A copy of the chart was given to the order clerk, who entered all orders on a billing typewriter. In entering the order all articles were grouped by floors, starting at the fifth floor. Below the list of articles from each floor a space was left, the first entry for the next floor being on the second line below.
Fig. 6. Floor Chart for the Classification of Stock
Two copies of the order were provided for the use of the shipping clerk. When the orders reached his desk, he cut one copy into parts, as represented by the floors from which goods were to come. After entering the order number on the margin of each, he sent these sections to the stock men. Each man assembled the goods required from his floor and sent them, with his section of the order blank, directly to the shipping room. Here they were checked against the shipping clerk's copy of the order, and, as soon as all sections had been filled, the order was ready for packing. This resulted in distributing the work more evenly, and kept the goods coming regularly to the shipping room.
Another method of accomplishing the same result is to make as many copies of the order as there are floors, the complete order being sent to each stock man, who fills only his part. An advantage of dividing the order sheet, as explained, is that the stock men have no knowledge of the names of customers. This prevents a stock man from taking a list of the firm's customers to another house—an occurrence which is not entirely unknown.
Back Orders. Most concerns find it impossible to fill all orders completely; there are occasional shortages in every house. In such cases, it is the usual custom to fill all orders as nearly as possible, and forward the items that are short as soon as they are in stock, or with a later shipment.
The possibility of these items being overlooked must be provided against, and this is done by entering all items that are short on a new order. This is known as a back order. The back order should be made in duplicate and should be printed on stock of some distinctive color that will not be confused with the regular order blanks. For convenience in filing, it should also be made the same size as the regular orders.
If the number of back orders is very large, a separate series of order numbers is used, but most concerns do not have a sufficient number of such orders to make this necessary. The more usual custom is to give the back order the same number as the original of which it is a part.