BUYING BLIND

Evening Post, Volume CXXII, Issue 74, 24 September 1936, Page 14

BUYING BLIND

Standards would help

PRICE AND QUALITY

NOT ALWAYS A GUIDE

The advisory council of the New Zealand Standards Institute, through its secretary, Mr. L. J. McDonald, submitted to the Industries and Commerce Committee of the House of Representatives, which is inquiring into the questions raised in a petition in connection with the competition with individual stores offered by chain stores, that competition could be best provided by the progressive application of the principle of standardisation.

The adoption of "standards" or standard specifications provided a measure of quality in the same way that a standard measure of length or weight provided a measure of quantity, and therefore established a basis for price competition in relation to quality, which after all was little, if any, less important than quantity, said Mr. McDonald. In twenty-two of the leading industrial countries the quality ?nd utility, convenience, and safety vHrf an increasing proportion of goods md equipment was reliably indicated "lo purchasers through the promulgation of standard specifications by impartial experts. By this means the buyer was relieved of the necessity of purchasing on the basis of his own inexpert knowledge. PRICE FIXES "QUALITY." "The need for standards is evidenced in innumerable instances of inconsistency of qualities in relation to price which are on record, of which the following examples are typical," said Mr. McDonald. "A large scale manufacturer of dry battery cells for flashlight torches sold two grades, one a largely-advertised one and the other processed exactly the same until the ; label was affixed, this latter one 'selling at half the price of the former. An organisation in the U.S.A. known as the University Buyers' Association tested the durability of floor varnish. It found that varnish at 1 dollar 70 cents per gallon was equal in wearing value to varnish sold at 6 dollars. •The Teachers' College, Columbia University, conducted tests on cotton : sheeting. Nine makes of sheeting were selected. Laboratory analyses based on the Bureau of Standards procedure determined the relative quality of each The quality was then compared ■ with the price. The make ranking eighth in quality ranked second in price Of two makes whose quality was identical one sold for two and a half times as much as the other. The make ranking last in quality sold for 20 per cent, more than the make ranking sixth, and the make ranking highest in quality sold for less than the brand ranking next to last. Ihe highest-priced sample , was third in < quality. The findings resulting from an investigation carried out by a Mr. John Dinsmore on behalf of a movement known as the' Educational Buyers' Association revealed that price differences for identical commodities varied from 10 to 3000 per cent. "There are the kind of 'Rafferty rules that govern the transactions between seller and buyer that would not be met in any degree by regulation of chain store activities, but which could be replaced by standard specifications giving a true index to quality, which is in itself a factor in relation to value as is measurement or weight," said Mr. McDonald. "These few instances are quoted from the proved experience of the United States merely because the position in this respect has been more thoroughly investigated there than in any other country, so far as I am aware. We have no reason to believe that the position is any different in this or any other country, excepting perhaps in degree and extent. "There is little doubt that almost any trade could supply evidence of competition by shoddy materials that cannot be detected by the buyer and which consequently forces those stock quality goods into competition with inferior goods on a quite unfair basis. The effect of this is to progressively scale down the quality of goods that are sold to the lowest level." He mentioned one instance of the importation of boys' school trousers. marked "strong and double-seated," whereas they were made of the most' shoddy material and had a small piece of material of contrasting colour as reinforcement, which was too light in weight to be of any value for patching, much less reseating. These were competing with really serviceable locally manufactured trousers which were consequently subjected to quite unfair competition. The adoption of standards would necessitate the placing of a mark indicating grade and a brief statement of base material from which trousers were manufactured, and the material, nature, colour, and size of the reseat. WOOL THAT NEVER SAW A SHEEP. "We all know of woollen hose that are not woollen and which are short in the legs. The same applies to ladies' hose, some are shorter in the leg than others, while there is little or no assurance to the purchaser of thp number of silk strands or the weight or quality of such strands." There was a case of medicinal tablets priced at 100 for Is which, under chemical test by the laboratory of the' Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, proved to be equally as good as similar tablets sold, as eight for 6d. said Mr. McDonald, who mentioned also, that in the case' of blankets, laboratory tests revealed that of nine specimens tested the thermal insulation properties per unit of area were found to vary in ratio in excess of two to one. That statement was not necessarily a criticism of the samples so tested because it took no regard of the ventilation requirements of a blanket. The point was, however, that the varying thermal insulation properties should be indicated to the purchaser in each case so that he would know exactly what he was buying. To the best of his knowledge this was not done. BUYERS WHO DO KNOW. "I have placed before the committee but a tithe' of the available evidence of the need of standard specifications to place trade on a basis that would satisfy the public interest, and were an investigtion undertaken in this country this would be increased and strengthened overwhelmingly," ■ continued Mr. McDonald. • "Standard specifications are now used, I think, by a great many expert purchasing officers on behalf of public authorities, and it would seem that if such expert buyers find that it is advantageous to depend on standard specifications to aid them in their purchasing, it surely is very much more necessary for the non-expert, average purchaser to have the advantage of a similar guide extended to him. Stuart Chase and F. J. Schlink state in theirißook 'Your' Moneys Worth' that the' Federal Government of the United States, according to sound estimate, are saving 100,000,0000 dollars a year through basing purchases on standards. Dr. F. S. Brown, Assistant Dfrector of the Bureau of Standards, Is credited with stating that he esti--1 jnades that standardisation enhances

the wealth of the United States to the amount of 1,000,000,000 dollars, while the United States Chamber of Commerce has estimated that the general adoption of standards would lower the cost of living by 25 per cent.

"There is sound warrant for this statement in the colossal savings that have been effected by various private and public concerns in different countries throughout the world. These savings are effected by (1) the reduction of types, designs, and sizes to sensible and economic proportions; (2) providing a standard specification which maintains a consistent demand for a given product, so permitting production on a larger scale; (3) conserving stocks of raw materials and finished articles in factory, warehouse, and shop, so reducing overhead charges. The position is further aided by economy in space and use of machinery, which is consequently more regularly employed."