ESTIMATES AND COST OF PRINTING

ESTIMATES AND COSTS OF PRINTING
By 3. HORACE McFARLAND
[Probably no printer in the country has given more thought to
the important question treated in the following article than Mr.
MFarland. In his own business and in his compact, clean-cut, and
handsome shop, he has introduced methods that are simple, labor-
saving, and effective. We take great pleasure in presenting his
able observations to our customers.]
HAT the average printer needs most, in order that his estimates may be consistent and certain to give
decent profits upon orders obtained, is to know what it costs to do his work. There is no manufac-
turing business for which actual and accurate data are so hard to obtain, and, probably, no art in
which bit-or-miss estimating prevails to so great an extent, or with results so ruinous.
It is, therefore, in the hope of giving to those printers who need the help some data upon which to
gain information as to the cost of printing in their own shops that these lines are written. It would be far
easier to present the usual set "price-list," useful, if the compiler is honest, for about a week after it
is prepared, in his own establishment only; but if the inquiring master-printer will act upon the hints which
follow, he can safely estimate upon any piece of business presented to him, and know that the price he
decides to ask bears a proper relation to its cost to him.
At the very outset, let it be urged upon the printer that he never give an estimate based upon some
other printer's guess. If the prospective customer says, "Smith will do it for $20," don't conclude that, be-
cause you want work badly just then, you can afford to bid $19 and get the order. That is the fool's con-
clusion, and leads toward a partnership with the sheriff. Figure it out carefully; take time enough, and
don't let the sometimes designing price-hunter talk you into an error while you are at it. When your price
is made, first verify it, then stick to it! If Smith will do it at less than the price you know is just, let him
have it; don't knowingly make a clear loss because the other fellow is willing to, or because he can work
much cheaper than you.
First, then, the inquiring before beginning to estimate should be as to
HOW TO OBTAIN COSTS
Every really successful modern "print-shop" has some more or less adequate means of keeping track
of the time spent in doing part of the work. Usually these methods involve the marking of the time by
the workman, but very few include an actual footing-up of all the items of expense upon each job. Yet it
is the overlooking of the items not quickly apparent which gives cause for many absurd and ruinous quo-
tations. A method which the writer has successfully used for a decade, and which he could not afford to
abandon, is outlined here. It is called the
COST-ACCOUNT SYSTEM
In this system, every workman, save only the foreman (when not occupied in direct work instead of
superintendence), proof-readers, and office help, record every moment of time spent upon each job. Every
particle of paper or material is also charged to the order, and provision is made for getting at the proper
proportion of general expense for each order.
The Order Envelope.-To begin with, each order is numbered as received, and the details for its exe-
cution are written fully upon the face of a large envelope (8 x l0 inches). All workpeople are instructed
to refuse to work or supply stock except upon an order number; and this is made easily obtainable because
the envelope accompanies the work throughout the shop, receiving copy (save for book-work and the like),
proofs, records of shipments and delays, etc., until it returns finally to the desk with a complete history of
the job in it or on it, there to have written upon its back in proper printed spaces a detailed account of the
exact cost, and also the items of the original estimate opposite, so that the bill may be made with estimate
and costs fully in view. This envelope, filed numerically, serves as a most valuable record and basis of
future estimates. If there has been an error in estimating, and a loss has been made on the work, its place
and extent will fully appear here. If, on the contrary, the work has been profitable, the point of profit will
show, and the printer can intelligently reduce his price in the future if need be-which the Lord forbid!
The Time-Check.-This is the basal unit of the system. It is, in our practice, a slip about 5 2 x 82, ruled
horizontally into ten-minute divisions for each hour from 7 a. m. to 11 p. m., with the hours printed at the
left margin; and ruled vertically with lines about one-fourth inch apart, which give spaces for order num-
hers. The time record is made by simply drawing vertical pencil lines through the hours or sixths of hours
used, putting the order number at the top of the column used. Thus, if a compositor began composition at
7 a. m. on order No. 2010, and worked on it until 10.40 a. m., he would, after writing 2010 in the space at the

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