In preparing this report the committee has made no attempt to make it entirely complete or to include in it references to all the schools which should be included in any complete report. Its purpose has been rather to depict in a general way the increased interest and progress there has been in this department of education since the date of its last report. C. M. WOODWARD, Chairman, H. T. EDDY, EDGAR MARBURG, GEORGE F. SWAIN, J. A. GOODENOUGH, Committee. Note. This report was originally presented as two papers by Professors Woodward and Williston of the committee. At the request of the Society, the papers have now been combined, supplemented and revised so as to form the Report of the Committee.-EDITOR. THE STUDENT APPRENTICESHIP SYSTEM FROM A MANUFACTURER'S STANDPOINT. BY A. G. WESSLING, Assistant Engineer, Allis-Chalmers Company. The growth of the student apprenticeship system during the last few years has been so marked that it may well attract the attention of the men who are so closely connected with the students taking up such work, as are most of the members of this organization. The word apprenticeship carries with it the idea of an extended course of training as a preparation necessary to fit the apprentice for some particular trade or profession. In order to understand the necessity and objects of such an apprenticeship it will be well to consider the work for which it is a preparation. Manufacturing concerns of the kind which maintain graduate student courses usually employ thousands of persons whose individual efforts must be correlated as carefully as are the various operations of a complicated machine. Such an organization may be likened to a modern newspaper printing press of the multiple deck type. The raw materials in the shape of paper and ink must be supplied as fast as required and not faster nor slower. If the ink is not fed properly, the printing will be unsatisfactory and the papers will not pass inspection. If too much friction is applied to the paper roll, the paper will tear, causing a delay until the tear can be repaired. If the paper unrolls too easily the paper will double up between the cylinders, choking the press and sometimes necessitating readjustments of the pressure cylinders. The folder and cutter must do their work with the same regularity as the material is fed in. The delivery attachment must take the printed papers as fast as produced, just as the shipping department disposes of the finished product in order to make room for that which follows. The driving motor, corresponding to the power plant, requires frequent attention so as to avoid shutting down for repairs at inopportune times. In the printing press, the parts performing the various operations are rigidly connected by trains of gears. In the manufacturing company the interconnection of departments is not so rigid, but it should be just as certain and should operate with as little friction as is possible where human beings act as transmission members. The manufacturing organization embraces several departments which may be classified as follows: treasurer's, publicity, legal, sales, engineering, manufacturing and construction. These are all under the direction of a single executive, the president, who in turn is responsible to the board of directors representing the stockholders. It is the duty of the directors to outline the business policy which is to be pursued, and they will naturally choose for president a man upon whom they can depend to carry out this policy. To successfully fill this position a man needs a thorough knowledge of men rather than of things or of books, and he should have that born quality of leadership which with a strong character inspires confidence and respect. Since the company is in business for the purpose of making money, the treasurer's department may take first place in the order of attention. All departments require money for salaries, material and general expenses, and look to the treasurer's department to furnish it as required. In order to do so it is necessary to collect money as it is due, to guard against failure of collection by avoiding giving credit to irresponsible customers, and to save where possible. A cost department is maintained for the purpose of keeping account of all shop costs in such a manner as to quickly indicate what work is profitable and what is not. At the same time, the cost department acts as a check upon the design and upon the manufacture of any piece of work. The treasurer's department is obliged to furnish enough money to carry on the business properly, yet it must guard against having too much money invested in materials long before they can be used or in unproductive equipment. The duty of the legal department is to see that contracts are properly drawn and carried out; that costly litigation is not invited by careless disregard of existing patents, that patent rights are secured to protect new inventions and to give legal advice to the other departments as necessity demands. The publicity department must advertise the company and its products in every possible way to attract the attention of prospective purchasers. This work includes the preparation of advertising matter for publication in the advertising columns of the technical periodicals; it includes the preparation of articles describing installations made by the company of sufficient interest to warrant their publication in the columns of regular reading matter in the same periodical; it includes the preparation of trade catalogs and bulletins, describing in detail the construction of apparatus manufactured by the company. The work of making public the name of the company and the quality of its goods should be done in such a way that the presentation of his business card by any representative would serve as sufficient introduction to any one who might be a prospective buyer. The business of the sales department is to sell goods and this would be comparatively easy if the salesman could always offer exactly what was wanted, if he could promise delivery as requested, and if his prices were at least as low as those of his competitors. But such conditions do not exist, and it requires a firstclass salesman to sell goods under conditions which are opposite to those given. When, for example, a generator is wanted of 325 kw. capacity at a certain speed, and the salesman finds that he can offer only a 300 kw. or a 350 kw. generator at that speed, he is expected to convince the customer either that the growth of the business will soon justify his buying the larger unit or that his machine of smaller capacity will have ample margin to carry the maximum load for the short period during which such maxima usually last. And in most cases a competent salesman will have little difficulty in securing sufficient data to enable him to present a strong argument in favor of one or the other of the courses given. A really good salesman seldom lets the price prevent his making a |