work, these records grow rarer and rarer. Seldom do we find written specifications covering what might be known in a given concern as standard practice. But when it is realized that standard 'operations and standard efficiency are as valuable to a firm as stand ard materials and standard machines, then will be seen the true functions of the planning department and its record of standard practice.
5. Objections to standardization.—Perhaps the commonest objection to adopting standards, aside from the difficulty of obtaining them and of keeping a permanent record, is that they will destroy the initia tive and incentive of the workman. Those who raise this objection seem to reason that when a standard is once adopted it is to remain forever. But standards are ever changing, and that is the reason managers are needed. No sensible manager of today will ignore any suggestions from his men which may improve his standard practice. All that such managers require is that the men first show themselves capable of ac complishing work according to the standards that are set by normal conditions. Absolute standards can never be set in business ; therefore, there will always be plenty of opportunities for the exercise of the workman's ingenuity.
6. Cautions in adopting business standards.—Per haps some caution, however, might be suggested re garding the establishment of standards. In business, that particular standard is desired which will produce the largest output with the least effort or cost under the existing conditions. One of the chief considera tions is the human element., In a shop employing one hundred men, one man might be found who would be able to do a given piece of work three times as quickly as anyone else. If this man's accomplishment were taken as the standard and the other men were forced to meet it, the output in a very short time would fall appreciably. The men working beyond their strength would soon show the result in their lagging energy. The excellent man's accomplishment should not be the standard for the good man's effort, because it is the latter upon whom the management must de pend in the long run for its steady output. Normal conditions, and not "spurt" conditions, should con trol. The schedule should be made so as to allow for the general run of men, but should permit a place for the unusual as well as the mediocre. As Mr. Emer
son says, there are places where the poor men may fit, even as the tame goose plucked for his feathers and prepared for the feast shows one hundred per cent efficiency, whereas a thin wild goose is far below par ; but the efficiency would be reversed, in the case of the goose, if flight instead of diet were being con sidered. The schedule must fit the man and the man must fit the schedule. There is no such thing as a universal schedule.
7. Standard materials, first step.—Among the first departments into which definite standards were intro duced were the purchasing and contracting depart ments. These standards have proved their worth to such an extent that every business is familiar with them. The extent to which specifications have been standardized is remarkable, and the results are sig nificant of what might be done in other fields.
Too much emphasis cannot be placed upon the fact that standardizing is a continuous process. No speci fication is necessarily perfect, and modifications and remodifications, which only experience will develop, must be made to meet constantly changing trade con ditions and to correct fundamental defects.
8. Standard quantities, second step.—The quan tity of each kind of material to be kept on hand and the amount to be purchased are involved in the second step in standardizing materials. The object in view is to prevent the annoyance of running short (so com mon in all unorganized stock rooms), to purchase suf ficient quantities, to secure good prices and still not to lock up an unnecessary amount of capital. This ob ject is accomplished by establishing a minimum below which the stock must never be allowed to fall. The minimum depends upon how long it takes to get sup plies delivered, how fast the material is generally used up and how rapidly it deteriorates. Sometimes a sec ondary or emergency minimum is added, if the new supplies have not come in before a dangerous point is reached, to call special attention to that fact. The amount to be purchased depends upon the saving to be gained thru quantity buying, the room and help available for handling, the capital tied up, the sea sonal variation in prices and the amount that is used.