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A calculated way
Page 74
Page 75
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to save time by John Darker AMBIM
ROAD TRANSPORT organizations ought to be large users of the small electronic calculators which are well advertised and readily available in every High Street While many of the larger firms in road transport have used such calculating aids for some years it seems likely that numbers of small firms — especially those run by people over 50 may not have considered the use of "newfangled" business aids.
Transport staffs have a special need for prompt and accurate calculations for it is the nature of the business to require thousands of — usually fairly straightforward — arithmetical sums to be undertaken every month. Those responsible for rates calculations, wages compilation, and similar routine chores, may have devised over the years their own simple ready-reckoning tables. I suspect that any new staff under 35 recruited to road transport from industry or commerce may sometimes be surprised at the lack of common sense business aids.
I and several colleagues have recently had the opportunity of using a Sperry Remington 661-D pocket calculator on many typical traffic office chores and it has been dis
tinctly useful is a time-saver in revising the figures for a new edition of our Cost Tables and — to quote an obviously topical need — to work out the higher cost of fuels.
Finding the calculator so useful has promoted a number of colleagues to buy calculators — and there is no lack of machines to choose from with several hundred models to select from.
Although a small electronic calculator will work out sums in a few seconds which would take a considerable time "long hand", and will provide the right answer without question if the proper keys are depressed, it is not a handicap if the user is reasonably good at maths to begin with. Many old-stagers who were trained in their youth to add up long columns of figures accurately need not be ashamed to relieve themselves of a wearisome chore by using a calculator.
Mathematical "sense" is useful, too, in doing a rough mental check that a broadly correct answer has been obtained. Where carelessness can put the decimal point in the wrong place it is common prudence to undertake a quick approximation.
The Spevvy Remington 661-D measures a mere 6 x 3 x 11/2 inches and weighs only 12 ounces. The key touch gives a pleasant "big machine" feel. Its replaceable manganese-alkali batteries will last in continuous use for at least 20 hours, but if this is regarded as a handicap an adaptor enabling power to be drawn from mains is available.
The 661-D will add, subtract, multiply and divide and it handles chain arithmetic in all functions. Its entering capacity is six digits and it can cope with as many as 12 digits. For monetary amounts of pOunds and pence it will usually be more convenient to set the decimal point at two places — providing four whole numbers and two decimal places in the six-figure display to simplify reading off the final result. If preferred, the machine may be used without a decimal, giving more flexibility and greater capacity.
The Sperry Remington 661-D was
made to sell for under £30. A recent issue of Which? published by the Consumers Association, listed a sample of 20 popular electronic calculators at prices ranging from under £30 to over £200. Any business in which small calculators take over slower calculating methods must make better use of expensive labour.
In 1973 the world market for electronic calculators amounted to around 20 million units sold to the value of £1,000 m. Makers of these small machines are beginning to see them as consumer products and they may soon be as common as rulers and rubbers in school satchels! All of this will no doubt prompt elderly wiseacres to chide youngsters who take calculators for granted: "What will you do if you have to get by without such aids?"
Personal machine
Some 700 members of the Consumers Association replied to a questionnaire about electronic calculators. Most used their calculators at home as well as at work — which suggests that many users buy their own personal machine since those using them at work did so mainly on a machine provided by the employer.
The Which? guide (December 1973) can be consulted at most public libraries and anyone planning tc invest in a small electronic calculator will find it worthwhile to read the users' opinions, bearing in mind that many models available were not listed.
In general, the more gadgets fitted, the easier the machine is to operate All the calculators tested by the Con. sumers ssociation had a Clear key tc erase everything entered but some had an extra key to clear the last entr3 made if a wrong number or sign ha been accidentally entered. Obviously this is a useful feature as it avoids tilt necessity of re-entering perhaps long calculation unnecessarily.
Anyone who has to do a string o: calculations involving a repeatec factor, as for currency or VAT sums should check to see what provision i! made. Some calculators have constant key or switch; others haw no need for a K key as constants can be worked out automatically.
"Damned dots ..."
Most inexperienced users will be worried about "those damned dots" as Mr Churchill was fond of describing decimal points. The decimal point can be either fixed (ie preset, so that there is always a fixed number of digits after the point) or floating, so that the number of digits after the point is determined by the result of the calculation. Some calculators provide both options. The Which? users found the floating option to be the more versatile.
Percentages can be worked out on any calculator but a separate Percentage key is a bull point. In some calculators there is a memory device enabling you to do a preliminary calculation, store the result, and then use it in conjunction with further calculations.
Since many people are hamfisted it may be sensible to try out machines for key size; some may be found with keys as small as 2 mm in diameter, perhaps requiring the use of a special probe to operate readily.
Some calculators utilize rechargeable batteries and some of this type tested by Which? took as many as 15 hours recharging to give 4 to 51/2 hours continuous use. It is possible to use calculators with rechargeable batteries while they are on charge, though this extends the recharging period.
Cost per hour
The cost of operating a calculator with rechargeable batteries varies from 21/2p to over 15p an hour. It may be thought easier to run the machine off the mains unless the facility of use on car or train journeys is essential.
Evidence that small electronic calculators are catching on in road transport is provided by their popularity with trade union officers. If these useful machines prove helpful to men concerned mainly with the calculation of wage and bonus reates, journey speeds, etc, how much more useful will they prove to business men striving to calculate profit margins in road transport where no two journeys are identical, where the "input" is variable and rapid changes of plan are often called for.
Traditionalists will say that they can sense the effect of widely varying factors making for profitability in road haulage, and that black (or coloured!) boxes are unnecessary toys. With some "toys" below £20 and dropping towards £10 I fear the opponents of new calculating methods will soon be in the minority.