| Show Business Today Today 1 Furious Pace Imperils Arms O Output jj B PAUL TAUL GESNER GESSER and r jOJI BECKLEY NEW NEW EW YORK YOU Feb 20 Wide World YoU World You know what would happen to your car dont don't you If ou 01 took it ft out and drove It at 60 niles miles an hour 24 hours houra a day Well the same thing is happen happen- in t z to much of or this country's happen I in- in l d machinery It is being pushed to the limit by inexperienced inexperienced inexperienced mechanics Anyone who has owned a secondhand sec nc- hand ond-hand automobile f for formerly o z m mer e r I y driven by a cowboy driver knows that machinery doesn't last for- for I eter yer There comes a day when ear and nd tear begin to show up dozen places at once A part rives gives way here another there and th the repair bills start to pile up I plant managers say the same thing s 's happening to machine tools in armament plants all aU over t e country In the furious drive I to to get planes tanks and guns forthe for forthe r the country's fighting men hundred hundreds huntt hun- hun dred of thousands of ot industrial tt machines are being strained to the f limit Yet the same machines V ive got to keep right on ng They must be turning out r roods goods six months from now and probably bably two or three years hence Run PRun Bun Around Clock r Machines that were built for forthe the easy pace of ot eight hours a day ire are being bing made to run right the clock 4 intricate lathes grinders fInd and milling machines formerly t babied and coddled by expert ma- ma are being put through their paces by complete green- green orns Youngsters by the thousands thou- thou band sands have had to be rushed jf through skimpy training courses band pushed into the production line to fill the skyrocketing demand I F These youngsters are doing the thet t best they can and plant managers lay uy that as a rule they have filled the gap remarkably well but they still are far from expert expert erpert ex ex- er- er pert mechanics Many of them illY dont don't know how to lubricate and care care for tor their machines properly Others dont don't know how far their I machines can be pushed without I damage Factory executives say this situation situation sit sit- I Is making the maintenance and nd repair costs rise sharply Some production inen men frankly admit they just cant can't pay proper attention to maintenance They dont don't have time to think of anything but get the work out Worked to to Limit As a a. result machines In many plants are Just being worked to the limit un until 11 they break down Then repair crews rush in and put them together again and they theyO go 0 O back on the job More ore important than rising repair rep re re- re- re p pair lx costs however is the fact that every breakdown postpones the time when the fighting forces will liI get their necessary equip equip- ment Often the breakdown of ot a tingle single machine will bring an entire entire en en- tire Ure production line to a a. halt production men have turned to any ny number of devices to plug Is dangerous leak in production Some more successful schemes to keep machines in operation and prevent breakdown delays are re reported reported reported re- re ported this month in n Modern Industry Industry Industry In In- a trade publication Here are re a few of them One large bearing manufacturer Instituted written reports on each breakdown listing the tha repairs needed to put the machine back in shape hape These reports disclosed the weak spots in m various machines machines machines ma ma- chines and designs were changed stronger materials substituted I Oil OtI Crew Used I In another plant a few minutes pent by every operator in clean clean- In ig log his machine on each shift shUt cut in half the time lime lost in breakdowns break break- downs Warner Swasey machine tool builders operating 24 hours a day Intimated estimated that faulty lubrication U u responsible for three out of four lour breakdowns Now a special group of men takes care car carlot of all lu iLl lu- Each has a small hand truck with all necessary supplies and equipment and is responsible for r proper roper lubrication of ot about machines This system has re red red re- re d ced do down time considerably and nd h has s substantially lowered maintenance costs I I Industries Inc of ot Phila de delphia when it first went on mula mul- mul a t operation assigned a graduate grad grad- hate engineer to the task of pre- pre maintenance His job was to w keep equipment operating to Prevent pre breakdowns before they topped production These of ot course are only a few of ot how the problem is being J ng met All defense plants are racing facing 5 the same situation and their kIlI I In rn meeting eting it will be mea- mea Ired I i In more mor or fewer planes lank and goj guns |
