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May -.'S, lUl.'i. 



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The Lumbermen s Round Table 



How Much Did You Make? 



1 ,,.,.,.., ,<il.U'r uliu l>ii\K iiiul m'IIk, iui<1 oftoii sliipii diri'i't, 



rnnnot iiluiivs tell without conKidrrnMo flt;urin(; just wliiit liiM not 

 profit uii jiiiv pnrtii-iilitr rnr of liini)H'r wiis. Howovrr, it is to hi.'* 

 intcrost to know tliiii, luul to kr<'|> U-for<< him, in rciiMpact nnil );rnphi<' 

 forui, thi' Mirious ox|><'n!<<>!< nn<l (■hnr);i>ti I'onnootoil with tho hnntllin^ 

 of tho I'lir. If ho (lof» this furrm-tir, ho will Im' able to toll at tho 

 Mill of tho month or tlio vonr whnt his frross prufitj) woro, anil his 

 not will Im' this nniount loss (Icdiiiiimiv iHr .hitIum.I iiiilii.lini' urti.i' 

 and trarolinj; expenses. 



A well-known hardwood man )i:is ixiiivi.i :i sv^tim »rii<ii pui-^ nil 

 of the!* fhcts Ijofore him. Ho usos a card systoni, and the cards 

 rcprosonting individual rars of lunihrr nro always within Ills roai-h. 

 He does not no«"d to consult loiiger, corrospondonci- lllos or anything; 

 else to find out whnt he wants to know, liocauso it is all put down 

 in black and white on those cards. Thus ho can reoapitulutc or refer 

 to any particular detail of the transaction witliout any loss of time, 

 and ho is never delayed in Roing back over his business for a month 

 or longer period and findinj; out just where he is at. 



Tho card shows the number of tho order, date received, name of 

 customer and address, car number, the number of the order as shown 

 on customer's blank, the destination and routins: of the shipment, and 

 name of the consignee. Here are all the big facts about the order 

 itself. 



Next is an arrangement for entering the actual hanilling of the 

 order, including terms, invoice number and character of inspection. 

 The number of feet invoiced, the point where the stock was loaded 

 and the rate are indicated, and the date shipped is also shown. If 

 the stock was purchased outside anil not shipped from the con- 

 cern's own yard, this is also indicated on the card, the purchase num- 

 ber, shipping instructions, etc., being shown. 



The recapitulation provides for the items of selling invoice and 

 cost invoice, and the following deductions: freight inbound, freight 

 outbound, two per cent discount, rebate, expenses and ins^pection fees, 

 with net jirofit figured at the bottom. 



A card like this is a mighty interesting thing, and the dealer who 

 is using such a system can find a lot to interest? him after he has 

 shipped a few himdred cars under such a system. 



One Kind of Dimension 



The concern which can su|ii>ly iliniension lumber without having to 

 spend money for m.Tnufacturing it to the particular size wanted is 

 certainly going to make more money than if this expense has to be 

 added. That is one reason why the plan of piling lumlier according 

 to width is growing, both in yards that make a specialty of dimen- 

 sion and those which do not attempt to remanufacture. 



A leading concern specializing in poplar, cutting it to size for 

 various purposes and also shipping the lumber as it comes from the 

 mill, ha.s rei'cntly adopted the plan of assorting it for widths, and 

 has found that it is saving a good deal of money thereby. As a 

 car is unloaded, each grade is piled according to the width, six inch 

 being put together, seven inch and on up to twelve inch, each inch be- 

 ing given a separate pile, as it has been found that customers call for 

 certain widths and do not want others mixed in. The wider stock 

 of course covers a greater range, but it is piled according to the 

 usual classifications. The result is that the lumberman, without put 

 ting a board to a saw, is in a position to carry on what amounts to a 

 dimension business. 



The same concern, which has given attention to many of the 

 minor details of the business which escape a great many others, has 

 recently erected a shed along its switch, by means of which loading 

 and unloading may be carried on, no matter what the weather. It 

 was found that so much time was lost and so much delay suffered 

 when no shelter was provided that the burden on the company was 

 considerable, in spite of the fact that the handlers were paid on a 

 piece basis. The inspectors and a number of other hands were 



cmployoil by the day, nnd having thorn tied up for hourH at a time 

 merely meiuit K|M'niling money without nny ret^irn. Tho now plan gols 

 n«ny from this entirely. 



Are Lumbermen Easy Marks? 



.\ roeont cam- in which Hcvcral hariUvtiiid men drop|H>d ii few hun- 

 dred dollars npiire omphnHixed the fact that lumlx-rmcn Hecm to 

 lie "oaMior" than most other business men, esjiecially when it comes 

 to extending credit. Now credit is the same n» money, for it in- 

 vidvcs ]iutting out mcrchnniliiu', which has a definite intrinsic nnd 

 nuirkct value. 



In this particular instance a young man who started in tho whole- 

 sale buBino^-s was given credit by one of the hnrdwooil manufncturors, 

 ami this fact was nmde the basis for securing credit from many of 

 the others. Now, as a matter of fact, in view of his limited financial 

 resources, extension of creclit by one concern must practically hove 

 exhausted the line to which he was entitled; yet the reasoning of tho 

 other concerns which extended credit was in the opposite direction, 

 and to the effect that if one substantial house had extended credit, 

 they were justified in doing so as well. Thus tho newcomer got from 

 each concern with which he did business as much credit as he was 

 really entitled to in the aggregate, and when tlie bankruptcy court 

 came to clean up his assets, there was little enough left for the 

 creditors. 



If lumbermen were as careful in the extension of credit as they 

 are in other dcjiartments of their business, a better showing would be 

 made in the matter of net profits ; for. be it remembered, credit losses 

 come out of profits every time. There's no getting away from that. 



The Value of a Good Name 



\ certain hardwood concern which has been doing Viusiness for a 

 long time, and is rated as successful, has nevertheless adopted a 

 policy similar to that of the railroads, who cluirgo all the traflic will 

 lioar. In this case the lumljermen give as jioor value for the money 

 as the customer will take. In other words, the jiressure is put on 

 every car, so as to make it yield the maximum of profit. 



What is the result of this? In some instances, large profits are 

 undoubtedly made. Cutting the corners yields more than normal 

 returns, of course. But, on the other hand, this house is constantly 

 fighting v.ith buyers over the settlement of kicks, and complaints are 

 as numerous almost, as there are cars shipped. In addition to being 

 a very uncomfortable way to do business, this makes for lost time, 

 and lost time means lost money. 



An even worse phase of the situation, however, is that the per- 

 centage of regular customers which this house has is very small. In 

 other words, its methods do not make for repeat orders, and repeat 

 orders are the bread-and-butter of the business. It's all right to 

 enjoy the turkey with gravy occasionally, but if the regular, staple 

 business can 't be counted on, and if the people with whom tho 

 lumberman is most familiar don't care to be listed among his cus- 

 tomers, then conditions are certainly far from ideal. 



This concern lias many salesmen on the road, and they get a 

 good many orders. But it is a fight to land the business, and the 

 cost of putting it on the books must be considerably above normal. 

 Hence, even assuming that its margin of profit is larger than if it 

 tried to give the maximum instead of the minimum value, its net 

 cannot be ary more than that taken by the hardwood man who is 

 following a more liberal policy. 



There is another hardwood manufa<turing concern, known all over 

 the country for the quality of its stock. It sells readily everywhere 

 and it brings several dollars a thousand above the regular market 

 price. It has no kicks and no complaints, and it can figure net profit 

 from the invoices without any deductions for settlements with dis- 

 satisfied customers. 



Which has the correct policy? 



