Little difficulty is experienced in getting printers to put the order number on the invoice, when requested to do so. The return of two or three invoices to a printer who neglects this will have the desired effect. With the numbers on the invoices it is a very simple matter to find the copy of the order, which will show just what was ordered and for what department.
Records of Printing. A record of all printed matter received and its disposition is quite as important as for any other class of property. Unless properly stored and correctly recorded, there is likely to be a great waste of stock. Many large concerns lose much more through waste in this direction than the salary of a competent stock clerk. Not all concerns will require a stock clerk for this purpose alone, but in every office the stock of printed matter should be placed in charge of one person—a clerk, perhaps, who has other duties. That person should be made responsible for the stock, just as the stores clerk is made responsible for the property in the factory storeroom.
When printing is received, it should be first checked against the order copy on file, and then put in the storeroom, or sent to the department where it is to be used if not to go into stock. In the storage of printing, a very necessary requirement is that it be kept clean, otherwise, in the case of matter carried in stock for a long period, there may be as much as a ten per cent loss through spoilage.
It is best to have all printing put up in packages of specified sizes, depending on the quantities used. The printer will usually make the size of his packages fit the needs of the customer, if requested to do so. On the outside of each package, the name and quantity of the contents should be recorded. When possible a sample should be attached.
OFFICES OF THE ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT, BURROUGHS ADDING MACHINE COMPANY, DETROIT, MICH.
Fig. 10. Perpetual Stock Record for Printing, Showing its Disposition