One sub-department of the business handled the orders portrayed by Curve "A" and Curve "E". The other sub-department handled orders portrayed by Curve "C" and curve "G". The combined work of the two departments is shown by Curve " B " and Curve " F"

The percentage of the total number of orders handled in each of tlie two different departments, up to any size of order read on the horizontal scale, may be seen by considering the distances on the chart above and below Curve "D"

kind can be of service in a sales analysis for almost any kind of business. A company selling fairly uniform products -- shoes, for example -- could use for the horizontal scale the actual number of pairs of shoes contained on various orders received for the test period of, say, a week or a month. Companies having a diversified product, as electrical machinery, could best make a chart of this kind by basing the horizontal scale on the actual value in dollars of the various orders received. Thus, the scale could be made for orders in sizes larger than $50, $500, $1,000, etc. If charts are made for different departments, very interesting comparisons could be made which would bring

FREQUENCY CURVES 189

out information valuable to a corporation executive. Department stores might also have use for charts on the general plan of Fig. 157. Different departments could be considered by the number of orders of various sizes. As the margin of profit in different classes of goods in different quantity sold would be fairly well known, the manager could get a good idea as to how much of the time of his sales force was occupied in handling small orders, and how much in handling large orders.