104 THE BELL SYSTEM TECHNICAL JOURNAL, JANUARY 1957 



expenditures required to approach theoretical perfection. The same 

 philosophy applies to all manufactured commodities, be they auto- 

 mobiles, airplanes or telephone systems. In general, all of these products 

 are physically available for preventive and corrective maintenance at 

 nominal cost. With electronic repeaters at the bottom of the ocean, main- 

 tenance is impossible and replacement would be extremely expensive. 



The general philosophy adopted at the inception of the project was 

 to build integrity into the product to the limit of practicability. To do 

 this, a number of fundamental premises were established, which form 

 the foundation of all operations involved: 



1 . Manufacturing environment would be provided which, in addition 

 to furnishing a desirable place to work, could be kept scrupulously clean 

 and free from contamination. 



2. The best available talent would be screened and selected for the 

 particular work involved. 



3. Wage payments would be based on day work, rather than on an 

 incentive plan basis, because production schedules and the complexity 

 of the operations did not permit the high degree of standardization 

 essential to effective wage incentive operation. 



4. A sense of individual responsibility would be inculcated in every 

 person on the job. 



5. Training programs would be established to thoroughly prepare 

 supervisors, operators, and inspectors for their respective assignments 

 before doing any w^ork on the project. 



6. Inspection, on a 100 per cent basis, would be established at every 

 point in the process which could, conceivably, contribute to, or affect 

 the integrity of the product. 



PREPARATION FOR MANUFACTURE 



Manufacturing Location 



It appeared desirable to set up manufacture in a location apart from 

 the general manufacturing area. Experience gained to date has satisfied 

 us that this was the correct approach, since it provided a number of 

 advantages : 



1 . Administration has been greatly facilitated by having all necessary 

 levels of supervision located in the immediate vicinity of the work. 



2. It was necessary for the people on the job to acquire and maintain 

 a new philosophy of perfection in product, rather than a high output 

 at an "acceptable cjuality level." This was easier at a separate location, 

 since only one philosophy was followed throughout the plant. 



