Evening star., 1942-04-12
Tools and Trade
SecretsPoo|ed
y.AutoFir
Competition SheIved
As Arms Roll Out
Ahead of Schedule
BY DAVID J. WILKIE,


Wide World Automotive Writer.
DETROIT, April 11.-Tools and
trade secrets that once enabled In
dividual automobile companies to
outproduce competing firms have
been made common property
throughout the erstwhile car indus
try.
There are no written agreements
about swapping tools and manufac-
turing practices, but the exchanges
have been going on for months.
The results are being shown in
the production of guns, tanks, air.
craft engines, bomber plane sub
assemblies, shells and scores of other
things which the industry a few
years ago scarcely expected to see
rolling out of plants that once built
passenger cars and trucks.
Schedules Far Exceeded.
All along the line the industry Is
ahead of schedule: in many in
stances it Is months ahead of orgin-
ally fixed delivery dates on a cer-
tain volume OF anti-aircraft cannon,
bomber plane parts and the giant
power plants that go into them, and
the medium Army tanks. The tanks
are being shipped in "trainload"
lots; the guns, plane parts and
engines in Carloads"
What these terms mean in unit
numbers is military secret. 1t can
be said, however, that where two
"trainloads" or two carloads" origi-
nally were scheduled for shipment in
a given period. three now are leav-
ing the factories.
Perhaps the schedules did not con-
template the unrestricted exchange
OF tools and engineering ideas; per-
haps for this reason the schedules
purposely were drafted with extreme
conservatism, or perhaps the indus
try followed a usual custom and
fixed delivery dates far enough
ahead so that beating them was a
foregone development.
Whatever the controlling factor,
the industry has bettered the sched-
ules by considerably wider margin
than any Of its engineers thought
possible.
Bugs ELIMINATED"
or course, there were many re-
jections when the first war weapon
parts and the assembled units came
of the production lines. but the
production bugs" are being elimi-
mated rapidly. just as they were
with pilot models of new automobiles
that used to roll off the lines in
August and September.
Particularly interesting in the in
dustry's war conversion effort Is the
fact that 1t Is progressing even more
rapidly than the switch-over from
one model to another In normal
times. This is demonstrated by the
ever-growing stream of men-and
women-moving into the factories
after the layoffs necessitated by the
cessation of all passenger car pro-
duction.
The latest figures used by labor
representatives in estimating cur
rent unemployment placed the total
at 10000. That was nearly a fort
night ago, and statistics of the State
Unemployment Compensation Com
mission more recently showed a
further decline from the original
225.000 to 100000 affected by the
stoppage of all normal activities in
the assembly plants.
The one-time automobile industry
normally employs approximately
$4,000 hourly rated workers. With
the women new to the industry
who have taken jobs in the war
implement factories. there probably
already are close to 45O, 900 persons
at work in the former car factories
alone.
Many Must Be Women.
1t seems a safe guess that If the
former motor car industry spreads
its employment rosters to the pre-
dicted 100000 by the end of this
year, close to 250,0Oo of them will
be women.
The plans of the personnel man
ager of the Ford Willow Run bomber
plant to use 10000 to $4,000 women
workers out of a total ultimate
10000 to 100000 workers probably
are typical Of the industry as a
whole. With the possible exception
of the Army tank production plants,
virtually every factory engaged in
war implement production in the
erstwhile automobile industry has
a considerable number of women
already at work and is arranging
for training many more.
The head of one automotive con.
cern here now engaged in the man.
ufacture of bomber plane subassem-
blies, with 500 women out of a force
of $500 workers and looking for
ward to labor shortage, said today
that If necessary he could maintain
production schedules with staff
evenly divided among men and
women.