Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1935-09-08
HENRY FORD PIONEERS
In DECENTRALIZATION
Fourteen Plants Make Auto Parts i'm
Rural Sections Near Detroit.
Men Enjoy Work.

cbNoAA RoWCi LAuot NC boCA, al oNCA
shot waterwheel Is being installed,
simply for effect.
While the Nankin Mills plant oc-
cupies an old grist-mill, it also fur
nishes the best example of the we'd
ding of farm and factory. It en-
ploys IL men and they all live on
nearby farms, which are lighted from
the mill plant.
An Air. Conditioned Plant.
At Newburg, a short distance up
the river, Ford has completed his
most modern unit. It is an air
conditioned plant occupying the site
Of an old mill. The condition
ing is something new, but the plant
itself, with its simple, rectangular
lines and large windows, nesting
against the side Of the hill, the gen.
orator whirling in front, and the
blue mill-pond behind, is typical of
all these country Ford units.
The construction work at Newburg
was done by SO local men who had
been on the dole. Now that the
factory is finished, most of them will
go to work making drills.
From Newburg to Plymouth, the
next Of the units, the visitor Jour-
neys through a natural park. The
Plymouth plant, employing SO men,
started operations in 1923. It pro-
duces approximately $500 steel taps
to thread holes daily.
A few miles up the Rouge, and
the visitor is at the Phoenix unit,
one Of the most interesting because
most of its 100 employees are women.
They produce parts for automobile
generators
Another stretch of park and river,
and the Waterford plant appears
nestled against the hillside. This
plant, employing 81 men, makes pre-
cision gauges and similar tools, all
used in Ford plants. The factory is
said to work to closer dimensions
than any other standard production
plant in the world-to four millionths
Of an inch.
At Ypsilanti, on the Huron, is a
generator and starter factory. The
plant employs 1901 men and women
and occupies a rural setting on the
rim OF an artificial lake four miles
long.
Farther down the Huron, at Flat
Rock, is lamp plant, similarly located
on the edge of its own lake. 1t en-
ploys 776 men.
Not Dependent on Railroads.
Railroads touch the plants at
Ypsilanti and Flat Rock, but all the
little factories depend upon trucks
almost exclusively for transportation
They exemplify the freedom industry
now has from the railroad and the op-
portunities possessed by towns and re-
gionS removed from the rails.
Superintendents in all the plants
insist the men work better in the
country than in the city. Virtually
all are farmers and small-town men
who live nearby. If they don't have
their own farms or garden plots. Ford
furnishes ground. charging only for
the blowing. When the plants are not
in operation the men work their
ground.
The minimum wage is Sc a day,
the same as in other Ford enterprises.
AS nearly as could be determined from
talking to both men and Ford officials,
the annual wage will run from 81 900
to $500 year. That is higher than
the average for the automobile indus
try. which the Government last year
estimated at approximately $500.
Men Enjoy Country.
The superintendent say they are
instructed TO see that the working
forces represent as nearly as possible
croSs-sections of the man power of
the communities.
Asked about production costs, super
intendents replied invariably:
I'VE can produce cheaper because
We are out in the country. The men
work better. Most Of the men have
farms or houses with large gardens
within few miles. They live more
normal lives than they would in De-
troit. Even through the boom years
We had virtually no labor turnover.
I'VE can deal with our men more
satisfactorily because we know them
personally, where they live and what
are their personal problems.
"Bigness can often mean less rather
than more efficiency. We know what
every man and machine is doing all
the time. We can route work through
the plant with a minimum of ma
chine changes, material movement
and time waste
Henry Ford Is so satisfied with
the success of locating factories in
the countryside and near small towns
he is expanding his rural production.
He believes decentralization Is coming
in American industry.
(Ccpyrieht 1895. by the North American
Newspaper Alliance. Inc.)