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SNOW "WAS ON THE GROUND IN MARCH when ground ment of the Devonshire home «!te. Now the area is lander as broken for the model homes ai Clermont in Wood- scaped and attractive, the door to Ladd's 300-lot developstock. Cat picks tap shovel of dirt and snow in the base- ment on Woodstock's north side. 's Volume Is Key -To Lower Priees : How in the world can Ladd's £ell fine homes like they do for such a low price? someone said «> unbelievingly early this spring as they toured our new 1964 model homes. • Frankly, one key answer is volume. It may be trite, but true, to report that volume is a major f a c t o r . T h e i n d i v i d u a l w h o builds a couple of homes, or 25 or even 100, cannot guarantiee volume--so his price per ilnit must be higher. Plan for Each Home Our Master order system is one step on one of the best, most efficient cost control systems we know about. This order system has a master plan Tor each model home. It contains the number of each component (such as lumber) as \vell as the price for every style of home we build. When the purchase orders go out and the bills come back, cur office staff has the tools to make a careful comparison-- did costs exceed estimate? If so, why? We watch labor costs closely. Every day time cards for each job are turned in, and they are run through an impressive-looking Royal McBee automatic machine. This data permits Ladd's to maintain a daily current cost on every house. This information helps develop an overall cost picture. From it standards are derived. Thereafter, job costs must meet these standards or t h e reason is determined. Use Power Tools Ladd superintendents are responsible for ways to cut costs. They develop them, too. The skillful use of power tools is cne way costs are lowered. Suggestions are evaluated on the basis of whether or not they prove a more efficient way to do a job and improve or maintain quality. A third way we generate lower costs is through the. use of the lowest possible bid. We accept only one bid from each sub-contractor. The lowest bid- Continued on Page 6 ducts, and rsiesrch. Heafao handles Internal finance, budgetary controls, scheduling and' the office management. Besides these heavy duties Mr. Thillman also handles -till ptfcpehasing «for the Company. . Thillman Joined Ladd's after returning from service in 1944 and operating a laundry in Minnesota for a lew years* Thillman attended St. John's University at Collegeville, Minn, earning a basketball scholarship with his cage prowess. Roger Ladd Roger Ladd, president of Ladd Enterprises, joined the company in 1945 after completing his military service. He became associated with his father, J. R. Ladd. in the business and had an important part in the company's steady growth. Roger was responsible for the success of Lincolnshire, a prize-winning development one- Half mile east of Half Day on Illinois Route 22.. The National Home Builders Assoc i a t i o n cited Lincolnshire, built in 1955, as an outstanding planned community. A resident of Costal Lake since 1952. Roger is active in community affairs. He has built the company's growth on a foundation of honesty, integrity and sincerity, cornerstones provided by J. R. Ladd. The company has never wavered from that goal or from the deep conviction that Laddbuilt products are the best value for the dollar. Roger became president in 1963 when J. R. Ladd dted. Roger is a present member of the Home Builders Association of Chicago and serves on two committees of that group. Amongv Roger's responsibilities are finding new land sites for future Ladd developments and studying new business ventures for the company. In a firm as large as Ladd Enterprises--we build 250-300 homes a year--we know customers still must receive individual attention and prompt delivery of their homes. To do this we must solve problems before they arise! We must prevent construction interruptions. A delay of only one week in putting water lines to a house, for example, may delay as much as three weeks construction on an entire project. This delay will reverberate a n d c a u s e s e r i o u s c o m p l i cations in several homes. And this is just one example. Multiply that by the hundreds of possible problems, and you see h o w v i g i l a n t a n d e f f i c i e n t Ladd's must be. Radio-dispatched vehicles help the men who are the company trouble shooters. These vehicles can race to sites and unblock potential headaches. A man on a job can call the main office; in moments a radio-dispatched vehicle will move to titer site andtlMt&uperintenrient can awii'My. At any erne time Ladfs has more than homes under construetioa. Aao4faer. 2M& ore in various stages ol paper work or mortgage: "iprocessissg. Trouble shooting is- es-integral part of Ladd's business pohcy. We haver ptenty vof targets to, aim: at, but seldom need to make a direct hit because our men anticipate problems before they develop. Usually! The Ladd Credo has two aspects : 1. The satisfied home buyer is the company's most important asset. 2. All employees must be aware that a customer is a most valued person and he shall be treated with the ut- ! most respect, consideration and sincerity. Customers are the reason we are in business I •' • M1J! Ambrose Thillman AMBROSE THILLMAN, A member of Ladd Enterprises since 1956 and vice president of the company, is in charge of new pro- David Ladd DAVE LADD, secretary, is a University of Illinois engineering graduate. He is head of all construction and engineering for the company. In 1962 he received his professional engineering certificate on his first attempt, which is quite a feat. Dave is a graduate of St. Thomas grade school and Crystal Lake Community high school at Crystal Lake. He also graduated from Marquette University and was first hired by Ladd's as an engineer. Jeffrey Ladd, treasurer of Ladd Enterprises, is a graduate of Loras college in Dubuque, Iowa. ^He has studied housing organization for building compani e s a s w e l l a s b u i l d i n g methods. He has also studied s a l e s m a n s h i p , f i n a n c i n g a n d marketing. Jeft is head of advertising, public relations, marketing and merchandising, m a J: -k e.t • re- Ladd Enterprises also builds apartment buildings, industrial buildings, commercial buildings and dormitories--as well as quality homes and special customized higher-priced homes. search, original development submittals to FHA and VA» and the new service department. m to: to Jeffrey Ladd Ladd worked on his master's degree at Denver University in the department of building in» dustry and real estate. He plans to continue his education at the University of Chicago this fall in marketing and •finance. £