Evening star., 1943-08-24

war i, ana To- WN&#% AFH#
day has Govern @
ment contracts David Lawrence
which in dollar volume are second
only to General Motors. Now it
suddenly develops that the Army Air
Forces command in charge of pro-
duction and the company's manage
ment and the Truman Committee
are engaged in a controversy. en-
deavoring to establish responsibiht.
for a drop of nearly 85 per cent in
the production of engines per month
in the largest of all seven engine
plants.
The Army Air Forces say the
management at the Ohio plant
wasn't quite strong enough. The
Truman Committee says the com
pany's own inspection system wasn't
efficient and the company president.
Guy Vaughan, says that if the svs-
tenn is wrong it is one that has been
in use for 20 years and whatever de-
fects may have been found will be
corrected as the MANAGEMENT at
the Ohio plant strives earnestly to
achieve the production goal.
Vaughan Blames Fear.
Some idea of the near catastro-
phe at this plant may be gotten bv
the fact that the plant was sup
posed to have monthly production
capacity of 1000 and the War De-
partment hoped some day to attain
by expansion of plant a 1000 month
ly production. Apparently if the
schedule, for instance, called for
1000 planes and an actual produc-
ton in excess of 1000 was reached
last spring, then the dropoff in
production brought last months
output down to about $50 engines.
Any such drop is matter of crisis |
especially if the same state of mind |
which brought on the drop were to
spread to other plants.
What is the answer? Mr.. Vaughan
lays it, among other things. to fears
developed inside his organization
and among his employees with re-
spect to the rigidity of inspection. |
Although Mr. Vaughan did not say
so in as many words, it is plain that
the whole series of investigations
which began several weeks ago
threw the situation at the Ohio
plant ''out of balance" and the swing
has been to the extreme of caution |
In the inspection process. This went |
to such lengths that when the COM |
pany supervisors began to take lit
orally the warnings about lax in
spection, they hesitated to approve
certain motor parts and the as
sembly line started to bog down.
Not Conducive to Production.
At one time when one of the COM
pany supervisors issued an order for
stricter inspection, an Army inspec-
tor thought it ridiculous" inspec-
ton and Immediately had the order
rescinded by the company All this |
led some Senators to imply by their
questions that some of the manage
ment were trying to justify what |
they had done and were trying to |
prove a case of alleged interference |
either by the Army or the Truman /
Committee
This isn't the way to get engines |
made in larger and larger quantity
for our far flung battle fronts. There |
is something wrong that needs to be
cured quickly or the production fig
ures of August, September and Oc-
tober on bombing plane output will
show a disappointing drop.
What the Truman Committee does
or says is taken to heart in all pro-
duction plants where engines or air
craft parts are made. Unless fears
are removed and morale is built up,
the struggle to get higher schedules
will be in vain. In fact, it is a seri-
Gus question whether the all-im-
portant factor of momentum, which
has been rising steadily since the
outbreak of war, has not already
been dealt solar plexus blow.
People Are Victims.
The American people are the vic
TINS of this Illustration of produc-
ton. The threat by Maj, Gen.
Ecnols to take away the contracts
and the language of accusation
which says the Wright company
must produce cor else" looks bit
like the beginning of an alibi ma
neuver somewhere.
1t would appear that the Army
Air Forces command in charge of
aircraft production has a consid-
cradle responsibility for what has
been developing and unless Army
officers can detect these bad trends
In production and straighten them
out without the necessity of inter
jecting the nonprofessional opin-
ions of conscientious Senators who
are confronted with technical re-
ports they cannot possibly under
stand as well as production men,
the situation would seem to call for
a change in the management or
command Of the Army's unit which
is supposed to supervise aircraft
production.
All through the aircraft industry
the story of the criticisms of in
spection methods has spread and
some hurryup work in morale build
ing is vital If American flyers are
to get the planes they need at the
time the high command has planned
for our increasingly important aerial