Evening star., 1941-01-28
BY JOSEPH S. EDGERTON,
Star Staff Correspondent.

BY JOSEPH S. EDGERTON,
Star Staff Correspondent.
DETROIT, Mich, Jan. 28-Con'
fronted with the biggest job in theil
history-that of producing 5000
Rolls-Royce Merlin aircraft engines
for the future warplanes of America
and England-Packard Motor Co
heads are confident of meeting pro-
duction schedules if they can gel
adequate supplies of two things
machine tools and personnel.
They have no illusions as to the
difficulties ahead if they are to begin
mass production of the British war
plane engines by next July on Sched-
ule and to attain a scheduled maxi
mum production rate of 809 engines
a month by late fall or early win
ter.
5000 Machines Necessary.
1t will require no less than 5000
different machines to build the
Rolls-Royce engines. The smallest
of them will weigh 1000 pounds, the
largest $4,000 pounds, and the cost
per machine ranges from $500 to
$125,000. The total cost of these
machines will be $18,000,0 900 and con-
tracts for all of them we're placed
as early as last September. Some
of them now are being delivered,
but, if the program is to go forward
on schedule, an overburdened ma
chine-tool industry must deliver all
of them before next summer
Packard, in all it's years of ex-
istence, has built up total factory
personnel Of 10000 men. The Rolls
Royce engine program alone will re-
quire the services of 1900 men-a
far larger offspring than its present
company. Today there are 900 men
at work on the Rolls-Royce project,
leaving 16,40O skilled workers to be
found within few months.
Something of the immensely of
this problem may be realized when
it is pointed out that there now
exists need for 10000 new employees
for defense projects in the Detroit
area. There is available housing for
not more than 10000 more in the
entire area.
Federal and State w. P. A. and
employment officials in Michigan
several months ago had a labor
pool" of 10000 men, supposedly
available for employment on defense
projects. The pool has dWindled to
10000 today.
Under examination as to qualifica-
tions and fitness, however, the num-
Der of men in this pool who actually
can be used diminishes to mere
fraction of the total. Application of
F. B I. regulations, barring all but
American citizens from defense work,
further cuts the lists.
Packard already had hired many
men on defense work. 1t is building
marine engines for the Navy and
other equipment, in addition to the
Rolls Royce project. On the day
these employees were scheduled to be
photographed and flnger-printed for
the F. B. I. files, many failed to show
up and they haven't been back since,
1t was disclosed today for the first
time. Packard each year gives
watches to employees who reach. the
lO-year mark Of service with the
company. This year men of 80
nationalities came up for their
watches. officials were disappointed
to find no Eskimo in the lot-most
other races were there.
What is the solution? The Reuther
plan, which would turn the facilities
and personnel of automobile plants
over for airplane production? Pack
ard officials can only snort derisively
at the suggestion. They have found
that of all the tools in the Packard
plant, only per cent can be used
at all for the Rolls Royce project
and all of these would have to be
torn up and shipped back to the
manufacturers for redesign.
Train Old-Line Employees.
Nor can the 10000 Packard en-
ployes be used to build airplane en-
gines. They do not have the train
ing and, we're the plant to be closed
tomorrow to automobile production
under the Reuther plan, they would
be out of work. Packard, however,
is training its old-line employees for
airplane engine work and ultimately
may use about 5000 of them for this
purpose during the last half of l94l,
after they have been trained and
fitted for the far more eXacting
duties of airplane engine construc-
ton.
Packard officials today take pride
In being up to schedule both on the
marine engine program for Navy
patrol-torpedo boats of the mos
quito fleet" and on the pre-mass
production phases of the Rolls Royce
project. They are hopeful of keep
ing on schedule after July, when
production is to begin under the
program. They realize, however,
that all of the efforts they have
made to date-and they are tre-
mendous efforts, as any one can see
who visits here-are only prelim-
mary to the main problems yet to
be solved.