The Washington times., 1929-03-20


upon service in a new light.
For years, 1t is pointed out,
service has suffered because of the
perspective from which 1t was
viewed. That perspective envision.
ed service chiefly as a stimulus IN
new car sales by keeping present
buyers satisfied and holding out an
inducement to patrons Of other
dealers who were dissatisfied.
The new attitude toward maiD-
tenace of the millions of cars now
in use is that, in itself, the ven-
tpre offers an opportunity for
profit:
There Is no lodging the. fact
that many motor car owners have
been especially and not illogically
emphatic in their protests against
the quality of service they have met
in many places. The motorist, how
ever, has missed the point that
there have been a lot of repair
men who have not liked the idea
Of service in any form, Ii the
man who gets, his automobile re-
paired has lost money on the.ejob,
so has the man who did the re-
pair work.
There is Difference Now
Service, then, came naturally
upon a ragged day.
1t is different, now and the diff
ference is becoming more and more
marked. There are more than 24,-
600 900 motor cars in operation.
they require maintenance. Start
ing from this basis, and recogniz-
ing that a majority of these 24,-
0O0, 900 owners want genuine main
tenance and are willing to pay. a
fair price for it, service operators
nave foreseen positive profit iossl'
bilities in it apart from the in
direct stimulus that may be given
to new car sales.
This improved attitude on the
part OF the firm that provides serv-
ice ia the basic factor in the gen.
eral improvement which means con-
stantly more to- the motor car
owner. Others pointed out by OBJ.
servers of the Ilew-day Tin service
include the work that; the factories.
are doing i'm the development of
more efficient service methods,
equipment and better trained per-
sannel. This. is development of
to last few years and each year
n becomes more thorough and,
subsequently, more helpful.
Millions Spent
Millions of dollars are being spent
toward this end every year. Engi-
neers are assigned to the sole task
Of developing proper methods of
servicing the car as it is changed.
by other engineers who refine or
revise it in design detail. Their
task, completed in this respect, the
next step is to pass on their in
formation to the mon in the field.
Various methods have been de-
vised to achieve this. In some
companies, the policy, is to bring
foremen and the best mechanics
of the Dealers establishment into
the factory where they are put
through a short, intensive training
course. In turn, they go back to
the dealers establishment and act
as instructors in the subjects they
have mastered.
Another procedure, quite gen
orally practiced, is to divide the
country into zones, paralleling slles
zones in most cases. To each of
these, LraVHllnS service experts are
assigned who are constantly in the
field acquainting the local dealers
mechanical personnel with the latest
methods in service that is rapid,
efficient. and Inexpensive.
Movies Aid Training
The very essence of prscticality
Ia involved in these courses. Lee.
lures, motion pictures, and actual
work on various parts Of the car
are employed. -
In addition, a constant flow OF
service bulletins between the fac
tory and the local service station
Is maintained in many quarters OF
the industry to supplement the
other forms of instruction.
To many observers, it has been
q source of great surprise that an
industry so marveiously efficient in
it's production organization as the
automotive, at times, has dropped
to so low a standard Of inefficiency
in its maintenance, end. The new
type of service is marking a. grad