The Blackfoot optimist., 1916-12-14
FROM 0. E. BILLS, TOLEDO, ONO.


: dealers visiting the great Toledo plan
in connection with the immense con
vention now in progress, recounts hi
experience in this entertaining lette
to the editor:
Some action!
Nothing was ever so impressive a,
our tour of the great plant that turn.
out Willys-Overland ears.
Our pullmans all parked in the com
Ipany yards. There was room enough, fol
there are seven and three-quarter mile.
Of track within the plant.
Each man got card containing pic.
ture of Mr.. WHY'S and an autograph.
ed message of welcome from him. Next
thing 1 knew We were lined up on the
steps of the stunning new adminins.
tration building getting photographed
Elevators shot us to the company s
own restaurant on the sixth floor. Their
we had a coorking good breakfast. At
new Willys-Overland house organ "The
Starter 1t mapped our days pro.
gram.
Then started our tour of the plant.
| Our guides were carefully picked
| iASh' AHSS NHCW tuo ptuul lTOu Gnu
to end, and the parties were small
so that each member of the party
could have his questions answered.
Nobody ought to try to sell the
WHY'S Overland product without know
ing this plant. You can't grip the
immensity of the proposition till you
! do.
1t is no piker business.
| IL \
up in land, buildings and machinery,
| not to say word about the stock Of
parts and raw material.
From the roof of the wonderful ad-
ministration building, which stands
out like state capitol, you get a
great panorama of the plant. You can
then readily believe that it occupies
10 acres, with 4,4S6,6SO square feet
of floor space in daily use and
production capiciV of 1000 ears per
day.
You can appreciate the growth from
25O employees in 1908 to 1890 in 1916
One thousand persons, more than the
entire manufacturing force of many
company, work in the Administrations
building alone. This structure, 375
feet long, has every facility for rapid
work, including dictaphones, its own
telegraph and telephone system and
mail handling department that does
about everything but write the letters.
Three hundred and cighty-eight per-
sons can be fed in the restaurant at
one time.
But this is noting to what hits when
you cross into the shops. 1t is whirl
of action, yet all is system.
Parts by the untold thousands are
here, with value into the millions
of dollars. There are lines of motors.
l never saw so many crank shafts
together. Our guide said 6OO-I'd have
believed 10000.
There is stock in bins, stock in
yards, stock along the walls, connect
ing rods, frames, tenders, mudguards,
hoods, rims, springs, axles, torsion
tubes, transmissions gears shafts, brake
parts, steering rods, pedals-it is an
unending procession.
Every 30 days sees an average Of
1000 tons of steel come in. It is han
died by magnetic crane that enables
two men to do work that formerly
required 80.
There are amazing machines.
The toggle press, for example, held
Us all. This monster, with it pressure
Of 1000 tons, shapes cold steel like
cardboard. A piece Of metal fed to
it comes out as a side frame. It can
make 1000 of these in an eighthour
day.
Other mighty machines stamp out
radiator shells, Tenders, cowl dashes
and doors.
You take off your hat to the drop
fNr
hammer and the frey pieces, of iron
are beaten into shape. The complete
drop forging of the front axle can
be accomplished with one heat.
Every kind of part requiring strength
was drop forged while we looked on,
axles, crank shaftsl brake assembly |
rods, brake and control rods, spring
gear blanks and brake rod
sectors.
We saw the company's accurate sys-
tenn of die making. It calls for a |
special workman on each detail One 7!
works on the shaper, another on the |
planner and third on die sinking.
The multiple spindle drill in one op-
Grafton drills all the holes in the front |
axle. This is a guarantee that each |
will be in the right relation to the
other.
1t was hard to drag us away from
the automatic turret lathe that sur.
faces and finishes fly wheels. 1t works
as though somewhere within it's metal
vitals brain was concealed. The work
man has only to put OH the rough fly
wheel, adjust the first set of tools,
push the lever, and let the machine do
the rest
The east iron is peeIco off as readily
as wax. Sometimes four or five op-
erations are performed at once. When
one set of cuttings is done, the ma
chine stops automatically, and the next
set of tools comes automatically into
place. Twenty operations are performed
in IA minutes. Twenty-six pounds of
metal are removed from the wheel.
One man can watch three Of these ma
chimes.
The vertical cutter of gears on fly Y
wheels almost matches the turret lathe