The Waterbury Democrat., 1943-07-03

Peter Edison ctories ane
manufacturing facilities unless it
can be proved that such new manu-
featuring is absolutely necessary
All these moves emphasize the fact
that war production is now limited
to supplying the most critical war
materials, but they do not indicate
that any let-doWn in war produc-
ton is impending.
Spark plug for this shifting about
of war production has been staff
of 25 engineers in the Facilities
Bureau of WPB. They do most OF
the research and spade work,
though the actual shifting of con-
tracts is made by Army, Navy
Maritime Commission and other
procurement agencies. Scope of the
work can be indicated by few of
the intricate industrial plays these
bottleneck boys in the backlog
breaking department of WPB have
been up to through rescheduling of
contracts.
IDLE TOOLS FOUND
When the Navy had a new job for
heavy boring mills, the search for
idle tools disclosed II of the type
they needed in Rochester, IA in
Cleveland, six in Warren, O., and
four in New Hampshire. Instead of
letting a contract to manufacture
35 new mills, the job was split up
SO that the IS idle tools could be
put to work.
A vacuum cleaner company which
had contract for making $500
plane turret motors, was turning
them out at the rate of $500 a
month. Examination of the plant
facilities disclosed. however, that
this company could make 10000 a
month. So contracts were taken
away from other firms making the
same motor, and these other plants
were put to work on other work for
which they were better suited.
Sometimes it is discovered that
there are things needed worse than
big guns. Mesta Machine Works at
Pittsburgh, for instance, had a con-
tract for 16-inch naval guns defer
red SO that it could get onto max
ing six aluminium extrusion presses
for mill that was to turn out four
million pounds of aluminium shapes
this year.
Going from the big stuff to the
little, the Lionel Corporation, which
used to make toy trains, had an
ordnance parts contract taken away
from it so that it's workers could
get onto more delicate fire control
and navigation instruments requir-
ing labor of higher skill.
PLANT SWAPPING
Entire plants have on some occa-
sions been snapped by companies
to speed up war production. When
the Navy wanted a manufacturing
plant near an airport from which
Vultee torpedo bombers could be
built and tested, it was found that
Mack Manufacturing Company
works filled the bill of require
ments. The Mack Company was al
ready making armored vehicles,
but a deal was started whereby
Mack would lease space in five
other plants so it could lease its
own plant to the aircraftmaker.
All kinds of unused buildings
have been put to factory uses. A. o.
Smith Corporation of Milwaukee,
with a contract for 10000 propellers,
found space in five buildings on a
state fair grounds, and moved in.
Emergency reconversions of this
type are demonstrating to an amaz-
ing degree the extreme f1exibility of
American industry and it's ability to
do impossible jobs. Backlogs are
eliminated by these shifts, bottle
necks broken. labor tightness re-
lieved by moving plants into less
critical labor areas. In the big ord
nance cutback of last fall, S. bill
lion worth of contracts were can
celed and in 9O-day period, So
billion worth of new contracts let
to 200 contractors for more critical
valves, gears, without a
ripple.