2. The purchasing agent will have no difficulty in securing a list of dealers. Even a new business is usually well supplied with circulars, catalogues, and other information showing which dealers handle certain lines. The principal concern of the purchasing agent is to so record this information that it will be instantly available.
In some cases it is found necessary to make special lists of dealers, and these are usually made on cards. A card is used for each article or class of material that may be of interest, and the name of the class is written at the top of the card. Below this are listed the names and addresses of dealers and manufacturers supplying that particular class of material. Since in most concerns this information can be combined with the system of catalogue indexing, we do not show a special form for this record.
CATALOGUE FILING AND INDEXING
3. A purchasing agent must necessarily gather much of the information required in the operation of his department from catalogues supplied by manufacturers. These catalogues are his technical library, in many cases supplying the only available information relative to a particular class of goods. Needless to say, some method must be provided for carefully preserving these catalogues. They must be filed in such a manner that they can be located quickly.
While every office has plenty of opportunities to accumulate an oversupply of catalogues, resulting in a tendency to discard all except those in which the purchasing agent may be interested at the time, it is better to err on the side of a liberal supply. A catalogue that comes in to-day may be of no immediate value, but it may become useful a little later. It would be impracticable to keep every catalogue and circular that reaches the office, but, if it is from a new concern, or offers any new ideas, it should be kept, even though the subject is not of especial interest at the moment.
Many systems of catalogue filing have been devised, and there are almost as many styles of catalogue files on the market as there are manufacturers of such equipment. No one system or style of filing will answer the requirements in every concern. Each must build up a filing system that will conform to existing conditions.
Though a system of universal application cannot be laid down, some general suggestions may prove of value. No matter what the style of receptacle used, catalogues are filed according to one of two methods: The alphabetical, or the numerical. The alphabetical method consists in the arrangement of catalogues in bookcases or other suitable devices, according to the names of the publishers. For a small number of catalogues, this is a very satisfactory system, for the very reason that a purchasing agent soon becomes familiar with the catalogues of different manufacturers, recognizing them by their size, shape, or color.
A modification of the alphabetical system is one in which the catalogues are arranged alphabetically by classes; that is, the lines of goods in which the purchasing agent is interested are divided into specific classes. In each of these divisions, the catalogues of all manufacturers listing that class of goods are arranged in alphabetical order. This method is also very satisfactory for a limited number of catalogues.
For a large catalogue file the numerical system will prove the most satisfactory. By this system each catalogue is given a number which should be plainly shown on the back of the catalogue. All catalogues of a specific class are placed in one group, and a series of numbers is set aside for the group. To illustrate, we might have machinery catalogues, numbers 1 to 100. All machinery catalogues would then be given a number in that series. If the number be increased beyond 100, the numbering system would be repeated by using 1a, 2a, etc.
With the numerical system, the catalogues of each group must be arranged in exact numerical order, so that any catalogue may be instantly located.