Woodworker's Journal 1983-7-3, страница 14

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Moving?

Workshop Income (Cont'd)

In our discussions we've been using as an example a 19th century step-chair that appeared as a project in the May/June 1982 issue. Our friend Bill, also an example, started out making step-chairs as a sideline and calculated that he'd have to make 522 of them a year to survive as a full-time business.

The step-chair is a fairly straightforward project. Making one sounds like fun. A few dozen wouldn't be so bad. But 522 of them? That sounds to me like drudgery - mass production, a small factory, not your average workshop.

More likely is a mix of products, including some that are designed and made on speculation (that is, without a Firm order), plus other items that are commissioned by a customer and made to his specifications.

With step-chairs, or any item made in quantity, once you've made a few of them you've got a pretty good fix on costs. But how do you estimate what the full cost will be of something you haven't made before? Materials are fairly easy, but time is difficult to predict, and time is the key. For time is the index number from which you will directly calculate labor cost and from which you will allocate all the general expenses that must be covered in the sates price if you are to avoid selling at a loss.

It's curious why woodworkers I have known (including myself) seem to love the detail of planning but hate the detail of record-keeping. I never start a project until I've drawn it to a fare-thee-well with every dimension included on the plans as well as on a bill of materials and on a cutting schedule. I pride myself on fussing with that so that there is a minimum of waste. 1 even keep the scraps separate so I can show them to my wife and get her to congratulate me when the cutting is finished. But 1 hate to keep records of my time on the project, and frequently forget. Yet time records are essential if realistic costing is to be done.

What time should you record? Every minute of it, including time in the contemplation chair (every shop should have one), time to go to the bathroom, time to set up machinery, time to buy materials and supplies. Surely you would keep track of your time if you were engaged in a commissioned project for which you would be paid so much per hour plus materials. The point is that that's exactly the way you will be paid whether the project is commissioned or whether it's being done on speculation for anticipated later sale.

How should you record your time? In as much detail as you can tolerate. There are as many possible systems as there are people, I suppose, but the one that works best for me hinges on a pile of simple slips like the one below:

Project: Task: _ Date:_

Start:.

End:

Remarks:

1 typed eight of these out on a sheet of paper, then made

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