Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1921-12-14

the habits Of one man or group Of
| men is costly, as the cost books OF any
new development show. But many
managers assume that because the
parts of factory machine are human,
they can immediately adapt them
selves to new condition.
This policy was not an obstacle to
: our growth. On the contrary, the
prosperity of the Jones and Lamson
plant and Of our town proves that
common-sense stability left room for
four kinds Of growth.
! Sales grew. For stability of design
brought advantage to the customer.
Such machine once established in a
customers shop is left there in oper-
alton steadily enough and long enough
to pay for itself, and to make money
for the customer. Then when he
wants another machine he comes to
the same source for it. His men
get used to the macine, and how to
work on it. They can get another
just like it. The moment it comes
they can fall to work On it in the
same old way. The purchasing agent
knows in advance what he will get,
and is sure his men will use it effec-
| lively. This means less new develop
ment effort in sales. Sales built
themselves up. The growth followed
natural demand. The sales depart
ment could calculate probable sales
growth. Sales achieved a stabiliza-
ton in the factory.
The plant itself grew bigger by
gradual accretion corresponding to
the increased sales of the single pro-
duct from year to year. New en-
ployees were easily trained by ex-
ample, quickly fell into the routine
of the others, and were assimilated
painlessly.
Big development in design was not
at all preventive by abstention from
frequent small changes. After a
number Of years the mechanical world
showed convincingly the need for an
even better and bigger machine than
the first speciality. The factory had
constantly kept in touch with machine
shop practice and needs. Years of
experience and ideas had been stored
in mental scrap-book. I selected
the idea which time had shown to be
really most important, and incorpo-
rated this idea into a new machine
which does all that the former one
did, and more too This machine was
recently awarded the Scott medal for
service to industry. Common medal
for service to industry. Common
sense stability certainly did not in
terfere with the mechanical growth
of the product.
By far the best kind of growth is
that Of the people in the organiza-
ton. Our organization could not
have grown as it did unless the peo-
pie in it, as prerequisite, had grown
ization could not have grown as it |
did unless the people in it, as a pre-
In trade knowledge, administrative |
ability, and vision.
Some men tend to growth in ad |
ability, not caring what |
product they operate on. So it might |
as we'll operate on ours. These men |
stay in the organization, expanding
their functions and helping the COM
pany to expand.
Other men are primarily interested |
in product. At some stage of their |
career they get ideas of their own
for entirely new products. Conscious
ly or unconsciously they are wrap
ped up in the prospective new prod |
uct.
Yet, the making of such various
new articles is incompatible with the |
single purpose Of the organization. |
Consequently, we make no attempt
to manufacture them. Instead, we
the man who has a good, |
idea to start new COM
pany, organized around him as a |
success Of these companies is that |
each man is free to put all his at |
tention on his own child. A product
is developed only by the development |
of the man who is identified with It
in mind and heart. Four former |
chief craftsmen of the Jones and |
Lamson shop now have shops Of their |
own. Each man followed the thing
in which he was most interested. The
origin of these industries is enough |
to show that each company is making |
one specially. Each is repeating the |
history of the Jones and Lamson plant |
in simplification, specialization, stab
ilization, profits, and growth. Some |
Of them are already world-known
In 1890 the sales of the original |
company were $4,000. Recently the |
sales ran upwards 100000 a year |
and this and the other machine In |
dustries In the town which sprang |
from it had total sales well over |
$40 900 900. The population mean |
while mad increased only fivefOld, t |
Z 900.
Not only should the business be
in the number of products |
but each product should be simpli- |
fed one. This is partly matter of |
design and invention, and can be most
easily controlled at the time of inven-
ton.
There are two ways of inventing.
Many designers make detailed sur
vey of all the competing product and |
each tries to include in his own de-
sign all the others little attachments
and "talking-points in a form just
enough to get patented. The tendency
here is toward complexity, not simpli-
fication.
To simplify an invention from tn,
start find it best to forget everybody
else's product and take blank piece
Of paper off into solitude, decide what |
the product should accomplish, ano
then figure out the simplest means tx
do that thing. In developing a new
lathe | concentrated on the idea of
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