{[rh||THE QUESTION OF MANUFACTURE.|§ 111}}
§ 111. Government versus Private Manufacture. In every problem of production in quantity, otherwise that which is termed "manufacture," the essence of true economy is continuity. The whole of the organisation of a modern factory is based on the work in progress being of the nature of a "flow," rather than a succession of jerks. In actual practice it is only in the case of certain industries in which the goods manufactured are not liable to change from year to year, and in which the demand is not of a fluctuating character, that the "flow" can be maintained under ideal conditions—that is to say, with perfect uniformity. In other cases fluctuations are inevitable; changes in design necessitated by the stress of competition and the advance of knowledge prevent the condition of perfect continuity from being realised. Under these conditions a not inconsiderable part of the duties of the organisation is that concerned with negotiating the necessary irregularities and changes. The work still is dealt with on the theory that it remains a flow, but it is actually a succession of batches, the flow being comparable to that of a river subject to seasonal fluctuations, periods of flood alternating with periods of slack. The system of organisation requires to be framed to deal with the consequent unavoidable breakages of continuity, and it is the business of the works and engineering staff so to regulate the progress of work that the resulting disorganisation is minimised, and the economy of production is not too seriously impaired. The possibilities of the situation, so far as the management staff" is concerned, are very much circumscribed by considerations of finance and the exigencies of the market. These latter questions are, or should be, dominated by the prevision of the directorate; they are matters governed by the policy of the company, for which the board of directors (directly or through their managing
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