Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE
MU3IC TRADE
RENEW
EDWARD LYMAN BILL - Editor and Proprietor
J. B. SPILLANE, Managing Editor
Executive and Reportorlal Staff:
GLAD. HENDERSON,
A. J. NICKLIN,
II. E. JAMASON,
AUGUST J. TIMFE,
BOSTON OFFICE:
JOHN IT. WILSON, 324 Washington St.
Telephone, Main 0950.
PHILADELPHIA:
K. W. KAUIIMAN.
C. CHACE,
B. BRITTAIN WILSON,
WM. B. WHITE,
L. E. BOWERS.
CHICAGO OFFICE;
E. P. VAN TIARLINCEN, 37 South Wabash Ave.
Telephone, Central 414.
Room 806.
MINNEAPOLIS and ST. PAUL:
ST. LOUIS:
ADOLF EDSTEN.
CLYDE JENNINGS
SAN FRANCISCO: S. IT. GRAY, RR First Street.
CINCINNATI, O.: JACOB W. WALTERS.
BALTIMORE, MD.i A. ROBERT FRENCH.
LONDON, ENGLAND: 1 Gresham Buildings, Basinghall St.-, E. C.
Published Every Saturday at 373 Fourtb Avenue, New York
Entered at the New York Post Office as Second Class Matter.
SUBSCRIPTION, (including postage), United States and Mexico, $2.00 per year; Canada,
$3.50; all other countries, $4.00.
ADVERTISEMENTS, $2.50 per inch, single column, per insertion. On quarterly or
yearly contracts, a special discount is allowed. Advertising Pages, $75.00.
REMITTANCES, in other than currency forms, should be made payable to Edward
Lyman Bill.
And
Departments conducted by an expert wherein all ques
allll
tions of a technical nature relating to the tuning, regu-
H0nQl*fmi>ntc lating and repairing of pianos and player-pianos are
VCfKll I l l i e i l O . health with, will be found in another section of this
paper. We also publish a number of reliable tecnical works, information concerning which
will he cheerfully given upon request.
Exposition Honors Won by The Review
Grand Prix
Paris Exposition, 1900
Silver Medal. . .Charleston Exposition, 1902
Diploma. .. .Pan-American Exposition, 1901
Gold Medal
St. Louis Exposition, 1904
Gold Medal. .L.ewis-Clark Exposition, 1905
LONG DISTANCE TELEPHONES NUMBERS 5982-5983 MADISON SQUARE
Connecting all Departments.
Cable address" "Elblll. N e w York."
NEW YORK, MAY 4, 1912.
EDITORIAL
T)ROGRESSIVE piano men are giving serious consideration
J-
these days to efficiency in manufacturing—in other words,
to the securing of a maximum of results at a minimum of cost. We
know of one plant in the music trade industry where thousands
of dollars have been saved annually by the reorganization of its
administrative, production and cost departments, with the result
that not a single detail of. the business escapes those in control.
In view of the keen competition in all lines of trade, the study oi
the fundamentals in efficient manufacturing becomes a duty. Some
very interesting remarks covering the foregoing subject were made
at the recent meeting of the Efficiency Society in New York, by
Melville W. Mix, John Calder and Dr. Schuyler S. Wheeler—
men prominent in the manufacturing world.
Mr. Mix discussed the efficiency of the administration. This,
he said, reflects the efficiency of the dominating executive and the
departments he represents. A greater percentage of inefficiency
exists in the administrative heads of business, he remarked, than
in the factory and in the shop. The deficiencies of the administra-
tive department he analyzed as follows:
1. Failure of a business to secure adequate return. Fifteen per
cent, after deduction of fixed charges and maintenance should be
expected. A grave defect is that a business is operated for the
benefit of the speculator rather than for the stockholder.
2. Failure to build business for a permanent future. Some
well-known trademarks, e. g., Steinway, Tiffany, Sapolio, Castoria,
are in the nature of an investment rather than an operating ex-
pense in publicity promotion. Failure to maintain proper standards
is a breach of trust and is a far greater menace to capital than
a slight lowering of the dividend rate.
3. Failure to appreciate duty toward the public. It is a duty
to place goods in the hands of the public at a reasonable price.
Inefficiency of this sort leads to a demand for government owner-
ship. The public should not stand for a higher price than that
which will return a reasonable return and a reasonable wage.
REVIEW
These deficiencies are due to the lack of knowledge, intelli-
gence, training, ability, judgment, character. The majority of
executives are satisfied with ordinary results rather than eager to
push ahead to unusual success. They content themselves with wnat
others have done rather than to push ahead with some new idea,
some nw line of activity. •
Mr. Calder discussed production. Tracing the history of the
division of labor from the days of Adam Smith, 136 years ago,
labor has shown little disposition to improve the trade. Little has
been done in time study except in a few simple elementary in-
stances. There are a variety of systems directed, as a whole, to
obtain the greatest productive capacity. They are classed as divi-
sional and departmental. The military or divisional system has its
difficulty in human limitations as the plant grows. As to the func-
tional system, in actual practice, shop management is an art and
not a practice. The departmental system splits up the shop into
units of suitable size, holding the heads of the department strictly
accountable for the best development. True scientific management
relates to facts and not to theories.
The best type of shop system is evolved through the shop
itself; a busy and prosperous administration should always be on
the lookout for better methods. The best method is that which will
co-ordinate the efforts of all and draw out and suitably reward all
concerned, even the employers. For instance: a. Have a well con-
sidered system for all. b. See that a perfect understanding of it
exists, c. Make connections clear through a chart, d. Have as
little system and few forms as possible, e. Do not treat system as
a teacher, f. Do not fail to note cost of system, g. Be always
on the lookout for improvements.
Dr. Wheeler discussed the indispensability of accurate and re-
liable knowledge of costs in a competitive business. Some of the
points brought out in his paper were the following: Material must
be represented by the actual value on the books; material and labor
should be kept on a double entry system. If stage money, say,
were supplied to foremen for their use in buying material from the
storerooms and in buying labor this would be an exact cost system.
Miscellaneous or general expenses must be included and distributed
to productive work. The total general expense for the month, say,
should be found, and a distribution should be made, part on labor
and part on material. The division should cover manufacturing
and general expenses. One department is sometimes a greater
expense than others. Some involve little floor space and small
tools; others large floor space and large, expensive tools. The
cost of selling should not be included in the value of material.
A collection of memoranda of costs, each of which is estimated
cost, or all that the foreman remembers to put on sheets, is the
usual procedure, whether kept on tags or cards or in books or on
sheets in the office. This is an attempt at single entry bookkeeping,
an unstable method. There is far more danger in failure to keep
material values straight than in failure to keep cash straight.
T
HIS trade newspaper is at all times endeavoring to perform a
greater service for all departments of the industry. In line
with our fixed policy we shall begin next week to print "Want"
advertisements under classified heads free of cost. That is, a
minimum advertisement of four lines will be inserted without
charge. Any space in excess of that, or set in bold-faced type, will
be at the rate of 25 cents per agate line. This policy, we believe,
will be the means of bringing the people who desire help in contact
with the men whose services are for sale quicker than any other
way.
If you desire salesmen, tuners, factory men, or if any position
in the music trade is desired, send an advertisement setting forth
your needs so that it will go in four lines and it will be inserted
free of charge and replies will be mailed without cost to the indi-
vidual forwarding the advertisement.
This is simply one of the several lines of co-operative work
taken up by this trade newspaper institution.
S
OMEBODY has asked when advertising can be stopped. Well,
just when buyers forget to forget—when competition ceases
to compete—when every actual and prospective customer has been
convinced that your product is the best of its kind and nothing
better can be produced? Even then, it will not be safe to get along
without advertising.