DODGING THE BOMBS

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume 51, Issue 3133, 19 June 1942, Page 3

DODGING THE BOMBS

LAYOUT OF FACTORIES NEW BRITISH ARRANGEMENT A new method of factory layout which has reduced output delays from bomb damage by as much as 50 per cent has been evolved by British scientists and engineers.

Called the “production, lattice,” factories engaged on similar work are not dispersed all over the country but are grouped close enough together to provide swift inter-communication. If -there are, say, four processes in each factory, the bombing of No. 1 process in one works means that Nos. 2, 3 and 4 processes there can still be supplied from another factory; while if a No, 2 process is put out of action the No. 1 output can go through No. 2 process elsewhere and return to its own Nos. 3 and 4.

To stop output completely, the

enemy must put out of action the same process in each factory, and the mathematical odds against this arc immense. In fact, because of these odds, the more accurate the bombing /the greater the relative advantage of the “lattice,” or criss-cross of production lines.

Under the dispersal system, factories are badly placed to assist each other and whenever one process is put out of action the whole output of the factory stops until this has been remedied. With the “lattice” principle, however, practical examples have shown that in severe attacks up to one-half the output rate for a given section of industry may bp saved.