The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-05-22

skilled labor in plane factories and 6 tremendous traffic jam in the whole arms program unless indus try takes over the actual plan ming in Washington,
 These are the opinions of lead Ing spokesmen for the industry in Cleveland heart of the machine tool industry,
 TOOLS MUST
 BE READY
 Machine tools, drills, lathes, mil- ling machines, grinders, shapers, presses, any sort of poWer.driyen machinery from the small bench out fit to a $i60,000 giant, are the mas ter tools Of industry. To build 50,000 Rirplanes, tanks, for the army, ships for the navy, macine tools must be ready first.
 The industry has been getting ready since 1898 when 1t began filling allied orders, It's first real business since 1929. It Is now running at 93 per cent Of capacity and has been increased since Jan, 1, i940. With completion of next falls plane program the indus try will be turning out tools to make 2000 planes e month, and expects to reach 4000 a month by spring,
 Seventy types Of machines have been specially devised for the al- lies program, The industry, eX- poets to use most of these imme- diatcly In the U. s. program.
 With the allied orders, the in- dustry began wholesale replace ment of It's own plant equipment, Today 1t has probably the most modern equipment in It's history, Simultaneously, the industry be- gan training new men, lengthen- ing work schedules, with time- and-a-half for overtime, introducing multiple shifts, letting work out to smaller shops.
 But expansion hears the limit, without additional plant floor and new buildings, The industry hes itates to add these without some against what happened after the World War
 Then the industry plunged from $225 100000 peak in 1919 to $20, 900 ,000 in 1921 and 75 companies went broke.
 DOMESTIC ORDERS
 COME FIRST
 The machine tool industry, com prised of about 250 companies, concentrated in the area east of the Mississippi and north of the Ohio, will do much better than $500, 100000 in 1940. Fifty-five per cent of the 1889 total was foreign buying. Since January, the propor- ton of domestic business has in- creased. The industry places dom- estic business first.
 If there is a jam in the new de- fense program, machine tool men expect it in personnel in the air plane plants, shipyards and arms plants themselves There was scar city of skilled mechanics even before the war, especially die cutters, tool One big company has been hiring 75 men day since last Sep- tember.
 Building airplane motors with interchangeable parts (3500 in a big bomber) calls for highest order of skilled work with precision mach ines shading to a tolerance" of of e-thousandth of an inch.
 Executives estimate machine tcol operators should have a minimum of six months training to handle these precision tools, which means the real push on President Roose- velt's program couldn't be expected before late fall. It would also take at least until then to formulate the gigantic plan.
 It is this planning job the industry feels may turn into tremendous traffic jani-with army, navy, air corps all racing, competing for new defense equipment at the same time.
 One spokesman said frankly, This is a job for the industrialist, to get the right plane at the right place at the right time"
 The industry is confident the Presidents program can be com pleted in two years; with utmost