The Washington herald., 1921-03-27

eIlmlnaIe tnls COiidT WltnA the lQoa
of making this particular fixture .
more sanitary article. When the
State. War and Navy specifications
were written they specified all sof
these fixtures to be furnished with
out this collar. believing Il was a
more sanitary article when made In
that way. A number OF manufac-
turers had adopted this idea on their
better grade Of fixtures, and finally
we found that we were making part
Of these fixtures in one way and part
Of them in another. 1t was then
proven that IL we could make all
of them without the collar, quite
a saving could be made in the manu-
facture OF this article. II was then
decided by the asso-
citation that after a certain date all
Of these pieces would be made less
the collar, and we notified the trade
to that effect. Everything went well
until the department of health at
Philadelphia passed a resolution
prohibiting the installation of these
fixtures in that city. Finally one
Of the manufacturers gave way,
which caused a second one to follow,
until today practically all manu-
facturers have been compelled to
make this fixture with the collar,
and the saving which could have
been made and a better fixture fur
nished to the public was lost be-
cause we did not have the backing
of somebody who had q standing
and because our actions were looked
up as being selfish.
ssyU. r,,st not lanL ,,.an .t.-a
ardization as some new experiment.
Standardization has been accom-
plished in a great many lines, and
the general public. 1 believe, has re-
ceived the most benefit. As an Illus
tration: When a heating engineer
is hying out the heating system for
a building. he starts at the top and
works down to the basement. and
finds that he must have pipe that is
capable of delivering a certain vol
ume of steam. Provided these fig
ures should show that he needed a
81 Inch pipe, no such thought
would enter his head as to put into,
the specifications a pipe of this size.
He knows that after a 5-inch pipe,
the next size is inches. So his
specifications call for a 6-inch and
not fo- a 5A Inch. This Is a stand
ard which was established and
which is recognized by manufactur-
ers. dealers and engineers
How many have ever thought
what II would mean today IL each
automobile manufacturer made his
own particular design of rim for
tires? There Is no question in my
mind but what we would pay double
or triple the price we are paying
today. and II is a question as TO
whether. the tires would be as good
a quality as they are.
Means Improvements.
standardization improves quality.
I can recall in our own fac.ory
several years ago when one Of the
workmen came to me with an Idea
that he had of an Improvement fer
certain fixtures. This was q marked
Improvement. and would not increase
our cost of making the articles. We
decided not to do anything with this,
however. for the following reason:
II we had improved one design, the
same Improvement would be wanted
by the trade on all patterns. with
the result that IL would have been
necessary for US to spend thou
sands of dollars in changing our
models.
"On account of the vast number
of designs which we were then
making, the cost OF this improve
nent would have been out of pro-
portion to the benefits. II our line
had been standardized by having
only a few sizes and patterns, the
improvement would have been
adopted Immediately and a better
article furnished the public
The National Federation Of Con-
struction Industries appointed me
as chairman Of Standardization
work. 1t is not necessary that the
manufacturers in that Industry
agree among themselves as to one
standard, but they must ask that
standards be established, and we
will then bring this matter to the
attention of the American Engineer
ing Standards Committee, and
through them arrange that this work
be taken up and eventually approved
by that body. The Federation will
do Its part In encouraging the work
of Standardization, and after stand
ards have been adopted and ap-
proved, we will give publicity TO
these standards and encourage their
adoption by all those who are intel
ested.
The object Of my talk has been
to show that by Standardization we
can reduce the cost of building and
improve the quality, thereby bene-
fitting everyone, from the manufac-
turer to the consumer"