The Waterbury Democrat., 1936-03-16

with the exception of frames and bodies, which are built to our speci- fications.
 "The manufacturing activity ii distributed over several different cities Engine castings. for instance are made ct Saginaw, Mich, where we operate the Mrgest grey iron foundry in the world. The castings then 90 to Flint, Mich, where the parts are nnachined and assembled Into engines. Axles, bumpers, wheels springs and several other large units are made in the Detroit plants Carburetors come from Bay City Mich, and transmissions from Muncie, Ind, and Toledo, Ohio.
 "The output of these various fac- tories must be routed to the 10 as- sembly plants as needed. The latter are located at Flint, Baltimore Norwood, O., Atlanta, Ga, Tarry- town and Buffalo, N. r., St. Louii and Kansas City, Mo, Janesville Wis, and Oakland, Calf.
 Great Undertaking
 "Even in years in which no ex. tensive enlargements are carried out the job of changing over for new car is a real undertaking. Every modification in the product, oi course, requires changes in the equipment used to produce 1t, as well as re-allocation of the employes required on many of the operations And these changes have to be made without interrupting current produc- ton.
 Tn the case of this years new product, however, there was much more to be done. New buildings and equipment were added to the facilities already in use, old build ings were remodeled, and antiquat. ed machinery was obsoleted and re- placed with new. An idea of the thoroughness with which the pro- gram was carried out may be gained from the fact that our production capacity was stepped up from 27E units an hour to 325, by means oi these changes. And in spite of the magnitude of the task, the cahnge- over was accomplished with smooth ness and dispatch, with the result that production is picking up speed relatively earlier than in most years.
 The expenditures making up more than $20, 0,00o, GOO, MT. Wetherald said were widely distributed. At Detroit plants were expanded and the pow CT plant was enlarged. At Saginaw new forge and bumper plant was erected. The new chromodizing pro- cess for sheet metal was installed al each assembly plant point. Further development of car conditioning facilities, whose installation two years ago marked an epoch in the industry, also was carried on prep aration for 1936.
 Still another large expenditure was that made for warehouses in which to store parts produced under ployment will be maintained at 8 the new plan whereby Chevrolet em- higher level than usual during so- called "slack" periods, MT. Wether- aid said. Under the new plan, man. ufacturing plants will operate rec gardleSs of the current demand for cars and trucks, and the parts pro- duced will be stored in the space provided by these new warehouses This is in keeping with the interest which Chevrolet has always evinced in maintaining employment at a maximum.
 Guardians of Quality
 "The manufacturing department is one of the three great depart ments which act as guardians oi Chevrolet quality and of owner sat- isfaction," said MT. Wetherald. "The engineer Is the first individual tc come in contact with the product and he tries to embody in it all that the public desires. The purchasing department carries the program fur ther, by strict insisitance that all suppliers conform to the specifica- tions laid down by the nengineers This brings the job of maintaining quality right down to our door. And we have two general means of &C., complaining the job.
 cone, of course, Is through the use of the most modern manufac- turing equipment. No manufactur. ing organization in the industry 1, ahead of us in this respect. None can show more efficient, smoothly coordinated facilities. With our re. cent expansion and modernizatior program complete, our position IS ex' cellent.
 And the second, and perhaps even more important, means il through the development of loyal enthusiastic personnel; and oul average runs somewhat higher, think, than the average for the in dustry in general; and our average period of service is also exceptional ly high. We are gratified that oul labor turnover is unusually low, fol 1t evidences a degree of loyalty ant pride in craftsmanship which WI try in every way to encourage. We know that this combination of unsurpassed craftsmen and up to-the e-minute machinery will keel Chevrolet quality and value in thu