Music Trade Review

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VOL. LXXVI. No. 6 <~ Published Every SdUrday by Edward; Lyman Bill, Inc., 373 4th Ave., New York, N. Y.
Feb. 10, 1923
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Piano Labor and Steady Factory Production
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O better argument is to be found in favor of the doctrine of having retail piano merchants distribute
their orders to manufacturers throughout the twelve months of the year and place those orders several
months in advance than in the experience of those manufacturers- who, through the co-operation of
the retail trade, have been able to keep their plants going steadily throughout the year. It is note-
worthy that, without exception, manufacturers who for the past two or three years have been able to keep their
plants in steady operation with only a few days' layoff during the year have a minimum of trouble in the
matter of getting employes.
This is not to say that several of these manufacturers could not use more men if they were available,
but it does mean that they are holding and have been holding their present organizations together very success-
fully and thus have not been faced with the problem of rebuilding their organizations two or three times dur-
ing the periods following times of inactivity. The average worker of intelligence appreciates the value of steady,
regular employment, with the resulting annual income upon which he can depend, and so in most cases he is in-
clined to pass up offers of high wages for temporary jobs in favor of the permanence of his factory work.
This rule holds good, not alone in the smaller town where the piano factory is often the leading industry,
but also in the larger centers where there are competitive industries to draw upon the available labor market.
The plant that runs regularly has an attraction for the worker which offsets the lure of high-paying, temporary
labor.
In placing his stock order well in advance and spreading shipments over the twelve months of the year,
the retailer is working in his own interests, as well as for the benefit of the manufacturer with whom he does
business and when he follows that practice he insures adequate supplies of instruments at times when he needs
them, and likewise enables the manufacturer to cut down his overhead to a surprising degree. It costs money
to train new workers and cover the errors they may make during the training period, and when a plant is inade-
quately manned, the proportion of overhead distributed among a limited number of pianos jumps amazingly.
Steinway & Sons have very successfully worked out with the majority of their dealers a plan providing
for placing orders six months in advance of shipping dates, and dividing shipments equally over the twelve
months of the year. The Aeolian Co. has also worked out a similar plan in connection with certain types of
instruments, and there are still other manufacturers who, in co-operation with their dealers, have succeeded in
providing for regularity of production. In some cases the manufacturers have arranged to do their part by
building up reserve stocks on speculation at certain periods of the year simply to keep the factory wheels turn-
ing. This means tying up a very substantial volume of capital when the burden is shouldered by one. concern,
whereas individually, when available instruments are received and stored by retailers even before they are re-
quired, it is negligible.
The maintenance of even production is a matter that has received attention in many lines of industry
where factories formerly operated on a seasonable basis. The latter practice was long ago recognized as being
unsound from an economic standpoint and, in a surprising number of cases, the situation has been remedied to
the general benefit of the industry.
All-year-round factory activity in the piano trade is unquestionably necessary if the trade is to be main-
tained on a sound economic basis. The first steps have been taken, and the practicability of the plan demon-
strated adequately. The assurance of a very satisfactory business year in 1923 makes it eminently desirable
that the practice of advance ordering be developed as far as possible before another year rolls around. The re-
tailer is assured of a definite demand for the products he handles during the year and, with that assurance, he is
in a position to co-operate with the manufacturer to the extent of arranging for his stock requirements some
months in advance. The practice once established, its maintenance is simply a matter of routine.