Evening star., 1943-06-19
Production
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production schedule must be main
tained If that timetable is to be
met Tunisia means more, not less,
production.
Declaring that the press and pub
lie opinion is given to overemphasiz-
ing every victory, Mr.. Patterson
said, The policy of the War Depart
ment has been not to exaggerate
successes, yet sometimes the head
lines are disturbing"
Increased Efforts Needed.
Failure to appreciate the gravity
OF our situation and the need for
continued increased efforts to meet
our continually increasing needs is
evidenced by the cos1 strike, the
Akron strikes, and other stoppages
in war and related industries, and
by the tendency of certain manu-
faCturers to divert too much time,
thought and energy to the design
and development of competitive
civilian non-essentials, Mr.. Patter-
son declared.
The Army has the men and trans
portation. industry has the men and
materials, the Undersecretary said.
adding:
Mana cement and labor must de-
| liver the supplies on schedule and
! as planned. or the opportunity to
exploit recent military successes will
be lost.
Mr.. Patterson said also that If the
decrease evidenced in May should
continue, the Army will not even
have its basic equipment by the end
of the year"
Airplane Production Up.
I'VE are right now shipping more
and more men overseas" he con-
tinued. I'VE are licking the sub
marine. But, as We place our troops
in the field our operational needs
increase at rapid rate Our pro-
/ duction for l943 is scheduled to use
all the materials made available to
the Army at steadily increasing
rate throughout the year to meet
! these increased needs of troops in
the field. A letdown on the produc-
ton line means a letdown of our
troops"
He said there was one encouraging
! factor in the whole Army production
/ flgure-"more than 1000 airplanes
were manufactured in May" for the
Army and Navy. That represents,
! he said, 40 per cent increase in
airplane construction compared with
January.
However, he continued. with
the exception of aircraft and radio
equipment for the ground forces,
deliveries of every single group of
Army supply items were either be-
low May schedules or below April
| totals"
Must Adjust Schedules.
To take advantage of technologi-
cal advances and maintain su-
periority in quality of weapons. he
said production changes must fire.
quently be made.
Each time this happens Mr..
Patterson said, some production
| line is halted Furthermore, pro-
| duction schedules must be adjusted
to meet changing strategic require
ments"
When production line is cut
back to allow for a change or sub
stltution in model in order to meet
military necessities, the materials
that were being consumed by that
production line are swiftly diverted
to another production line he con-
| tlnued. There has been definitely
limited amount of critical materials
| allocated TO the Army for the prose-
cution of the war These ALLEGATIONS
are less than our requirements.
THE Army production schedule
calls for the conversion of these
materials into items of munitions
at a steadily increasing rate
throughout 1943. The amount of
critical materials which must be
made into munitions each month
during l943 exceeds the amount
which had to be worked the pre-
cedlng month. A cutback in the
production of any individual item
OF munitions does not change this
picture in the slightest degree.
The total number of man-hours
and the total tons of material which
must be consumed by the Army
supply program must increase every
month for the balance of the wear
or our timetable of military OPERA
tlons will not be met. In war, once
the Initiative is won it must be
maintained and pushed at an in
creased tempo or it will shift to the
enemy"
Can't Be Made Up Later.
Mr.. Patterson pointed out that
I'VE are already operating near the
peak of our total productive capac-
ity, and failures to meet production
in one month cannot be readily
made up in succeeding months. The
record for the first quarter of l943
and for April was just barely on
schedule, and with regard to many
critical items. seriously behind
schedule. so that every effort is
needed during the balance of the
year to bring up these critical items
in order to meet the time table.
Some business men think that
they see the beginning of the end
of the war in the isolated cases of
cutbacks and Examinations of indi-
vidual Army contracts throughout
the country. Yet these very cut
backs are the most concrete evi-
dence Of a continuing and diffictst
war with an able and alert enemy