562 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[June 1, 1920. 



room. Rolls of friction, net linings, rag fillers, and tennis duck 

 are brought from the first floor on the elevator and placed in 

 the stock room, which is equipped with bins open at both ends. 

 This enables the fresh stock to be placed at one end, and the 

 oldest can be easily removed from the other. The best results 

 are obtained when the stock is aged at least a week, and this 

 requires ample storage facilities. 



Six tables are reserved for laying off stock for cutting, and a 

 revolving drum for plying up nets, frictions, tennis, and fleeces 

 is also employed. Rag and insoling and the heavier stocks which 

 need to be coated with whiting between the plys to prevent their 

 sticking together, are doubled off by hand. Twelve cutting 

 machines, six of the double clicker type, and six beam presses 

 are stationed next to the stock laying tables. An overhead 

 motor with belt drive furnishes the power. An overhead 

 track arrangement with a siding for each table can be used 

 effectively for carrying the slock from the drum and tables to 

 the machines. 



The clicker machines are used on light work, such as insoles, 

 tennis, fillers, and linings, and the beam presses for the heavier 

 stocks. Large patterns, such as boot leg linings, and smaller 



may seem to be a departure from the lay-outs of many footwear 

 plants. But analysis of the processes will show that they are all 

 related and can be well controlled and supervised under one 

 separate department. 



The post-office section or stock cage is where all the inside 

 work for gum shoes, tennis, gaiters, and boots is counted into 

 sets for the different makers. These pieces are then prepared 

 and cemented for the makers, some by hand, and others, such 

 as insoles, cemented on one side, and juniors, and fillers cemented 

 on both sides, by machines which convey the pieces to belts for 

 drying. The insoles are carried the length of the room on an 

 overhead belt to the making room above, where they are picked 

 off by boys and made up into sets. Other preparatory operations 

 in this department are top making for storm king and hip 

 boots, quarter making, and sole laying where the outsoles for 

 boots, heel tennis and lumberman's are made up with the heel 

 and form sole. 



The preparatory department is a very important connecting 

 link between the cutter and maker, and to be operated efficiently 

 it must have space enough to take care of all operations. If 

 it is cramped for space, or, as in one footwear plant, its sub- 



ARROWS INDICATE STAIRWAYS AND ELEVATOF 



Fourth Floor. 



Lay-out of an Ideal Footwear Factory. 



ones where the demand does not justify the purchase of dies, 

 are cut by back hand cutters for whom five tables are provided 

 adjacent to the machines. The cut stock is laid out on the tables 

 at the head of the machines where it can be easily checked by 

 inspectors, placed on trucks, and carried to the preparatory 

 department on the next floor. 



The scrap cage is placed near the drum so that the weights 

 of the tables of stock can be obtained as they are laid off. The 

 scrap from the cutters is checked and weighed here before being 

 taken to the compound room and deposited in the chute. In 

 the center of the room the successive operations of cutting and 

 assembling vamps, counters, and legs for boot teams are car- 

 ried on. In the gum cutting section, the sole cutting is done 

 by machine and hand, print upper cutting on the zinc plates, 

 and die cutting on the wooden block. The space in the center 

 of the room is reserved for stock. A bias machine cutter located 

 next to the back-hand cutters cuts all the strips for binding the 

 edges of shoes. 



In the gum cutting section the sole and upper stocks are taken 

 off the aprons on books, frames, reels, and shells with a liner 

 between the stock. 



PREPARATORY DEPARTMENT. 



The next step in the progress of production takes place on 

 the third floor where the preparatory department N is located 

 directly over the cutting room. The grouping of operations here 



divisions are tucked away in odd corners of the shop, production 

 cannot fail to be seriously hampered. Some means of ventilation 

 must be provided here, too, for the obnoxious odors of stale 

 naphtha make it difficult to obtain good help unless the air is 

 kept fresh. 



EXECUTIVE AND SALES OFFICES. 



No space is provided for executive or sales offices in this plant. 

 Usually, when the factory is within a short distance of the mar- 

 ket for the product, the sales and executive offices are located 

 there. Many concerns also prefer to have the auditing, account- 

 ing, and bookkeeping done outside of the factory. However, if 

 the circumstances made it advisable to locate these departments 

 at the factory a separate building could very handily house them. 

 The office space indicated in O is for production managers, plan- 

 ning and ticket offices, and the keeping of production and cost 

 records. 



TENNIS MAKING ROOM. 



The other side of the U on the third floor is devoted to tennis 

 making entirely. In division P the parts are assembled, cemented, 

 seamed, stitched, eyeletted, and put up ready for making in 

 room Q. The runway to the elevators provides a passage for 

 unfinished material from the preparatory department and an 

 exit for the finished shoes on their way to the vulcanizers. The 

 flouring room on the first floor is fitted up with blowers to 



