Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-09-13
PROGRESS Of AUTO
RARELY OBSERVED
Average Owner Takes Work
ings of Industry for
Granted.
Special Dispatch to The Star.

Special Dispatch to The Star.
DETROIT, September H. - What
wheeled progress means not only in
the operation but also in the manu-
facture of the modern automobile is
a phase Of industry that the average
car owner rarely gets a chance to OBJ
serve or know
For years volume production methods
have been taken for granted, and
stories of certain plants turning out
from 5000 to 10000 cars day under
pressure are taken as a matter OF
course.
Traffic Speeded Up.
The fact is that as modern traffic
| has been speeded up by the develop
ment of faster cars the methods of
manufacturing the cars likewise have
acquired heightened speed and also
accuracy.
With these factors have come flexi-
bility in factory operations and the
modern plan of keeping inventory to
the minimum with less cash tied up in
raw materials. This allows quicker
starting and also stopping of the fac
tory wheels than has ever been known
In the past
Consequently. there are fewer delays
and less loss from unproductive labor.
but to accomplish it the entire scheme
Of work has been speeded up. This has
been done in two ways. One is the
use OF conveyor systems; the other is
by trucking inside the factory walls.
The conveyors working on the power
belt plan carry heavy parts, like en-
CINE blocks, from one department to
another or from one building to an
other. In some plants the conveyors
are miles in length.
Power Trucks Used.
For other parts, like partly finished
body shells or sheet steel used for fen
loads from point to point over large
areas of factory floor. What the au-
tomobile workers can do with these
machines is amazing to see.
Back and forth they slide silently and
smoothly. Usually they are equipped
with either hooks, forks or platforms
designed for the particular job that
pick up" the load as If it were lifted
by muscles Of steel.
AT the touch of lever by the opera
tor, weighty mass Of metal Is moved
on It's way to the place where it is
needed and at speed faster than a
man can walk.
The power used for this work usually
Is electricity. but often it is a small
gasoline engine If there happens to be
ventilation enough to carry of exhaust
fumes. 1t is the belief Of production
men that there are few. If any, inter-
plant hauling jobs for which a power
unit cannot be devised that will handle
a load of increased size with a CORE
spending reduction in cost
In one large plant the cost o. IN
loading sheets Of steel from freight
cars was reduced from IA to 2 cents
per ton, with cash saving of $4,000
In one year. In another plant 40 tons
of sheet steel has been moved from a
freight car in Is minutes by two men.
Using a specially built electric truck
In still another factory, bodies are
moved with rapidity into storage
space; Instead of being laid on the
they are placed On end. In this way
1900 bodies are packed into an area
in which there was room for only $50
by the old method.
Recent Analysis.
In a recent analysis of factory econ
omy methods made before the Society
Of Automotive Engineers, the following
principle was laid down:
Business conditions today have
taught two great lessons. First, plants
and their handling systems must oper-
ate economically, If possible, on a low
production as well as a high produce
ton rate
Second, to keep pace with COMPETE
ton, the management of any plant
must be In a position to change its
design or, perhaps, its processes to meet
new demands of customers or take adj
vantage Of new processes and methods.
"Flexibility Is a paramount advan-
tage If 1t can be maintained at low
cost, and f1exibility in handling meth
DDS IS secured through mobile equip
ment."
(copyright, 1881. BY the North American
Newspaper Alliance, Incl