Evening star., 1932-05-01
Continued From Third Page)

touched cold metal was frozen and torn
away"
The equipment for this factory was
purchased largely from Germany ano
| America, and included the latest and
most modern tools. No expense was
spared in the construction. The shops
are enormous. Thirty trains of sixty
| trucks could pass freely through the
forging and diemaking shop. All the
roofs are glazed, admitting evenly dis
/ tributed light throughout the interior
/ There is plenty of space between the
machines. Labor protection is generally
at very high level All shops have
conveyors; noiselesS electric belts work
! between the shops.
In contrast to the inspired construc-
ton of this project under the direction
of foreign engineers was its stumbling
operation when saw it year after its
opening On our way to the factory we
walked through a long line of several
hundred binders, painted green and red
and yellow stored on ground allotted
for finished products.
Parts Are Left Out.
Look here" said the engineer. They
| look complete to you, don't they?"
Yes" l answered.
See" he called as we stepped into
the herd of binders and touched first
/ one. then another This lacks DOVER
/ this. staple knife. There is no knotteI
on this one. And, here, of course. you
can see is one without wheels. All OF
/ these have gone through the factory OF
a conveyor system. They must all be
/ put back into production. 1t will cost
/ a great deal because the machines lack
/ different parts, and, therefore, must be
taken through a variety of processes"
/ Further down the road We came tC
great heaps of rake wheels, unpainteo
and rusted Poor organization of stor-
| age facilities" commented the engineer
| Before painting, this product should
never have been stored in the open.
| Further on, there in that lot" he
| continued, ARE 5000 wagons. One
| half of each wagon is completed The
/ rear part of every item is unfinished
/ though, when they were put into pro-
| duction, it was believed that the facili-
/ ties for completing the unit were ready
/ A management confused by ineXperi-
| ence, suspicion and fear, in the opinion
0f the American specialist, was the chief
factor in this haphazard workmanship
| The chief director OF a Soviet indus
| try enterprise is usually. first. politi-
cal man, and, second, a specialist and
/ industrial manager. The first assistant
/ director, however, is customarily q
trained expert in his line Of work. But
/ because each factory, no matter how
/ vast, is but tiny unit in the gigantic
national economic plan, the director is
/ intrusted with the accomplishment OF
| a broad general result 1t is for him
with the advice of his workers councils
/ and committee, to secure competent
managers, keep the spirit and morale
| of the organization at fever pitch and
! increase the output.
When honest, technical obstacles
| stand in the way of ambitiouSly plan
ned achievement, 1t is often to the di-
/ rector's personal advantage to ride
roughshod over them. For his success
| is judged by his ability to fulfill the re-
| quirement of his share of the five-yeal
plan. This often means that an i'm
mediate goal IS secured at a tragic cost
| to the future. Machines are overloaded
| They break down and replacements are
not available. inexperienced workers
are hurried in to operate intricate de-
vices with which they are not ever
vaguely familiar. Despite the enthusi-
asm of the laborer, his lack of skill
smashes his machines. Sad examples
of the situation were numerous at Sci
! Mash-Stroi.
We entered the factory and found ar
! explanation of the half-f1nished goods
we had seen stored outside. The forge
and the cold standing department wa:
| in a vast tent of glass and steel about
! 500 feet long. Sunlight poured through
the roof, silhouetting the exposed stee
structure. The women workers wore
a varied garb-shawls of the Caucasus
worn mems coats, rough boots and rub
! ber-soled canvas slippers. Caps, tori
shirts and overallS were worn by the
men. Eager faces were black with
CRIME. The drop hammers and presses
marshaled like a deployed army Of fat
steel soldiers, were stationed at regular
intervals up and down the limitlesE
room.
Huge Force Waits.
| Girls were operating the die presses
about 500 of them we're stationed al
the machines. Not over Is of then
were busy. The engineer explained
They are waiting for material. There
is a breakdown somewhere in the con-
veying system. No material is being
delivered to them. Watch that woman
there" he said, pointing to a girl o.
] L VI 10, IlcE ISdQ WOuIlU LII d 1GO COI'
/ ton scarf and her slender body covered
with huge suit of mechanics over
alls. "She is letting that hot metal III
on the die. 1t does not take long tx
take the temper out of a die that way.
! There they are blanking the die,
my companion continued, touching {
heap of scrap with his foot. "See tht
waste. BY properly measuring the ma
terial, another piece could have beer
cut from each sheet. There are foul
men operating those shears, where two
are adequate"
We passed the final row Of die ma
chimes. Dies lying upside down wer'
stacked against the machines. 1T vii
take man eight hours to clear thai
mess away from each unit before tha
expensive row Of machinery can bt
used again"
And there" he continued, men art
pll1ng scrap on the floor. See the truck
tracks for carts to haul that materia
away? If there we're proper organiza.
ton that steel would be piled at once
onto the trucks and so save an extra
handling"
Wasteful Methods Shown.
He indicated three blazing blast fur.
naces with capacity of 25 bars each
Two of them were empty and five
pieces of iron were heating in tht
third wait" said the engineer. ''Wher
the worker takes the bar to the ham,
kmer. another operator should place