As I became acquainted with the manufacture of iron I was greatly
surprised to find that the cost of each of the various processes was
unknown. Inquiries made of the leading manufacturers of Pittsburgh
proved this. It was a lump business, and until stock was taken and the
books balanced at the end of the year, the manufacturers were in total
ignorance of results. I heard of men who thought their business at the
end of the year would show a loss and had found a profit, and
_vice-versa_. I felt as if we were moles burrowing in the dark, and
this to me was intolerable. I insisted upon such a system of weighing
and accounting being introduced throughout our works as would enable
us to know what our cost was for each process and especially what each
man was doing, who saved material, who wasted it, and who produced the
best results.
To arrive at this was a much more difficult task than one would
imagine. Every manager in the mills was naturally against the new
system. Years were required before an accurate system was obtained,
but eventually, by the aid of many clerks and the introduction of
weighing scales at various points in the mill, we began to know not
only what every department was doing, but what each one of the many
men working at the furnaces was doing, and thus to compare one with
another.
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