Document G6Y6nKYLYqvGxOJpM2QdpYM1N

D R U GS, OILS AND PA IN TS , VJ~ ( To> c S / f r 9 ) ft At the top of the tabulating card is an -oice form, simplified somewhat but contain- g the major items of information needed in icing a company's business activity. If this e sale represented the entire year's business this fictitious company, the bill would prode the managers with all the information ey would need in planning the next year's rations. They would know that they had Id a certain quantity of a certain quality of lint to a certain company in a certain place, id they could fairly easily determine the cost ; handling that commodity and could, without reat difficulty, figure their net profit from the ansaction. It happens, however, that this bill is but ne of many hundred that will be made out in oe company's offices during the course of the ear. Sales will be made in the territory of ve salesmen, to nine types of customers ocated in sixty-three cities, and these sales vill represent orders for an amazing variety if items, sold in widely varying quantities and it widely varying discounts. Somewhere in .he maze, this order of ten gallons of red paint s lost. It is never seen again unless the Smith Hardware Co. of New York writes in md says that there was a mistake in the total charge or that they had ordered blue paint instead of red. If that happens, and the job ber isn't busy, he may. reflect that he made such and such a profit on that sale, but he still has no way of knowing how much red paint he sold for the year, in what quantities, and at what price. It is plain, then, that the first task involved in reconstructing last year's business is the recording of the information contained on the sales slip in such a fashion that it may be readily classified and integrated. To accomplish this, we first convert all the information on the record into numbers. Salesman Charles Adams becomes salesman No. 1, and the territory served by him takes the same number. The Smith Hardware Co. becomes customer No. 213, located in county No. 41 and city No. 4. All of the items car ried by the store are carefully coded after the manner of this order so that the description column will bear, in this instance, the number 6174, the first digit indicating that the article is paint, the second that it is of a particular manufacture, the third that it is used for a particular purpose, and the fourth that it is sold in a particular size container. Three additional digits are then added to show color; discount, value, etc., are similarly treated and the bill is then given to an operator who punches holes in the card under the proper headings. When the punching work is com pleted, the card represents exactly the informa tion that is contained on the charge slip, but that information is now in such a form that it may readily be associated with all similar information. The data, now, instead of being written, is expressed by a hole punched in the card, and by use of a sorting machine all cards bearing similar information may readily be brought together. If the invoice lists several items, a card is punched for each item and another is punched to show the total of the order. We might now begin at the left of the card and discuss the significance of the information that may be derived from each section as we cross the sheet. The first three columns are used purely for identification and as an aid in checking back on possible errors. The more direct interest in the card begins with the two columns under the heading of date. A Detailed Record It is from this column that the logical time and quantity of purchases may most readily ve . determined. .We will start by sorting out -- -U-J 4.i*_ " Q,,j is the enduring metal (and the paint public knows it) R*e.U. 3. P a t. Off. T h e more lead there ' // is in your paints the more enduring w ill be your customersatisfaction. EAGLE-PICHER 134 N O R T H LA SALLE ST R E ET C H IC A G O W hite Lead, C arbonate Sublim ed W hite Lead * Sublim ed Litharge Sublim ed Blue Lead O range M ineral Super Sublim ed W h ite Lead Litharge * R ed Lead Zinc O xide - Lithopone merely secured the total sales for the entire business by months. It would be safe to rely on such figures if the house sold only one item, but where many items are sold it becomes necessary to know not only how much is sold in a particular month, but what it is out of the entire stock that goes most strongly to make up that total. To discover this, we take the cards for each month and break them down by items. When the tabulation comes off this time, each item speaks for itself. Any faults in buying that may have crept in stand out and ask for cor rection. For instance, the vendor's invoices may show a purchase of $10,000 worth of red paint in the month of January. The tabula tion would show the monthly distribution of sales to be 5 per cent, for January, 4 per cent, for February, 20 per cent for June, etc. With " rures in hand, the merchant can see able and how many are costing you money The first thing to determine is, of course, amount of his total annual purchase for customer. But while this figure may give|uj a rough outline of our fortune or laclM" fortune with reference to customers, it haSy starts to tell the story, for just as im port11; as the total amount ordered is the method use' in ordering. It would be quite possible A" sell one customer $1000 worth of goods during the year at a loss and another $500 worth a: a profit. This fact can readily be appreciate' if we consider the $1000 worth of business a representing 500 two-dollar orders, and" th $500 as representing five $100 orders. Customer Analysis I have here the record of sales made to il'L companies during the months of J a n u a r February, May and June, 1928, which w demonstrate the pertinence of such custom