The Harvester World: Volume 6, number 4, April 1915

              person in the manufacturing or selling end of the business has his particular interest in that figure, and as we turn that fact over in our mind the thrill of pride turns into a chill of fear. "What if I had to furnish that amount of money to run this business?" or "What is my relation to that figure?" are questions running through our miruls, or that ought to he running through our minds if they are not.

No one man, two men, or one hundred men can keep an inventory down to where it should be for the good of the business. Every one on the payroll, from the office boy up, is responsible.
There will, and must always, be an inventory, but it should never be in excess of an amount necessary to run the business economically.
Every item in an inventory carries a certain amount over and above the actual cost of the material, and the labor cost is an important item run¬ ning, in the case of finished machines, largely in excess of the actual cost of the materials.
There is great temptation always to play safe by ordering more ma¬ terial or goods than you need and of forgetting that you are not the only man in the employ of the company that needs the particular item in which you are interested—be it lumber, steel, pig iron, oil, coal or finished machines.
Inventory is a good thing, but it is wrong to apply the adage, "you can't keep a good thing down." An inventory can be kept down, and only when that is done is it a good thing.
Take stock of yourself and see where you stand. Have you, Mr. Chief Clerk, got too large a supply of rubber-bands, pencils and stationery in your vault? Is the tool steel in your department, Mr. Foreman, more than you should have? Have you, Mr. Superintendent, got more lumber in your yards than you need to safely protect manufacture? How about your pig iron, steel, coal, etc? Do you need it all? Look into the miscellaneous items—how about them?
No, the factory is not the only place we find an inventory. Mr. General Agent, look into your repair bins. You will be surprised to find how much you have on hand you can never possibly use. Don't stop there but go carefully through your warehouse and you will become an inventor. You will "come upon," "discover," "find out" and "produce for the first time" some things you had forgotten about. Bring them out to the light of day and "put rollers under them."
It is a big subject and we have not altogether overlooked it, for even with the worries and cares that the war has brought to us during the past year, our inventory on January 1, 1915, was several millions less than it was on January 1, 1914. But we must not stop. We must go   on with the   good
rdV„Ur7ge„°er''"°'' BRING IT DOWN