There is one further aspect which I would like to deal with, namely value analysis in its simplest form. According to this principle a particular method or process is superior to another if the number of steps required for its performance is smaller given the same total cost of materials, wages and incidental costs. The following example, which illustrates how transportation has become increasingly flexible and no longer bound to preset paths, may elucidate this concept:

In the days of the sedan chair it was sufficient to clear the ground of any obstructing undergrowth and to find places to ford the rivers. However, with the considerably more advanced four-wheel carts the ground had to be as level and solid as possible. In many parts of the country where this was not the case the dangerous option of sea transportation had to be used instead if there were no suitable rivers available. For locomotives rails had to be laid. It was not until 1902 with the invention of the tar macadam road (which also proved to be a suitable surface for factories, warehouses etc.) that industrial traffic ceased to be restricted to Preset paths and the same vehicles could be used either an the road or to make movement of loads in industrial buildings quicker and easier. In terms of value analysis this was undoubtedly a better system.