Engineering Planning for Manufacture ' 



By G. A. PENNOCK 



SvNpPsis: This artiilu distusscs the complete analysis, from a mami- 

 facturing point of view, to which every item of telephone apparatus is 

 submitted at the Hawthorne Plant of the Western Electric Company. 

 These works employing, at present, about 25,000, produce over 110,000 

 different kinds of parts which enter into some 13,000 separate forms of 

 apparatus. The advantages of careful engineering analysis of each new 

 job coming to the factory, as well as those which have been in production, 

 are brought out. The various steps which are worked out in connection 

 with each analysis are as follows: manufacturing drawings: the proper 

 manufacturing operations and their sequence; the machines best adapted 

 to carrying out these operations: determination of the kind of tools, gauges, 

 weighing and other equipment; the determination of the probable hourly 

 output for each operation; the grade and rate of pay for the operators; the 

 kind and amount of raw material required; manufacturing layouts which tell 

 the entire shop organization; each step in the production of the parts, and 

 finally the best rate to be paid for each operation. In conclusion, the 

 author discusses the personnel of the I'lanning Organization. 



InTKoDI (HON 



TlllC (.•>M.'iU(.' of the successful oiRTutioii of an\ industrial eslablisii- 

 mcnt is contained in the maxim "Plan your work — then work 

 your plan." The first part of this maxim is In- far the most import- 

 ant since the al)ilit\- to work aiu' i>l.in diinnds fundaiiuntalK upi n 

 the excellence of the plan itsell. 



Farsighled planning, as applied to elenRnlar\- lactor\- operations, 

 is a relati\'ely sim|>le problem. For example, the iinii)lem iindlxcd 

 in ])lanning the work of a foimdry is to a great exttiii nurcK the 

 the duplication of plans already standardized, but in a plant manu- 

 facturing widely di\crsilied pro<lucts, such as we have at Hawthorne, 

 planning becomes at once more difficult and essential. 



The Cencral Manufacturing Deparimenl i>[ tiie Weslcrn Kiectric 

 Company pnnides the Bell System with telephone eciuipment which 

 iiUdKes the i)r<>diiction of over 13,000 separate ami distinct forms of 

 ai)i>aratiis, in the construction of which there are used over 110,000 

 dilTerent kinds of parts made from IS, 000 different kinds, sizes, and 

 shaiws of raw material. A ntimlur of lluse p;irls .ire produced in 

 very small qiiaiitilies. 



The |)roduction of the varied product mentioned al)o\e inxoKes 

 not only all the usual wood and metal working operations, but also 

 such lines of manufacture as:- glass making, textile dyeing, manti- 

 faclure of porcelain, electrolytic iron, \idcanized and i)henolized fibre, 



' l'a|)cr read before llic Mell S\slcm l-'..|ii. .il ioTi.jl ( 'oiifcrence, ('hicat;(i. June 

 22-27, 1925. 



542 



