition
keen. 'iioi
The wits of managers. and tbe invar-
i've genius of skilled mechanics have
been taxed. apparently, to their nj
most, and the income of the wage earn
er reduced to the minimum. The large
nerds nave been carefully cultivated
ana the little farms wei TILED seem
!nslS, every step possible has been
takeh 10 increase what has become an
aiarnlngly small profit In such a
period, every advantage obtainable he
comes a necessity and with a margin az
front SO narrow the necessity of cal
cuiatlng the cost to a nicetv becomes
all-important SO0'iieS
MOI alone the enterprises which are
put the more prosperous. proeressi1e
ana aggressive concerns are nov f,,III,
dilNe TO the necessity of an efficient
system OF cost keeping The need of
more Sharply defining the danger line
On one side of which lies profit and
prosperity and on the other, loss and
IheEltaple failure. has made itself
80 iueht' The progressive spirit
ASKS not only what does II cost9 but
why not only what is the cost in +be
aggregate, but what are the factors
poth large and small, which make fhaf
me case is not rare when. after the
inventory is taken and the books closed
tle HlahuIacturer finds he has not sucI
,,esit eu as ne inquired. He expected TO
make, say, $4,000, but he finds he ie
JUST sZO'OoO to the good. He begins To
queslon the knight of the ouiii', ~,
pfesldes over his ledger. but he ;s in
Iorned simply that figures Won't lie
ana the balance, as shown. is a +,iie
plh. ne thought he had figured about
mhdl ms goods would cost So he had
The about" cost was as near bfs no
luai cost as his about" profit was -
tne actual profit. The ANALYSIS If tho
SITUATION would probably reveal tbe
TACT that on rs per cent of his bnsinese
ne mad realized S25, 600, but his caIci,-
Istlons We're faulty and he had unwit-
unsiy taken on a large arnount of
business which proved i loss Of sEooo y,
MS eagerness TO do more business he
hau stepped beyond the danger line
because that line, with him, was NOT
sharply defined. ''''
IL manufacturers knew moro accu-
rslely the cost of their products. the
tion .1, competition Of the day
would be largely diminished No ea,,o
MANUFACTURED would produce goods 70
sell at loss, If he knew it. Yer we
ma men every day who are blindIN,
hguring themselves into bankruntcv
The office of an efficient cost-systen,
is two-fold ''''eili
II should, in the first place. furnish
rect cost Of his goods TINS ensbiino,
NM at all times, to decide at once on
me ACCESSIBILITY of accepting on re-
Jecting such business as NAV be pre-
sented. BY fun ana correct cost
mean cost which covers labor. mare
IlaI selling expenses aud every attend
ing incidental OF whatever nature--a
cost that needs neither pruning nor
embellishing, but Is fit for The naster,e
hand. muster
secondly, such a system should show
why the cost Is as it is, not In n .en-
eral way, but each step Of the process
shouId De shown separately as from
raw material TO finished product the
expense accumulates. Not only does II
snow the accumulating cost with its
various causes, but the manufacturer
or manager is kept in touch with the
actual process Of manufacture in de-
talL thus placing him in a position
where ne may suggest some change Of
method that will diminish the cost
and, at the same time, expedite the
work. To this feature of an efficient
cost-keeping system. / attach special