Evening star., 1942-02-06


company has brought about q revo-
luton In American ways of living
1t was the first producer of cars for
the masses.
When it started operations the
auto was an expensive luxury for the
few. The company succeeded in
bringing the automobile within
reach Of the average pocketbook by
developing and leading the way in
the technique Of mass production.
This means designing and building
machines to make in single opera
tions every one of the thousands of
parts.
The primary investment, the
greater part of the skilled workman
ship, went into the machine. The
cost OF a few cars put out in this
way would be close to a million dol
lars each. But with the same initial
expense a million cars could be
made for q few hundred dollars
each.
Planes . Luxury Until Now.
All this evolution has still to take
place In the case of the airplane. 1t
has been up to the present a custom
made product, Ford ofiicials explain
There has been no justification for
mass production because there has
been no possibility Of mass market
in this generation.
The different parts have been
made in separate shops. brought to-
gether in one place and then as
sembled. 1t has been essentially q
stationary process.
But given the demand, Ford on
cials believed, there was no reason
why planes Of a standard design
could not be produced in q mass
production plant-but not in any of
the Ford plants This does not
mean. Of course, that planes by any
technique can be built as rapidly as
automobiles. Much finer and slower
work is required.
But long before actual plane con-
tracts were received plans were
drawn up for the sort OF plant neces-
sary. Any of the existing Ford
plants was practically worthless for
the job. The result Is the. mammoth
factory which now covers the major
part OF what six months ago was a
fair-sized farm. Here the assembly
line alone Is nearly q mile long.
Behind 1t and on the side are the
shops where the parts are made.
The barest skeleton Of a plane
starts down the conveyor system Of
this line. One part after another
is put quickly in place as it passes
station after station. each beside
the shop where the appropriate part
Is made.
Factory Nearly Ready.
The factory is nearly completed.
The part of 1t devoted to tool and
design making. heart Of the mass
production technique, already Is in
operation. The first finished planes.
1t is expected. soon will come of! the
line and-this is the essential point
once started they will not stop until
the war ends. The machine, once
in operation, asks and needs no rest
The plant is being built with Gov
eminent funds to be operated by the
Ford Co. However, Ford officials
say. the company stuck out its
neck" for several million dollars in
getting ready before it had any
assurance of q contract.
Men have been sent to California
to study plane production. Appro-
pirate machines and tools were being
made in Ford shops and a stock-pile
of material was being built. Much
Of this supply was Of no use what
soever in automobile construction.
Actual work of constructing plane
parts will remain much the same as
auto work in the past-except that
each part will be made by specially
designed machine. Already. how
ever. Ford engineers. familiar with
mass production methods, have in
troduced major time-saving devices
The time of assembling the center
wing. for example, can be reduced
their experiments indicate. from
fve hours to about 80 minutes.
Last Private Cars Built.
The last Fords for civilian use now
are under construction. Only q
small part Of the machinery can be
used to produce cars of the general
Ford design which will be necessary
for Army transportation. But the
company has its own tool and die
plant and Mr.. Sorensen believes q
good deal of the machinery can be
brought back into use again If ma
terials can be obtained. Each sug-
gestion of the Army is carefully
studied to see whether any part OF
the desired product can be made
with existing facilities.