Show i 1 J IS DEFENSE PRODUCTION LAGGING a I have just finished reading this tai Tuesday 3 morning an article by Boss Boss Kettering in the Saturday Saturday Saturday Satur- Satur day Evening Post on the difficulty industry comes to when it is is asked to get et airplanes and tanks out in mass p production production- off the assembly line at s so o many thousand a day Of f the changes in tools the changes in dies dies' the machine tools to handle the machining of the various new sizes new new needs In other words he j r points out that for instance the automobile industry industry indus indus- c try is keyed to get out parts all it its equip equip- 1 r j ment from raw material to finished article i is for forr r t a predetermined size a predetermined kind of ma mar for which it may be nearly a whole year has been spent i in n getting ready with every man man busy on the job that when a change even i in n auto design comes up much time-consuming time delay is a apart apart part of the production of that little change for blueprints bl blue blueprints e f prints by the bale new dies new sizes put all the theold old equipment which made the former standardized ed part must now be changed Then he points out very plainly that if a o firm making autos were asked to turn out i in n mass production production production pro pro- air plane parts what an upheaval would occur until new dies new tools could be P d to do the new kind of work And then if the need were tanks how hov much gr greater ater that change would I be from the ordinary work of turning out automobiles es The public must know this Mass production is only possible when every i ste in that production is fitted to every every other when 5 all aJl tools machines using those tools tools and even themen the themen men operating those tools are all keyed i in n unison j for r that one specific output Hence when a manu manu- i is asked to make planes or tanks months I are 1 to be expected to to-be to be consumed in the preparatory tory ry work when nothing is produced merely getling get- get ling ready It is a good article and throws a lot of light on on the immediate situation i L We will come to mass prod production production- give us time Hitler started seven yea years a ago o. o Il I If you ou carp can imagine a race race race- a race for ar production and and handicap p one contest contestant e in in the crack of the gun then you ca can 1 see what our mass production car carries ies in handicap for it is is nearly like that f I |