Automatic Age

T he
A u t o m a t ic
A ge
13
COLLECTING, WEEDING A N D
EXPAN D IN G
T he Fourth Article o f a Series
By OD IN TH O M A S
My last article was on the subject
o f installing a new route. It left off
with the new machines placed in lo­
cations and the route cards arranged
in order fo r the most efficient cover­
ing o f the route.
The most common form o f col­
lecting and servicing is to go around
on the route regularly and visit ev­
ery machine every two weeks or so,
not knowing in advance whether it
is going to need servicing or not.
This is a very inefficient system and
is a great waster o f time. There is
a better way o f doing it.
Let us assume fo r sake o f illus­
tration that we have a machine with
a capacity o f four dollars in pennies
when completely empty. Obviously
the most economical way to service
it would be to go around to it just
before it is completely empty. Fill­
ing it up when only a dollar or two
has been taken in is a waste o f ser­
vice time because under such a plan
you would have to spend your time
servicing it two or three times to
take in the fou r dollars which is its
capacity. How, therefore, can we
systematize things so we shall get to
each machine when it is just about
empty?
W e have started a system o f a
record card fo r each machine as ex­
plained in my form er articles. Let
us keep these cards in mind.
Make a rule to visit a newly placed
machine let us say ten days after it
is set out. Make your collection, fill
the machine and see that it is work­
ing properly. Suppose that our col­
lection fo r the ten days is two dol­
lars gross. The capacity o f the ma-
© International Arcade Museum
Odin Thomas
chine, as we have stated before, is
four dollars. The machine has taken
in an average o f twenty cents a day.
Therefore, at that rate, it would be
completely empty in twenty days.
We may therefore call this particu­
lar mach'ne a twenty-day machine.
It is now reasonable to assume that
if we come back in twenty days, our
machine should be almost empty
again.
Remember to leave the self-ad­
dressed stamped postal with the mer­
chant so that he may advise you if
the machine empties before the es­
timated time. This postal was de­
scribed in my August article.
Now take your record cax-d fo r
the particular machine that you have
just visited and mark on the top of
the card, 20-D AY M ACH IN E.
Go to your stationer and get a
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