Introduction to the Informatization of the Manufacturing Industry

Author: (English) Edward Porter
Translator: Zhang Zhiqiang et al.
Editor-in-Chief: Zhan Baohong
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-02-01
Features: Do you often wish to create high-quality tables for your company? Do you frequently struggle with poorly designed tables? Procurement tables, marketing tables, production tables, financial tables, distribution tables, HR tables—oh, it can drive you crazy! Then, we provide you with 130 ready-made tables that you can copy and use on the spot without any effort, and they come in both Chinese and English. If you're interested, take a look! This book not only offers suggestions and guidance for your practical work but also includes 130 ready-made tables that you can directly adopt. It tells you how to create high-quality tables. To keep up with international practices in a timely manner and better understand common methods and standards, the tables in this book are presented in both Chinese and English for easier comprehension.
Detailed Introduction: Whether you are a frontline manager, a middle manager, or a senior manager, if dealing with tables is part of your daily work, then the book "Mastering Business Tables" is prepared for you! Chapter 1: Writing Effective Tables introduces various uses of tables, explains how to successfully create and fill them, and includes two questionnaire checklists that you will use throughout the book. Chapters 2 to 8 cover a broader and deeper range of tables, each titled "Procurement," "Production," "Distribution," "Marketing," "Finance," "HR," and "Miscellaneous." Each table is accompanied by explanatory notes to state its purpose and provide helpful suggestions for creating or filling it out. Regardless of your job or the type and size of your company, "Mastering Business Tables" holds significant value for you. If you want to find a specific table, you can quickly flip to it using the "Table Index" on the first page; if you want to study a category of tables, you can refer to the "Table of Contents" on the first page; and if you want to learn as much as possible and become an expert in this field, then please read each chapter carefully, page by page.
Excerpt: Creating Tables
Whether you work in procurement, production, distribution, marketing, finance, HR, or any other department, you may be responsible for creating tables for your team. You might even want to create tables for yourself to manage your time more effectively or communicate more clearly with others. If so, you should follow many guidelines. Specifically, effective tables often have the following characteristics:
· Simple
· Standardized
· Versatile
· Attractive
· Durable
Simple
Strive to make your tables as simple as possible so that they are easy to understand and can be filled out quickly and easily. Include only the necessary content, organize it logically, and leave ample space for filling. Avoid using colors, different fonts, shaded areas, boxes, and annotations—these can make the table look cluttered and distract the recipient. As an alternative to annotations, you can explain the table to employees when they receive it or fill it out with them together. You may also want to include how to fill out the table in regular employee training sessions.
Standardized
Ensure that your tables are standardized. Whenever possible, use layouts, fonts, and wording similar to those used in the past. This helps avoid confusion and conveys a unified company image to internal and external stakeholders. The size of the table should also be standardized—large enough to hold all necessary information but as small as possible for easy placement, such as fitting into envelopes or filing systems. You can design some tables in two sizes, such as A5 and A4, and choose the appropriate one based on the situation.
Versatile
In many large companies, the same basic table exists in various versions—five or six types of job application forms or at least ten types of employee evaluation forms are common. As a result, unnecessary paperwork piles up in the office, but people often choose the wrong version when using these tables. A more practical approach is to limit each type of table to no more than two versions—indeed, most businesses can modify a table slightly using a word processor or computer program to make it suitable for different environments. Clearly, this is simpler and more cost-effective than printing and storing various versions.
Attractive
Every table, whether an internal memo or an external bid, should look clear, neat, and pleasing to the eye. To achieve this, the table should be easily identifiable, have enough space, have good print quality, and use high-quality paper. If an internal table is small, narrow, has unclear printing, is crammed together, and uses cheap, poor-quality paper, it will undoubtedly be treated accordingly—people will just see it as scrap paper. Clearly, tables used for external communication should look even better, as their importance is no less than that of internal tables. They convey a professional, top-tier company image to existing and potential suppliers, customers, and other individuals and organizations.
Durable
Tables should be designed to last for a long time, but this is often overlooked. We must design tables so that they do not quickly become outdated and regularly replace those that waste time and money. One simple way to do this is to ensure that specific dates—such as "July 1996"—are not printed on the table, and avoid including questions that are not relevant to the future. For this reason, it is common to include a "Remarks" section in the table, which can contain various topics. Additionally, we may need to keep the table and use it as a reference for the next few years—this again highlights the importance of using high-quality paper to prevent the table from becoming wrinkled, worn, or difficult to read.