hand will serve to indicate, if shortage is serious and continued, possible peculation. (4) If values are included in the table, the value of the stock in store is quickly ascertained. This record, also, is convenient to the cost de partment when making estimates on machines which embody parts very nearly like others in stock. This "burden" or overhead rate is usually recorded also, when values are given on the cards. CHAPTER VI COST KEEPING AND ESTIMATING SEC. I. GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS A COST-DATA SYSTEM FOR A CONSULTING ENGINEER'S OFFICE The system outlined below is intended for the use of consulting engineers who are called upon to supply estimates for complete installations, and for engineers engaged in general contracting for such works. In these cases, minute subdivisions of costs are not required, more general results are sufficient, but these results must be reduced to such units, and described with sufficient completeness so that they may be used with adequate certainty in a collective estimate. The data collected will consist of quotations received from manufacturers of machinery or supplies, bids from sub-contractors, records of costs on actual construction, and miscellaneous data appertaining to the line of work pursued. All data is kept in loose-leaf books (see p. 422), the information being first written up and unit results figured by a member of the engineering staff. In general, it may be said that this part of the work cannot be entrusted to a book-keeper or accountant; the value of the record consists in the data being reduced to units that will be immediately applicable to future work, in the statement of the conditions governing the data, and in the logical arrangement and clearness of tabulation employed. When properly started and supervised, however, the clerical work may be intrusted to sufficiently competent subordinates. A 5 in. X 8 in. size of sheet will be large enough in most cases, although some work may demand sheets about 8 in. X 10 in. The size chosen must be the subject of careful advance planning. Different colored sheets may be used with advantage, blue for quotations, white for actual contract data, etc. "Heading sheets" should be printed so as to keep such data as "Job No.," "Date," etc., always in the same place. Several copies may be typed at the same time; one set may be filed in a vault (in another building or town) so that the record may be preserved in case of fire, other sets may be sent to branch offices, etc. Sample sheets, such as were used by a firm of consulting and contracting engineers engaged on sugar-factory installations, are given below (Figs. 65 and 66). With regard to methods of indexing and filing, a system must be chosen that will not become choked or cumbersome with the growth of the data. Size and Type H. I. W. design No. 7, 3 ft. 4 in. inside diameter X 13 ft. 0 in. shell (14 ft. 8 in. O.A. of Heads), 4 in. juice connections.. Material Steel bodies, cast steel Flanges, semi-steel heads and doors, 11⁄2 in. O.D. Copper Tubes No. 16 Stubs Gauge, C. I. Saddles. FIG. 65.-Cost data record sheet (white) of completed order. EST. No. 1168 EQUIPMENT, Tank, Large QUOTED BY, Various CARD NO. 2193 F.O.B., N.Y.H. Size FOR, Central Cambria Cont. No... REMARKS, "Skinned" design 65 ft. 0 in. diameter X 41 ft. 0 in. high. Covered Molasses Storage Tank Capacity 1,000,000 gallons. Description Bottom of 3/8; Sides of 1/4, 1/4, 3/8, 7/16, 17/32, 19/32, and 11/16 Steel Plates with joints of efficiencies 50, 70, 75, 80, 83, 90 and 90 percent, respectively. Top hemispherical or trussed at option of contractor, ladder, manhole, telltale and nozzles. FIG. 66. Cost data record sheet (blue) of quotations received. Either the alphabetical as described on p. 413, the "alphabetical with numbered extension" (see p. 414), or some modification of the decimal system (see p. 416) is usually employed. For the smaller offices with well-defined lines of work, the alphabetical system with numbered extension is probably preferable; a comprehensive index must be prepared in advance, but, as explained on p. 415, a revision or extension of this index may be effected without rearrangement of the data. For larger offices, or for offices contemplating a large variety of work, a decimal system may be more suitable; either compiled to suit the special needs, or the Dewey system as extended for engineering uses (see p. 419), or such a system as is described on p. 448. A cost-data system using sheets as illustrated above, filed and indexed on an "alphabet with numbered extension" scheme, has, in 2 years' time, converted a series of brain-racking guesses miscalled "estimates," into a system giving practically exact costs on large, general make-ups, in a fraction of the time previously expended. AN ESTIMATING SYSTEM FOR AN ENGINEERING OFFICE The following estimating system is one that has been developed more particularly for the use of an engineering-contracting office engaged in the design and equipment of large plants in foreign countries. The methods and blanks described will, however, be found applicable to many other estimating conditions. The subject will be taken up under the headings of (1) Indexing and Recording, (2) Compiling, and (3) Filing. Indexing and Recording Immediately on receipt of letters, prints, etc., constituting an inquiry, they are stamped with a dating "Received" stamp and are given an "Estimate Number." This number may be a continuation of a consecutive series; or, in offices where several thousands of estimates. are made every year, it may be a number of a series started at "1" on Jan. 1 of every year, followed by the figures of the year, e.g., "Est. No. 95413" would be the 954th estimate of the year 1913. A record of the principal features of the estimate is kept in a bound "Record Book." The estimate number, date received, owner or agent's (client's) name, subject of the estimate, data received, date required, and final disposition, are all briefly recorded. For a sample sheet see Fig. 67. The data is then turned over to the estimators. If it is found necessary to submit separate or alternate quotations on any estimate which are of such magnitude or importance as to require separate compilations, suffixed letters are attached to the estimate number, and the various different estimates will bear numbers such as "1317-A," "1317-B," etc. 1 In order that old estimates may be readily found in case inquiries occur concerning them several months or years after their compilation, a card index system must be used. Two indexes are required, one referring to the name of the "Client" and the other to the "Subject." In each of them the cards had best be filed on an alphabetical system. In case both the owner's and the agent's name occurs, or in case there is any question as to the name of the apparatus, cards should be made out for each possible reference, so that the index may be useful to other people besides the compiler. A sure and simple method of securing this result is for the person in charge of the department to underline in the record book the first syllable of the word for which a card is to be made. An example of a "Client" card is given in Fig. 69 and of a "Subject" card in Fig. 68. 1310 July 12, 1909 N "Algoma Central," Nuevitas, P. R.; W. G. Dixon and Co., N. Y. Agents. D List of existing machy. (4p.); four B/p's of present factory; letter from July 24, 1909. C Req'd 1311 July 23, 1909. N Chihuahua Development Co., Sta Lucrecia, Chi., Mex. July 14, 1909 D Three maps of district; letter from C. D. Co., Mex. City, July 8, '09; 10p. When an estimate is finished and is sent to the Contracting Department, the date is recorded in the "Record Book;'' and, in the event that the contract is secured, a reference to its number, or any other useful remark, is also recorded therein. In order that estimates may be produced on schedule time (usually a matter of the utmost importance), it will be neccessary, when the number of estimates is large, to use a "Progress Chart" of some description; an example of such a chart is given in Fig. 73. Compiling Methods of taking-off quantities, compiling and using cost data, |