WOMEN IN WAR WORK

Press, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23360, 20 June 1941, Page 2

WOMEN IN WAR WORK

Guns Produced Ahfead

Of Schedule

achievements quyelsh ~>fXot>ry~

(Fv0,0,C,). ;. LONPON. Mqy. 14. j : Two-pounder anti-tank. guns. and fiofors ariti-airoraft guns are - being made lira Welsh war factory by girls -wjqoAe 'average age ig 20. Not-very were waitresses, shop iUslstants.Vrevue dancers, ibaftnaids, and-domestic ■mjmfc:-.: MMbwpto some - of that bey. itoprenwes could perform as satisfactorily until they had received ,slx months’ training:, ■ ' The factory is one. of The newest achievements of the -Ministry, of. Supply. Twelve months ago there were open- fields where factory buildings stand to-day: now the staff, ©# whom 80 per gent are women;, are pr,educing the guns a month ahead of schedule. i In one shift of 10 hours, girls on chambering work—one of the more skilled, processes—make two gun chambers.- against one in the Midlands None of the girls, has had more than seven months r experience. Organisation entirely new, to industry has brought about this astonishing speed-up. Skilled work has • been broken down into several parts for semi-skilled labour. Work -is simplified so that girls can go straight to the benches In their first day of ‘factory life, " , : ' ‘ Explaining the problems the- factory staff had to meet;in getting the factory into Its working stride, a superintendent said: “We had.,to find a wav of making it possible for semiskilled workers, to do a job normally done by skilled workers. We did that by taking each operation performed by the skilled men and breaking it down into a number of smaller, operations—five. six, seven, or even 10 operations Instead of- one. .“Then we had to consider what new equipment-fixtures, special tools, pigs, and gauMSr-would be pended fpr,these subdivided operations, and we; bap to have that equipment made. Next; we prepared a series Of photographs of every part of the gun. down to, the smallest screw, so that a girl working on any part would know the relation of her particular job to the whole. In conjunction with the photographs we made lists of all the parts, with crossreference numbers: and for each oneration we made a sketch, giving the measurements and all other necessary data for the part concerned. Minute Detail

“To give you an idea of the minute detail of this planning, there are 015 operation sketches for the two-poundar gup: and to carry out the schcrpe of subdivided operations we had to design more than 800’gauges. 300 fixtures, and 200 special tools. I•• - ' The .girls leam as they work. The first batch worked at the benches with Skilled men,’ and they in turn help, to train later [recruits. But there -Is also a scheme of technical education, under which the workers.-in batches.of about avdbzenJare taught'how to use microEwters, Vernier scales and gauges, and 6w to read working drawings. Just any girl, of course, does no fit into this revolutionary scheme. All are specially selected. "Every one is interviewed to discover the job for which she seems best suited,” said the superintendent. "They -have to be hand-picked. It would be fatal to production if we simply sent down to the Labour Exchange for a batch of 50 jfirls and drafted them into the facthem on the interview and the way they shape in the early days, we grade them for intelligence. There are three grades—one-plus, one, and two. A one-plus gir} has outstanding intelligence. She is usually marked down for training as an assistant to shop examiners,” ■ . •• . ' . Who makes the best showing? A manager with 18 years’ experience of women factory workers put shop assistants and .waitresses at the top. with, domestic servants third. Another manager preferred shop assistant*. "They: are alert and quick, he said. 'They imagination more than most. Girls, will do a job perfectly after they have been shown It once or twice."