SECTIONAL TRANSACTIONS .—F*. 509 
the machine. Designers of machinery and factory equipment should 
therefore take into account the limitations of those who will use the 
machinery and equipment. Some of the limitations are due to :— 
(1) Fatigue, which may be caused by: (a) badly arranged controls or 
working positions ; (b) unduly heavy muscular effort ; (c) harmful posture, 
etc. 
(2) Rhythm of machine operations which do not fit in with rhythm of 
worker. 
(3) Working or observation points being badly placed. 
(4) Attention being distracted by moving parts. 
(5) Attention being distributed in cases where concentration is essential 
to efficiency. 
(6) Frustration of effort owing to bad design, in setting up, stripping and 
cleaning machines. 
Human effort can and does overcome many of the defects of machine 
design, but at a great loss of efficiency. The quality of work often suffers, 
and the wholly unnecessary strain is detrimental to human well-being. 
For the highest efficiency the machines should be designed to fit the human 
being. In cases where there are insuperable mechanical or process limita- 
tions, the workers should be specially selected to suit the peculiarities of 
the machine or process. 
Tuesday, September 12. 
AFTERNOON. 
Discussion on What are the essential basic data for the organisation of 
economic distribution ? (Chairman: Mrs. EtHeL M. Woop, C.B.E.) 
(3.0) :— 
Mr. Lawrence NEAL.—From the viewpoint of the retailer. 
In the triangle—consumer, distributor, producer—our basic knowledge is 
remarkably small. Vis-ad-vis the consumer we have practically no market 
analysis of his purchasing power by areas or by commodities ; no assessment 
of major trends in habits of spending. Nor has there been any classification 
of shopping districts. 
The internal structure of distribution has similarly remained unexamined. 
There are distributive costs in the sales organisations of the factory, in 
wholesaling, and in retailing. Further, the last-named subdivides into 
types such as the multiple chains, the departmental store, the small shop ; 
yet we know little about the present functions or the performance of each. 
Vis-a-vis the producer, mass-distribution may be usefully viewed as the 
last stage in the chain of productive processes. It requires, therefore, a 
very real knowledge of the economy of the factory. The possibilities and 
limitations of a material or a product in manufacture ; the dependence of 
costs on the size and regularity of the market ; elasticity of demand and new 
uses—such questions can only be satisfactorily solved where there is 
co-ordination between production and distribution. 
For a practical study of this subject attention might well be concentrated 
on actual examples of individual and successful experiment. 
Mr. G. I. AKEROYD.—From the viewpoint of the ‘ manufacturer- 
retailer.’ 
Instances of the practical value of basic data obtained where manufacturing 
and distributing outlets are centrally controlled and co-ordinated. 
