On the other hand, it may also build a large number of small motors or transformers, these articles not being in continuous production, but passing thru in large lots as needed. Large numbers of finished parts may be made at any one time and placed in the storeroom to be assembled whenever desired. Again, certain processes such as annealing and dip ping in insulation may be. in constant operation, like a continuous process, tho all the sheet steel passing thru may be handled and identified as belonging to certain specified lots and intended for specific jobs. The porcelain works of such a factory, if they were making porcelain parts of approximately the same size, might very well be treated as a continuous in dustry and the cost of its output might be computed by the unit plan, as in the extreme continuous indus tries discussed above. The same procedure might be followed in the foundry, if the manufacturing con ditions were analogous and no great variation in the size and character of the product existed.
Obviously the conditions in such a factory are com plex, and the cost system that will be adequate for such a place needs careful consideration and may in clude characteristics of more than one method of cost finding. Clearly, also, no single method of cost find ing is applicable to all kinds of industry, and many practical modifications must often be made in cost keeping theory in order to obtain a workable system. In many cases exact results are not obtainable, be cause of such complexities. There are, however, cer tain fundamental conceptions that are helpful in all cases.
7. Blanks and forms for cost finding.—It is ob vious also that, where a factory is highly department ized, as in Figure 2 (page 21), special means must be employed to coordinate the work of the several departments and to insure that correct information will go to the right persons and to those persons only. Such information cannot be carried orally, but must be transmitted by means of systematized blanks and printed forms. Furthermore, the amount and character of the "system" used will vary widely with the character of the industry, the size of the plant and its particular form of organization. The card or form that will be excellent for a particular pur pose in one factory will be useless for the same pur pose elsewhere. No effort is made here, therefore, to illustrate such forms or blanks except as it is neces sary to illustrate general principles. If the purpose of the blank can be clearly determined the exact fgrm of the ruling and of the printed content is a mItter of clerical work only; tho, of course, much valu able information and assistance can be obtained from the collections of such documents that are found in specialized books on cost finding and on account ing.
Even where the cost-finding system is elementary, and does not extend beyond the general books, it is important that the blanks and forms used in admin istration be made with the cost system in mind. Much
valuable time is often wasted in copying and recopy ing instructions or records that should appear in the required form as a natural result of the system. When, however, the detail costs required are such as to warrant the employment of a cost keeper, and the opening of special ledgers, such as the stores ledger and the cost ledger, the forms and blanks used must cover thoroly the system introduced. The man ufacturing superintendent is concerned with placing proper orders for producing machines. The cost keeper is concerned with the detail in which these or ders are given, since on the detail in which the order is given must rest the detail in which his cost will be re corded. The set of forms, therefore, should serve both purposes, namely, that of carrying the correct in formation as to the method of doing the work, and at the same time that of segregating operations in such a manner as to allow the intelligent recording of costs. No one thing is so fatal to system of any kind as complexity. Every effort should be made, therefore, to keep the number of the blanks down to a mini mum consistent with the absolute requirements of the situation.
8. Two classes of blank forms.—A large manu facturing enterprise may employ a great number of these blanks and forms, and to the uninitiated this vast array is often very confusing. There are, how ever, only two general types of such documents and it will assist materially in an understanding of com plex systems if these blanks are classified into: (a) Orders, or instructions as to how work is to be done.
(b) Returns, or records of how work has been per formed.
Orders include all instructions or advice emanating from all departments and officials that are charged with directing the work. Thus, the drawings and specifications issuing from the drafting room, and the information regarding shipping dates and des tination of product, may be regarded as orders, just as much as the specific orders that must be given to a mechanic regarding a particular piece of work. It may be further helpful if these orders are considered as moving downward in Figure 2 (page 21) over predetermined paths, each one carrying its informa tion accurately to the right parties and to them only. In large organizations it is now common to make such a chart as Figure 2 and lay out such paths; also to specify the character of the orders that are to move along each one. Figure 10 (page 92) illustrates a production order issued by the order clerk (Figure 2), instructing the foreman of some department, per haps, to proceed with some operation. The produc tion order carries the number, letter or other char acteristic which identifies the work, whether it be a lot of machines, a single machine, or a part of a ma chine and, obviously, the detail in which it is made out will govern the detail in which the returns can be made.