of cards. Instead of the operators punching these repeated holes one by one in each card, the cards are punched by a gang punch, which at a single stroke punches several holes in many different cards. The gang punch can be seen in Fig. 231 on a table near the right-hand side of the illustration.
Manufacturing companies now use the tabulating machines for keeping track of the cost of different orders and of different classes of work in the factory. The data from the original time slips of the workmen are transferred by the punching machines to the cards day by day as the time slips are turned in. The punched cards can then be sorted by order number and department, so that when each order is completed the total cost of all work on that order is obtained. The distribution of the value of work done by different departments can be had also if desired.
In keeping the records of a sales department, the facts relating to the various sales orders are transferred to the punched cards and the cards sorted and tabulated in any manner desired. A very large manufacturing business having many kinds of machinery as a product, uses the punched-card system for each order as it is received in the plant. At the end of each month the records show the total sales of each branch house, the total sales of each salesman, the total sales of each main class of product, and many other kinds of information. In this particular plant tabulating machines are of very great assistance, because they can be used to make a sales analysis for any one class of product. The punched card for each order shows the catalogue number of the product called for by that order. Whenever desired, cards for a definite length of time can be run through the machines so as to sort out all the cards for any catalogue number of product on which a study is to be made. The resorting of these cards by sales districts shows the distribution of the total sales of this particular product by distinct districts, or States, and, if desired, by different salesmen. The sales for the various months or seasons of the year may be had if wanted. Though the data relating to the many kinds of product need not be regularly tabulated, the facts are nevertheless preserved so that tabulation for any particular class of goods or any territory can be made whenever a study seems desirable.
The multitudinous uses to which these card-sorting and tabulating machines can be put are far beyond any possibility of naming here. The very great flexibility, speed, and accuracy of the machines make
