These figures are generally placed directly on the material-ledger accounts so that the stock clerk can see instantly when supplies are running low, and can replenish in time.
9. Monetary savings due to standard materials.— One of the big advantages of standardizing materials is the direct monetaiy saving. An examination of the supplies used will generally show a surprising variety in the kinds and grades of the same article. The Commission on Standardization of the City of New York found that the city had twenty-five different standards for horses, and numerous standards for coal. They have been able to classify all.the city re quirements under seven grades for horses and one specification for coal. So far, the Commission's work has covered only one-fourth of the city pur chases, but if the 5 per cent saving effected thus far can be applied to the whole $22,000,000 which the city spends annually for supplies, the saving will be over a million dollars a year.
Since the introduction of standard materials is not hampered by existing conditions—new materials of one kind or another must be ordered from time to time—it provides the ideal way to begin standard izing.
10. Standard office material.—Office material is a particularly good field for standardizing, since differ ences in stationery rarely have any more logical basis than chance. For instance, many kinds of carbon paper, typewriter ribbons, pencils, pens and erasers are found in every office, together with many different shapes and sizes of account books, forros, etc.
11. Example of standard drawings.—The multiple system of standard-sized drawings which is universal in large drafting offices can be used to advantage in general office work. In this system the fact is recog nized that all drawings cannot be made on one size of paper even tho such a method is very desirable. A given large size is adopted as standard, which is divided into halves, quarters and eighths for smaller sizes. By this arrangement all drawings can be filed in cabinets of uniform size by dividing the drawers to correspond with the smaller drawings. As the stand ard-sized sheet is always selected, the paper can be cut to the best advantage and without waste. For in
stance, if the standard or A sheet is 23 x 36 inches, which is a stock size of paper, the four sizes allowed in the office would be: The multiple system has also been adapted to ship ping, especially in seed houses, where the packages for different quantities are all multiples of each other. This permits all orders to be packed in boxes of the same size. Orders too large for one box can be packed in several separate boxes and the boxes can be nailed together with strips on the outside. This saves storage space in the shipping room and greatly facilitates the routine.
12. Standard equipment.—It is better to have all the machines second class than many first with a few second and third class, because the operators on the first-class machines will regulate their speed to that of the workmen on the second and third-class machines. Thus the efficiency of the first-class machines is al ways lowered to that of the poorer ones.
All machinery, however carefully watched, wears out and breaks down. To avoid costly delays it is therefore necessary to carry repair parts in stock. If one type of machine is used, one set of parts will be sufficient for all breakages. The probabilities are against two machines breaking down in the same way at the same time. If two kinds of machines are used, two sets of parts become necessary, because the parts of one will not interchange with the parts Of the other. If many makes are used, many sets of repair parts are necessary. Unproductive capital is locked up in these parts, increasing the indirect expense. Machin ery manufacturers are waking up to the importance of this matter of repair parts, so that it is now possible to get a complete range of tools, the parts of which are interchangeable ; fewer parts consequently need to be carried in stock. It is also good practice to select the entire equipment from one or two firms, provided the purchaser does not become too depend ent upon one source. Any advantage of heavy ma chines of different makes is often more than offset by a gain in uniformity. Where a firm manufactures much of its own machinery it is advisable to carry out the same idea.