R. D. GOODALL, The Davison Chemical Corp., Baltimore, Md. Tiiere probably is no niore complex problem of inforniat i o n - f l o w and records-control than that of a cornpan? which is rapidl! expanding in the numbers and the niodifications of chemical products it mahes. Eier? one concerned must alwajs recei\e all the information he needs, get i t with utmost promptness. hale it in sircbh form that it is quicltlj understood and quiclil> acted upon, ?et ne\er have his desk o r files so cramnied w i t h paper. t h a t
he becomes bogged d o w n in detail. I h v i s o n solies t h l h problem bj routing original papers to the right rlepartments or men for action, haling duplicale copies prornptl, routed to those who must cooperate or collaborate, screening papers for those which should be brought to the attention of top management, and destroSingdeadpapersbefore the? pet in the w a ? of li\eones. A technical literature digeft is dictrihiitetl n i o n t h ~ ?Io f n d i o r personnel.
OBTAINING AND CIRCULA TlNG COMPANY INFORMATION pi,opc.rtit+, tlic' ha3ic 1)iuductiori cost may b e i.eciticwt, tjat upportuiiitirr tcl ~ ~ t d u cper i w nil1 I'erver. 1):tvisoii's convict iULI is that the niore it give*, the iuorc. it which are sold on the opcn market. These are $tapit! liiiec ol' i , r w i v r ~ . If-orkiiig 031 tliis tJaLGirrequires the use of all the thinknirrcharidise; usually there are several other makers wllirig iiiy :uid all thr ide:cs that Ihvison personnel can pruvide. 1'1.0adequate qualities on essentially similar termp. IIowevc~r, (luc4iig tlir idtias :ti111 coiivrrting them into action at their points of marketing procedures must he on a different bari5 m.11t.11 new LIW is a productiori proihrni just like the making of cht:micds. products and new applicatioris are being created, particwlarly L):ivi.son handleu this production by getting the new materials wtirri a chemical company is widening its scope by diversificaation Iji.oiiiptly to t h c a ~ ~ i n t a k end i ~ " of the line, speeding the flow, govof its products. c.i,iiirig thc opcmtioris, guiding the inforniatiori back to the poiritj Davison's diversification policy is a comparatively recent ut' applicntion aiitl iiw, :iiid then discarding the spent inirterials;. development. I t was begun in earnest not long bei'orr, t l w \ v u , Iirl'ormatioii, suggwticm+, atid hints are the raw in:itwiak oi arid its success may be judged from the fact that today Ihvi.wn ~v1iic.hIhvison ideas :we iriiidc. Such material;. can come iron1 derives almost 407, of its busiuess from general industrial cheniiiii:iiiy R O U ~ C I ' P . Ralc~snie~i's reports are prolific producers, :tiid 30 cals whereas a t one time, it was almost esclusively depelidriit on : w t ' c w t o n i t ~ rconipl:tint-. Technical questions from custonim, fertilizer manufacture. Tot a1 sales in this period have vzpandrd I)rospwt.-, .-tutlcJnts, :iiitl professors are thought stimulants. Inabout four times. These gains toward diversification :id i r i 1 o t : i l dustry reporta thc appearance of IN'W salev are credited to R vustly ezpnnded products, and the thoughts which coiiie research program :tiid to iiwthotls oi' to the surface a-hen nien [ire talkirig iiiakirig this research effective. This FLOW OF INFORMATION RELATIVE TO STANDARD PRODUCTS iiifornially provide ideits on ho\v to caypaper is largely devoted to the methods panti operiitions itrid iniprove ~)IY)(Y~under this second heading which have tiurta s. been developed arid used successfully. 'I'echiiicd literature i.3 ttii oljvioud Davison procedures are I~asedon the source of iiiforiiiation. Hut i n sliite premise that expansion of lines, modiof the effort3 of writers :d editow to fication, estension, arid the developeliminate superfluous words, a ni:iii ment of new i t e m are most likely to could spend all his time rentliiig a d result if the company c a n be oi' special st,ill not U J V U all of' it. This prohlerii service t o a few customers. is r o l v r t l ,!)k liavirig it rt~vit~\v ul' t c s r l i Customers' needs are peculiiir to iiical litcxrature, a '~t1iuniI)iiaildigest" their own requirementr. Daviuon, in 01' :ill t l i r iniportarit books arid :ii~tirlrs, its efforts to fulfill this need, thus be( l i b t ributeti every moii t 11 to it II riiitjoi, comes an cstension of' the production p e i ' s u i i r i e l . The review gives just facilities of the custonier. This type viiough information so that t w 4 i iiiiiii of development work often requires can c l e t t ~ i ~ i i i i i i ewhat he rhoultl r c 4 that the "know-how" of' thr customer a n c l H.11:it tit. ciin pass up. 1'iLtents alld be kept confidential, but there is UISO trade :is,sociat,ioii pa1)ers arc' iric~lutlrd tire possibility that a new product, in thr wview. suitable for exploitatioii l ~ yl)avison, The inflow ot' miteriala fro111 :ill lllav kJt? hOf'I1. soui'ccs niurt t)e roordiiiatecl so that A third situation exists when new wit' i':tctor can Ije t)alaiicetI against customers are being sought for new :inother 1~efor.ethe ~natcriiils ('an beproducts. If a large n u n h e r oi CUB(*OIIIP useful. This rrquires thinking toniers want the anme properties in a i n t \ v o difererit cshannelv: ('(~ordinaproduct, volume can be increased axid tion arid tsstraction of material relatprice lowered. If a Jew custoiiiers ing oiily to stttndard products (Figwant particular niodificutioiie of the Figure 1
LARGE scale producri, 01' clicmicals such as U:tvi*oii i'itii and, in fact, must have standard lines of i)ulk product..
838
INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
April 1951
COORDINATSD FLOW OF INfORMATlON RElATlVl TO NEW DEVILOPMENTS
F l COMPLAINTS
V SALES COORDINATION
Figure
P >
w e 1) can be a clerical
function for the most part. requiring little CONTROL technical knowledue. T h e same functions performed for the dev e l o p m e n t oi n e w product\ ( F g u r e 2) require the work of technically trained men. Coordination is the job of Davison’s technical service d e p a r t merit. But technical service is a filter, not a funnel. It eliminates the unnecessary, abstracts and digests all it can, coordinates the briefed material, disseminates the end products to other departments such as production. quality control, research and development, engineering, and sales.. These departments in turn feed opinions, facts, and ideas hack to technical service. Technical service coordinates some more and then reports to the marketing department. Marketing reports to top management. T o p nianagenient does the final thinking, issues instructions for actions to be taken, and est,ablishes policies. Salesmen’s reports are a specific example: Y
The reading of these reports to obtain running conimentaries on the opinions of customers and the conditions of markets is an ordinary function of any sales manager. By comparing the reports of several men on customers of a given type, the condition of an entire market may be visualized. Beyond that, a routine salesman’s report may contain an obscure hint’ which, if investigated, will lead to a major development. A-0 one can predict the name or title of the man who ~ < lcatch l the glint of the unusual fact or idea which lies buried in the routine words in a salesman’s report nor what this man will be thinking about when the item flashes t o his attention. Therefore, Davison disseminates the gist of all reports, no matter how routine, so that i t will be scanned by any alert and anticipating mind. T h e salesman takes the first step in this direction. He makes out a11 reports in triplicate and underlines the parts which he considers important enough to appear on the “Daily Abstract of Contact Report.” One copy is retained by the salesman. He is instructed to destroy it a t the end of 90 days. Thus he discards his own spent materials, keeps his own files clear. Two copies go to the manager of sales control. T h e manager sends one of these to the customer’s file, record unit, sales control department, to be filed. The remaining copy is sent to the supervisor of the transcribing unit, where it is abstracted. Its gist appears as a n item on the daily abstract of contact report. A single page of this report may contain as many as eight brief items. A customer wanted two carloads expedited; another does
839
not require the high purity of a standard product and can benefit by lower product cost; the test of a third try at supplying material for a brand new requirement is going well. Copies go t o twenty-two people, including eight field service engineers. Five of the recipients are production management men; the credit manager and the advertising manager are on the list, and all major executives are included. Every man who must plan his work in accordance with future business volumes is kept, constantly informed of the ebbs and flows of customer relations. This frequently brings a fresh point of view. The market,ing division is departmentalized, with one sales manager for petroleum catalysts, and another for superphosphate and phosphate rock, and a third for general chemical products. Each manager receives copies of the contact abstrads which report all salesmen’s calls, including those in other departments. Because the reports are abstracted they can be read quickly, and they provide basic information necessary for cooperation and exchange of idea3 between depart,ments. If wanted, complete reports are readily available from the record unit. The report form which salesmen use for old customers and prospects mostly provides hlank space for comments, but they form for a n initial contact with a new prospect is more detailed. T h a t initial contact report embodies a check list which is R. severe challenge to the salesman to learn d l he can. Items iticlude names of personnel contacted, the credit rating the salesman believes the prospect, Phould have, the reason why he assigned that rating, a complete list oi products which might be purchased, a list of the products the prospect makes, esacb details on competition, shipping methods, and the action to be t,akeri tiy the home office. The value of this information for sales control purposes is obvious, but it is also during these most important, first calls that requirements for new products, new ways to use old ones, and new ideas in general are most likely to be disclosed. For esample, assume t h a t a salesman sends in a report t h a t indicates the need for a new catalyst. .ill such inquiries are answered within 10 days, most in much less t,ime. Some are turned down because they are not within the scope of planned developments or for other reasons. But’ let us aesume that the product is feasible in this instance. 1Iuch \vi11 have transpired Iidorc tlic. decision is made t,o go ahead with the project. The inquiry will have been referred to the catalyst committee, and the committee will have considered the probahle best line of experiment,, research and development. the probable size of the market, the amount of laboratory time likely to be involved, and the ainount of laboratory time available in view of other projects in the works. Based on these facts, the prospect will be given a firm estimate of the time at which he may espect his first sample. T h e project will be assigned a number and one of the 1aboriit.ories will be intit,ructed to go to work on it. rill information now will be disseminated, except any that must. he kept confidential in order to protect the prospect’s “knowhow.” It should be emphasized that confidential informat,iorl i p entirely outside the scope of this flow system and never enters it. Field engineers and all management men who might be involved are fully informed on nonconfidentid matters. T h e y arc given lists of prospects for this or ~ i m i l a rproducts in their territories. Ideas as to possible applications are suggested to them. Back from the field nil1 romp rrports, suggestions, ideas: The projected material will be suitable here with a few minor modifications. It can be sold here in largr quarit,it,ies u i t h no changes at all. A prospect situated at a distance from the original customer has tried a similar idea and has had only- mediocre results, but his equipment is unsuited for the use of such a product. These rrports are abstracted and coordinated by technical
840
INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
service; the useful material is filtered out and passed along to the men at work on the project (Figure 3). The project now becomes an item on a “Project Status Report” which is issued every month. Typical statements on that report are : Catalyst project KO.10,000: the quantity now being prepared is 50 pounds. Dye ingredient, project No. 11,462: test equipment Yhich will yield conclusive data has been developed and set up; tests made against control samples supplied by prospect; new product proved definitely superior. Project 8741: a 100-pound batch is now ready, but pelletizing is under further study. Project 9284: platinum catalyst is complete.
F L O W O F TECHNICAL REPORTS
TECHNICAL
RESEARCH REPORT
SUMMARY OF TECH.
REQYEPII r oSERVICE RESEARCH 6 wv.
SUMMARY
VICE PRESIDENT MARKETING
m s i o o u c r MANAGERS
TECHNICAL SERVICE
CONTRACT M A N A G E R
CONTRACT MANAGER
The project statu;. report goes to d l esecutives, salcs managers, and field servicr engineers. Everyone lives with TREASURERS DEPT. ever!. project through everjstage of its d e v e l o p m e n t . Figure 3 There a r e n e v e r s u r p r i s e bulletins such as: “After G months of intensive effort our laboratory has perfected a n-onderful new catalyst which you know nothing about but are to go out and sell with enthusiasm.” Long before the product is ready the salesmen are fully prepared to sell it. I n this procedure the project status report is not alloa-td to function without cross checking. To provide this check, a “Summary of Technical Service Requests to the Research and Development Division” also is issued once a month. This sumnxrry is much briefer than the project status report. It consists of a list, of projects, the questions “what has happened to this project” and “what is going to happen to it,” and the answers. Questions and answers are specific, but are expressed in the briefest possible terms. The project status report is issued on the first of the month. It is made by the research and development division to the marketing division. The summary is issued a t mid-month by the technical service division. By spacing the reports a continuous flow of information is maintained to the personnel who make use of it, and projects are kept alive in their minds. Clipped t o the summary report is a “Project Summary Sheet,” which is a running inventory of the time available in the research and development department and the time expected to be required for various projects. I t also is a sort, of score card, showing the original estimate of time required for any project and the amount of time actually expended. Thc purpose of “keeping the score’’ is to determine how many new project7 can DEVELOPMENT PLANNING
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Vol. 43, No. 4
be admitted to the shop and to sharpen estimates of how 1nuc.h time a new project will need. The project summary sheet lists projects by numbers and by the briefest (1-line) descriptions. It indicates the total time allotted t,o open projects and the time expended t,o date. Moreover, it gives the time allotted and the time expended for completed projects, and thus arrives a t its running inventory of time available and time required in research and development,. Davison also has a monthly report on research. Briefly, i t s h o m the requests for research and development and the stxtrii of all projects. I n detail it shows the general picture at a glance. In addition t.o this flow of w i t t e n information, it is often necessary to discuss projects and to bring out facts and ideas which have not been put on paper. For this purpose Davison has committee meetings, n.hich follow several principlcs: 1. Meetings are not held too often, monthly or bimonthly intervals being adequate. 2. hleetings are fairly regular so the committee personnel know- when the meetings will occur and can plan t o attend. 3. h number of topics are considered a t each meeting w there mill be plenty to do. 4. The meetings last for about 1 hour so no one will be tempted t o procrastinate. 5. full but brief report of what happened a t the meeting is circulated.
A typical report on a process and quality control committee meeting n-ill serve as an example: The report opens with t,he date of the meeting, where it. was held, who was present, and who absent. This is followed by a summary of complaints received and how they were handled. Complaints are fertile sources of new ideas - e v e n “compelling” sources. Therefore the list of complaints is broken down t o specific products, and the action taken is not only t o satisfy the customer but also to prevent recurrence of the errors that. cause complaints. Davison is continually looking for the “complaint behind the complaint.” h customer who ill pass over a major defect i f t,he product is suited t o his purpose may complain bitterly about a minor point if there is something he needs that the product is not giving him. And when a customer feels that a deficiency exists, there is an opportunity to change a product and expand a line of products. The report continues on product development: new variants of standard products; suggestions as t o new production methods; and recommendations that some of the suggestions be entered R S research and development projects. LIany specific items appear on the report,-for example, “We arc holding up research and development activity on a variant mtlard product until more reports are receivcd on the which now are in the field. Here is how thv packaging prob1t.m o n a new product is bciing handled.” Conclusions
The principles used by Davison in developing ideas and di5seminating information are as follows: 1. Separate the standard or routine problems and products from new developments. The dissemination of routine information is a clerical operation, the new developments require more thinking. 2. Tell all responsible people in the organization evcrythirig :is long as confidential d a b of a prospect or customer is not reve:tled. 3 . Tell everything as it happens; keep everyone contiiiuously iiifoimcd; let them live with each development as it develops. 4. Abstract,, digest, coordinate; information should be convise :iud easy t o follow. 5 . T a p and use all sources within the organization.
Thtlt last point is the basic principle of Davison’s method: Build by mining the sources a t hand. Most organizations include capable persons with good imaginations. There is no need to go far afield for facts, ideas, new products, and better methods. Set up a system that will give these men the best chance to supply these, and then “let nature take its course.” RECEIVED September 11, 1950
