In all improvements in the working routine of manufacturing operations, there should be previous records by which the present performances may be checked and compared. By this arrangement, it is comparatively easy to ascertain whether or not any improvement is being made, and in what direction it is being made. This knowledge will suggest further plans and betterments. Should the records prove that there are losses rather than gains being made, the warning is equally valuable, and we make haste to better results and greater efficiency in the work. Thus, whether the plans and methods in use are really successful, or quite the reverse, it is of the utmost importance that we should know by prompt and accurate records just what the results are, in order to keep in close touch with the progress of events, and that, when plans do not produce the favorable results expected and desired, the information may be promptly available, the warning be heard, and plans altered or amended until they bring about a successful routine in the manufacturing operations. =Selection and Employment of Workmen.= This is an important matter, since it costs money to introduce new men in any business, and requires from a day or two to several weeks for the new man to become sufficiently accustomed to his work and surroundings to be of the same value as the man who is perfectly familiar with the shop, the routine and methods of work, and the foreman under whom he works. [Illustration: Fig. 5. Application Card.] It is therefore necessary to go about this matter in a methodical manner, and to keep records of: (_a_) All persons making application for employment. (_b_) All persons regularly accepted as employees. (_c_) Individual records of all regular workmen. (_d_) All employees who leave the employment of the company. To accomplish these results, the official whose duty it is to employ men will fill out, or will have a clerk fill out, an _Application Card_ of the form shown in Fig. 5, for each person applying for a position. It will be noticed that it is important to know whether the applicant has ever been employed in this establishment previous to the present application. If so, his record can be readily referred to for information as to the desirability of employing him again. It is also necessary that the record of his last employer be known, and frequently of the employer previous to the last, as these matters will also be taken into consideration in determining his fitness for the position for which he applies. It is also necessary to know how many years he has been employed in manufacturing establishments, as this fact, taken in consideration with his age, will frequently furnish information upon which to base judgment as to his fitness. [Illustration: Fig. 6. Employment Card.]