The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-06-18
MACHINE SHOPS
SEND GOODS TO
EVERY COUNTRY
Birmingham Products Are
Well Known Over the
Entire Globe
PLANTS REQUIRE
SKILLED WORWMEN
ideal Location of Birmingham Dis
+. trict With Rapid Transporta-
tion an Important Factor
in Success

Among the more important industries
OF the Birmingham district are the de-
signing and machine shops in which
examples of mechanical perfection are
turned out with a wonderful accuracy
of craftsmanship.
1t is true that a large number of the
big machine shops of the district are
operated in connection with the iron
and steel mills. but there are quite a
number of Independent plants which
manufacture special mechanical parts
FOR industries in practically every civil
lied country of the globe.
The number of machine shops and
manufacturing plants Is increasing very
rapidly. for the foremost men of the
country who are interested in these
lines realize that Birmingham has all
of the requisites for industrial work
of this character. The iron, COAL steel,
coke, byproduct and other plants offhe
district supply every raw material nee
essary, while the railroad facilities and
proximity to the gulf furnish cheap and
quick transportation. Skilled workmen
are also to be found in Birmingham
In large numbers and nowhere else in
tne SOutn are tnefe SO many advantage
for work of this character.
The shops are not only up to date in
every particular, but the class of work
and perfection of mechanical skill in
the produced articles is such as to gain
them a high place in the esteem of the
buying public when placed in compari
son with the output of other plants.
Demand for Efficiency
Time was when the products of the
machine shops depended largely upon
the skill of manual labor. the proficien-
cy of the handicrafts. but today there
is special machine for every instance
of machine shop practise. 1t is neces-
sarily so because of the exacting de-
mands of the trade and the fierce spirit
of competition. Ii is said that there is
more ingenuity and steadier devotion of
genius to mechanical invention and de-
sign in machine shop practice than in
any other of the handicrafts.
So vast and complicated are the ma
chimes of today that much of the in
vention has been along lines of perfect.
Ing attachments for machines long il
use. with the result that the goal of
higher efficiency has wrought a reyo-
lutonizng of the complete machine
which. strangely enough, has otherwise
remained practically the same as it was
many years ago. The added things are
mere embellishments of mechanical per-
fection necessary in the work demanded
Machines Almost Human
The secret of success in the mechani-
cal field. however, it is declared, is that
1T does not depend so much on the de-
vices as upon the correct understand
Ing of the business policies and the ad-
justment of labor conditions, taking, on
the whole, view of efficiency of me-
chanical skilled labor and the manner
of the work, always problems to be
considered. The efficiency of mechanical
devices actually has reached a point in
the manufacture of heavier products
that human hands never touch the ma
terial throughout the steps necessary
from its raw state to the finished arti-
Gle. This provides an enforced under
standing of the geometrical accuracy
of the machine which will do the work
in such a correct manner that depend
ence upon the result always is possible.
The great demand today is for eff
cheney III the man, not the machine.
Some are required constantly to do the
things possible with machines already
established, and others are in demand
to take up pioneer work, the natural
development of which, in the right di-
rection, will conduce Birmingham's
growth as a manufacturing center.
The idea of efficiency requirement
does not reach to college educations,
but rather to the fundamental principles
of mechanical operation, understanding
of the business policy, experience in the
handling of mechanical contrivances
and devices. and faithfulness. This last
is the greatest requirement.. One man
puts it this way:
"The efficient man in the machine
shop is not the man who is looking for
6 o'clock, not the man who counts time
by the hour, but by what he has
achieved"
The perfection of the machines is
what really does the work, yet the
thinking, conscious mind with the ex-
pert hand must be behind to operate