This chapter describes briefly the procedure of an ordinary planning department, leaving out the activities which only in particular works are combined with it. It begins with the planning clerk, who will be the first assistant to the head of the department. He must be a semi-technical man, fully conversant with factory conditions and methods. He receives from the drawing-office a document which is variously known as a "specification," "part list," "bill of material," or some similar title. The planning clerk can at once satisfy himself that the necessary material will be available, and that there will be no delay owing to its not being in stock. The specification sheet is finally gone through carefully for the purpose of designating each part with its classification symbol, so that the sheet may be used properly, with each item identified, by all the members of the staff who have not sufficient technical knowledge.