These sources of loss will serve to indicate the char acter of special-material reports that may be valuable. Thus, periodic reports of all special material on hand, both active and inactive, may save large sums of money, especially if the material is of great value, as in the case of copper supplies. It may be desirable to have all material going into each line of product classified and reported, by the same method as that used in the case of labor (see Figure 25, page 293), with a view to checking the losses due to fabrication.
Material losses due to poor workmanship or defect ive material should always be reported fully. This report should give not only the order number of the part that has been spoiled but also the name and num ber of the man responsible. In some cases where a number of duplicate parts are put thru the factory in a lot, a continuous report is kept of the progress of the lot from process to process; the report is consequently a history of the losses thruout fabrication. This pro cedure may be of great importance where the work is of a refined character and is inspected after each oper ation; it is especially important in cases where the workmen are paid by the piece.
Obviously, the particular kind of material reports required for any industry will depend on conditions, and the form of the report blanks will also depend on circumstances. No effort, therefore, is made to illus trate any blank forms of this kind. The object has been to call special attention to a phase of industrial management that is often overlooked and neglected. As has been shown, it is always difficult to make the material-cost summaries agree with the material sum maries of the general books. No doubt, the lack of agreement can be much lessened by more careful in vestigation of what disposition is actually made of all material purchased.
9. Expense reports.—Another very important class of reports founded on the cost system comprises the analysis of expense. These may be in any detail sirable, from a general summary of expenses, to tailed departmental reports. Figure 26, below, illustrates an analysis of a heat, light and power count, showing the cost, by items, monthly, and also the totals to date, as well as a digest of the distribu Lion of the total by departments. Reports of this kind are of great variety, and are exceedingly useful to the manager.
In its best form the expense report will place before the manager a condensed statement of such expense items as are unavoidable. By reference to Figure 17, page 148, it may be seen that these items are many, and that the amount of detail allowable in the report should be a matter of careful consideration. In large enterprises, a condensed expense report should have' back of it departmental reports, such as are illus trated in Figure 26. Obviously, the larger the enter prise the more detailed must be the subdivision of ex pense items, and the greater must be the care exer cised in laying out a system of expense accounts which shall culminate in one concise, accurate ac count, portraying the changes in this important fac tor of costs.
10. Special reports.—A well-kept cost system is a mine of information for the thoughtful manager. In addition to the benefit from regular reports, such as have just been discussed, he may find much assistance in special reports. Thus, in case the cost record shows that money has been lost on a contract, the cost keeper should be able to furnish a detailed statement of all labor and material that has gone into the work. Such a statement is invaluable in regard to both finding out what is wrong and proceeding to remedy the difficulty. Until a manager has made a study of the cost of pro ducing a given part, by means of such a special cost report, in company with his designer, toolmaker, manufacturing superintendent and others concerned, he will not fully appreciate the full value of accurate costs.
There are many other reports that are based more or less on the cost records as, for instance, the progress report, which gives a statement of the condition of all orders in process of production. But enough has been said to illustrate the statistical value of these records, aside from the problem of finding particular costs.
11. Form of reports. The form in which statistical data are presented is of great importance. The form that is satisfactory in one place may be entirely inade quate in another; and the copying of blank forms from one system to another should be done with caution. There are a few underlying principles, however, which, if well understood, will enable any intelligent cost keeper to originate suitable report blanks. Some of these principles will now be briefly discussed.