Document 3J08ByZNw5dj6pK4YawMD1Xpx

THE CHAMELEON A magazine for employees of The Sherwin-Williams Co. Published at Cleveland headquarters since January, 1898 VOL. 23, NUMBER 1 Address: Editor of Chameleon, 601 Canal Road. Cleveland, Ohio APRIL, 1922 Officials Encouraged as Business Takes Gradual But Certain Up-Turn A "PROMISE OF THE MORNING" In a n s tv e r to your request as to the "outlook," or perhaps "What of the night?" and va rious matters of the Finance Depart ment, I am happy to say that at pres ent there is a "p romise of the morning." Time tvas, and some of ; us can remember, fifty years ago or even twenty-five, when we could honestly say that it was fun to do business--so easy, often came almost without the asking; 1 but the experience at present is not of that sort, and the adjustment after the war is taking years longer than ever was 1 expected. And were we in need of any | evidence as to the fallacy of bolshevistic ideas, the experience for months past, as ; well as of the present, should dispel it : forever. There never was a time in our business, and, I take it, in all other busi ness, when the gray matter of brain was ; more in demand and absolutely necessary, as pertains to the purchase, manufacture, and sale of goods, coupled with the diffi cult and perplexing problems in matters of credit and collections, than at present. There is some comfort, perhaps, in realizing that we are doing as much busi ness as our friends in Canada, on the i Continent, in Australia, or any of the islands of the sea, and perhaps, in com parison with our competitors, but the I natural ambition of human nature is to I desire some margin of profit that will compensate for the labor expended. This adjustment has not yet been made, and although the managers of a business, like our own, may feel a certain degree of se curity because of sufficient capital for the i business done, and it may be possible to [realize a fair margin of profit in the manufacture of the goods, yet it is an absolute necessity that there be a more 'radical adjustment than appears at pres ent between this profit and the terrific ex pense in the process of distribution, and juntil this is done, we must all expect a ^smaller return from the capital than has been our custom in the past. As I intimated, the outlook is better than it has been in two years, and prom ises well, and the equipment for our busi ness was never more satisfactory than at present, but it is no time fpr any weakkneed pessimist `or indifferent worker to take any satisfaction to himself. Vice President and Treasurer. SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST This applies to any game, business or accomplishment that is on the square. The recent de pression of business and of things in general, which was only a repetition of others that have gone before, is now a thing of the past so far as this company and its business are concerned. With but few exceptions such as the mining and insecticide business, for the past six months operations in every de partment, auxiliary and subsidiary, have been in normal production, and still are. The paint and varnish departments are equal to the best we have ever done. Our sales are parallel to the figures of the last normal year, 1918-19. (We omit comparison with 1919-20 and 1920-21, they being abnormal and subnormal, re spectively.) The above conditions reflect the strength of the organization in its men and its reputation for energy, quality and square trading. It has been men, or, in other words, the human element, that has made this insti tution what it is--the largest industry of its kind in the world, and respected for its honorable dealing. We feel and have every right to believe that with the rank and file of the men in the sales depart ment, factories and offices practically the same as prior to this period of depression, and all tried and true and game to the core, and- with the addition of such new blood as joined with us, we will not only hold the splendid record the company has made during the last six months, but will come through the balance of the year and show, on September 1st, a record that will surpass anything we have accom plished in the past. To each individual we say, we are ex ceedingly strong financially; we have factories that are modern and up to the minute, making goods of quality, quickly and economically, and geographically lo cated to give the best of service; we have offices and warehouses located for the quickest possible dispatch, which means service--a sales proposition without an equal--and, in fact, we have everything material, and, best of all, we have the men, so "let's go," and every one of us do his part and we will beat the world at our game. Vice President and General Manager. PRESIDENT SAILS APRIL | 5TH t President (Nottingham's letter of Feb. 22 says: "I have taken a reservation on the S.S. Ho meric, sailing April Sth, and hope to be able to sail that date." The Homeric is the largest twin-screw steamer afloat and is one of the new ships of the White Star Line. It is a 34.000- ton vessel. This should bring Mr. (Notting t ham back with us about April 12th and he will receive a most cordial welcome from the entire Cleveland organization. While i * abroad, he keeps in the closest touch with the business through reports and letters and no detail escapes his attention. t *4 April, 1922 THE CHAMELEON Home Office Prepared to Serve D. C. & C. SHOWS REAL PROGRESS trical equipment in general, results in the activity in this line. SIGNS OF SPRING _________ Six y ears of the It is not unusual now to have our out greatest industrial de side offices wire us to rush a carload of velopment the world varnish to a customer, and if we cannot has everknown to get away promptly the entire amount, 0 many manufacturers ship as many drums as possible. We are reflected an opportunity not unhappy, neither are we satisfied. to realize on their in Why? Because if we can get this volume vestment for the time from one part of the trade, we could in being only. The wis- crease the sales materially if every fellow dom of our own com secured his share of this desirable indus pany to profit by this trial business, so it is up to each one of us condition by improving our toprsotcaensdseusp, and analyze his possibilities. stabi.izing our products, and Itadisditnhgeretoif you will go after it, and we our facilities has placed us in the most are here to help you in every possible favorable position to win on our merits way. We would very much prefer to and has made possible the activity in have the slogan read, "Doing It Now," these lines at present, which is resulting instead of "Do It Now." There is a lot With every indication of an early Spring, plus the dire need on the part of nearly every property owner in the coun try for paint or varnish for some surface, inside or outside, plus the biggest sales campaign we have pulled in many a year, the approaching painting season prom ises to be most productive. We are particularly pleased with the large percentage of stock orders booked and shipped to date, the record being con siderably ahead of any year during the past four; in fact we have taken over 100 more stock orders up to this time than we had booked over the same period in the banner year of 1920. in increased sales. of satisfaction in knowing that none of Our House Job Campaign is already Since January 1st there has been such this good business gets away from you. under way; the "Demonstrations" or a marked improvement and the buying element is so definitely evidenced that our J. O. Ha s s o n . "Paint Days" are scheduled for the en tire Spring season, starting April 1st. manufacturing units for making technical products have been working to capacity. AUXILIARIES GOING STRONG Every employee of the company can help the community (and incidentally the It was necessary after the first of the year to increase our schedule of production to take care of the requirements of the Dry Color consumer, one company placing orders for three tons of color for prompt shipment. This, together with the regu lar monthly schedule of shipments in a range of colors, indicates that our distri bution is over considerable territory. Our chemical lines have been unusually good for a period of months, and as a result units for manufacturing interme diates have been operating to capacity since last September. We have requisi tions from three large consumers for seven tons per month, another fifteen tons and still another twenty tons, and numer ous orders from two to five tons. It is necessary for us to run in two units ninety tons per month. We are shipping from our pulp plant from four to six carloads, this being our newest development, and shows very sat isfactory results from our introductory work done in the coated paper trade. No greater compliment could be paid to the quality of our Acetic Acid than the placing of business with us by consumers in lots of from one 'to two barrels per month to three carloads, making it neces sary to take care of orders amounting to more than three hundred and fifty tons per month. The automotive industry has come back so strong that several plants are working nights, that resulted in placing requisitions with us that spells "Speed Up" on undercoatings and color, as the trade realize that no surface is perfect unless built up with S-W products. Car loads of insulating materials are rolling to our customers now. New interest in radio, as well as the starting devices for The Old Dutch Process company) by boosting the painting idea White Lead Plant is run this Spring. Suppose you take the initia ning at its utmost capacity tive in your neighborhood by painting the and also the new Quick house, if it needs it, or the front porch, Process Plant is turning or the fence, in fact any surface that re out its full rated capacity. quires paint, varnish, stain or enamel. This gives us an output 50 And, girls, you can make one of your per cent greater than everlasbteyfoeraer,'s bhuatts do duty again this year by even with this increased oucatpmuot uwflaegianrge it with Hat Brite 1 finding it difficult to keep up with our or ders, and there is no let-up in sight. The new Red Lead and Litharge Plant L. F. Co l l is t e r , Mgr. Gen. Trade Sales. has met with wonderful success. It is IllllllllllllllllllliniinilllHIHIlllMIlMja now being operated at its maximum ca pacity, and orders on hand indicate we will continue to do so for some time to Haynes' Farms | come. Zilo, the new paint product, which is Palmyra, Tenn. a combination of zinc and lead ground in oil, is meeting with success. At the smelter we have been for some time operating two of the three units to capacity and with these two units which have been rebuilt along our latest metal- urgical developments, we are obtaining an output 30 per cent greater. Yet the Indications are that the third unit will have to be put into operation very shortly. The old lithopone unit has operated steadily and we are figuring before long 3 A delightful spot to spend the to put the new unit into operation. Dr. Holton has been spending most of his m week-end time during the past months at the Litho pone Plant working with Mr. Stevens, and we now have a much superior product. S mMi 5 Cozy nooks for business chats ------ Special telephone line for die- - * n The new can plant is being pushed with S tatiion to the office business. This is probably the most mod ern can plant in existence today. The B If you can't find me, ask Miss jj character of our cans since we put up is Julia, she knows E ill Wl this new plant is very much improved. MU HID H. J. Ha in . S COLONEL BILL 5 motor cars and the building of other elec Mgr. A itxiliaries. uSIllllllBIIEIlBIlIlllBIIIBlSmiRIStSCVIlSISlm 7 SUP 652255