26 



Hardwood Record — Veneer & Panel Section 



August 10, 1917 



tensive change, especially after the order has been 

 started through the mill, is practically throwing a 

 monkey-wrench into the machinery. 



The consumer who is trying to co-operate with the 

 mill will therefore exercise a due amount of restraint 

 along this line. He will place his order after considering 

 carefully just what his needs are going to be, and then 

 he will stick to it until it is carried out. If a serious sit- 

 uation arises, he will get in touch with the mill or its 

 representative, and see what changes can be made with- 

 out difficulty. Sometimes this can be done readily, and 

 sometimes it can't. But he will realize that the producer 

 ought to have some consideration, and that the service 

 he himself receives will be determined largely by the 

 degree of consideration he shows. 



"There are concerns which think nothing of changing 

 their specifications by wire without the slightest notice 

 to us or suggestion that the change may not be to our 

 liking," said the sales manager quoted above, in discuss- 

 ing the general subject of the necessity of educating con- 

 sumers to veneer mill conditions. "They simply don't 

 appreciate the situation at the mill, nor that when they 

 make any extensive revisions in their orders as placed 

 they may be necessitating a change in the orders given 

 to every department, from the log yard to the shipping 

 room. TTien, too, there are buyers who simply don't 

 care, and who consult their own wishes only. They fail 

 to realize that the troubles and difficulties encountered 

 by the manufacturer at the mill are bound to affect the 

 service rendered the customer, and that only by careful 

 and kindly co-operation can the best possible results be 

 secured. If this were fully appreciated, buyers of veneers 

 would be more careful regarding the way in which they 

 call on the producer who has had an order on hand for 

 weeks or months to change the entire complexion of it 

 with reference to thicknesses, kinds and number of pieces 

 of each item." 



One reason why this situation is more important than 

 may appear on the surface is that with the possibilities 

 for standardizing veneer mill production coming into 

 greater appreciation on the part of the manufacturer, 

 efforts are made whenever possible to combine orders for 

 the same kind and dimensions of stock, so as to make as 

 long a continuous run of one item as possible. This 

 makes for lower production costs, quicker delivery and 

 easier operation of the mill. The bigger the cut on any 

 one item at a given time, the better it is for the millmen 

 and the customers who receive this part of the output. 

 Hence to alter in a substantial way an order which has 

 played a part in planning extensive operations at the 

 mill may make it very difficult for the manufacturer to 

 revise his schedule without increasing the cost of produc- 

 tion to a marked degree. 



This leads up to the question of the increased cost of 

 supplying veneers other than those at first ordered. In 

 some cases where buyers have simply telegraphed in- 

 structions regarding the delivery of stock different in 

 thickness and other features from that which had been 



ordered, the manufacturer has billed them for this mate- 

 rial at a somewhat higher price than that quoted in the 

 order accepted in the beginning. Invariably there is a 

 howl from the customer v^hich can be heard from the 

 factory to the mill without the aid of the wire. He can- 

 not understand why an increased price should be de- 

 manded, and he concludes that the manufacturer is simply 

 taking advantage of his (the customer's) necessities to 

 raise the quotation. 



As a matter of fact, of course, this is not the case. 

 The cost which was established at first was based on cer- 

 tain conditions, and these conditions have been elim- 

 inated w^hen other material is substituted for that ordered. 

 There may have been a big run on the sizes originally 

 specified, while a special cutting of the particular stock 

 ordered later may have to be arranged for. And there 

 are other manufacturing conditions which affect the cost 

 of producing the stock, justifying a different and perhaps 

 higher charge. But the customer who has been looking 

 at the question entirely from his own standpoint cannot 

 see it that way, and imagines that he is getting all the 

 worst of it. 



Had he anticipated the situation, and taken up the 

 matter of making a change in time to enable the mill 

 to arrange its operations accordingly, the readjustment 

 might have been brought about without difficulty, and 

 the price held down to the figures formerly quoted. But 

 here again lack of knowledge and appreciation of mill 

 operating conditions interposes to prevent the complete 

 understanding and co-operation which ought to be es- 

 tablished from being realized. 



One of the things which veneer salesmen can do, and 

 should do, not only as part of their duty to their em- 

 ployers, but as a service to their customer, is to advise 

 them exactly regarding mill conditions; just how the 

 material is produced, the difficulties under which the 

 producer labors, regardless of the character and extent 

 of his equipment; the time element which must be con- 

 sidered, and all of the other details which affect the de- 

 livery of an order. If each solicitor did this and made 

 it perfectly clear to the customer that a veneer mill is 

 a different kind of place from a screw machine products 

 factory, he would be rendering a very real service to the 

 trade. And, incidentally, if there are salesmen who have 

 been turned loose upon an unsuspecting public without 

 practical knowledge of mill conditions, these should be 

 given a free trip to the plants, and their education along 

 this line completed. 



Co-operation is the big word in the modern vocab- 

 ulary. It has its place in peace and war, in politics and 

 industry. Buyer and seller have not learned how to co- 

 operate as they should, because they still regard each 

 other as natural enemies, with "Caveat emptor" as the 

 ruling sentiment. But when this out-worn idea is dis- 

 carded, and the veneer producer and the veneer con- 

 sumer get together on a basis of mutual confidence and 

 understanding, the matter of giving service and getting 

 results will be simplified. 



