Evening star., 1927-09-18
PRODUCTION PLANS
| SPEED AUTO WORK.
w. K. SWigert Describes Ad.
vantages of New Me-
ehinery in Use.

Production planning in the automo.
tive industries has come TO take a
ranking place, and the production
planning department now is consid-
cred as one of the most impor-
tant of every factory. according to
w. h. Swigert of the Stutz Mo
tor Car CO., writing in the Journal
of the Society of Automotive En-
gineers. In the opinion of the writer,
the engineering of production and
manufacturing is Just as essential as
the engineering Of the car itself.
Next to improved and lahor-saving
machinery, the principal benefit to
production methods has come through
efforts to have material flow smooth
~ in a continuous line from the re-
CeiVing and stock rooms to the ship
ping rooms, according to Mr.. Swigert
Labor now has come to be the most
costly item in production, and, there
fore, the more direct flow of material
the greater the saving in non-pro-
ductiye labor and in time.
Take Machine to Work.
Formerly we carried the work to
the machines" Mr.. Swigert writes.
"Now We take the machine to the
work. Similarly, plants were con-
structed without specific regard to
their later utility or their adaptahility
TO manufacturing operations other
than those for which they were to be
used first.
Manufacturers have revamped
their buildings and relocated their
various operations so that there is
the least possible interruption or loss
of energy in moving the material
from the first to the last stages Of
production. For example, the CYL
inder block moves steadily from the
normaliZing oven TO the cleaning,
milling, boring and other operations
until it reaches the assembly line.
Each of the other units or sub-assem-
blies moves in a steady procession
down it's particular channel until 1t
reaches the engine assembly line at
the point where it is needed and at
the time when it is needed.
Machines that formerly were hand
operated We're later made semi,auto-
matte and then fully automatic. The
single purpose machine of today does
not require the highly qualified
operator who was needed when the
human element played a larger part,
and one or two men often can operate
four, five OR six machines, with a
great saving in labor cost over the
methods that were in vogue years
ago. There is also a great saving in
material, for the uniformity and
greater accuracy of machine opera
ton reduces the spoilage of material
By hand operation.
Adjustment Of Machines.
AN advancement that has been a
blessing especially TO the smaller fac
t. - 49, IL,
capable of adjustment to take care of
differing types of work. For example,
standard milling machines can be
converted to number of special uses
that would otherwise require ma.
chimes of special design and construc.
ton. the cost of which would be pro-
hibitive.
New shop methods have been
adopted in many cases to bring about
great improvement. The tapping
of cylinders is a notable example.
Previously the cylinders were merely
ground, leaving the buyer of the car
to lap the cylinders when he drove
the car on the road. The. tapping
process now employed not only gives
the same result that from 5000 to
5000 miles of driving gives. but does
the work much more quickly and &C.
curately than the grinding could be
done; in fact, a workman can lap
eight cylipder-hores in about one-fifth
the time required to grind the same
number.
Great progress has been made in
inspection. duplicate cages, templets
and precision inspection tools are
supplied to the inspection department
to check accurately the duplication
of parts. Formerly, dimensions were
specified in common fractions; now
inch.''