CONTROLLING A FACTORY FROM 

 SIGN BOARDS 



A WELL-KNOWN American auto- 

 mobile factory at Syracuse, N. Y., 

 has developed a remarkable system 

 whereby an accurate record is main- 

 tained of the thousands of parts both in 

 stock and in process of manufacture. 

 Thus it is possible to keep the stock 

 within certain satisfactory limits and not 

 have it too great or reduced to a point 



making of 1,300 automobile parts is di- 

 rectly controlled. Besides, a control is 

 incidentally exercised over 2,500 parts in 

 process of manufacture. 



Briefness prevents a complete descrip- 

 tion of the boards, but the following es- 

 sential points are of interest: The vari- 

 ous pieces of information that are posted 

 on the control board are secured from 

 slips of paper com- 

 ing from dispatch 

 stations in different 

 parts of the plant ; 

 the board entries 

 being made by in- 

 serting letters and 

 figures, face put, 

 into small cages 

 clipped on to strips 

 which run horizon- 

 tally across the 

 frame or board. 



The dimensions 

 of each of the 



Above: Two of the Control Boards used 

 in an Automobile Factory, Enabling an 

 Accurate Record to be Kept of the 

 Numerous Parts being Manufactured and 

 Those in Stock. At the Right: A Close 

 View of a Control Board, Showing the 

 Method of Inserting the Lettered Blocks. 



that may cause delay in the assembling 

 of the cars. From a financial standpoint 

 the system is commendable, since it elimi- 

 nates the constant menace of involving 

 large sums of money in surplus stock and 

 labor. 



The system consists of thirteen semi- 

 mechanical boards, indicating constantly 

 every operation in the manufacture of an 

 automobile in the plant. A perfect time 

 schedule is kept of over 14,000 manufac- 

 turing operations, and every step in the 



boards are eight by ten feet. The data is 

 set up much in the same way as type, and 

 the location of the type-holding cages day 

 by day in relation to the movable produc- 

 tion schedule, work-day measuring and 

 calendar tapes of steel, show at a glance 

 the exact position and volume of each 

 factory operation. 



If the production of one group of auto- 

 mobile parts is for any reason running 

 behind as compared to other groups, the 

 delay immediately becomes known and is 



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