THE BLANCHARD MACHINE COMPANY
64 State Street, Cambridge, Mass.
As you know, we have been running our Training Department for about five weeks only, hence we are not in position to give you any definite information as to the value of it, etc., but from what we can see it will be undoubtedly a great help to us, because all the unskilled help go to the instructor before being put into the shop. Those who have had some experience are put into the shop, with the instructor to give them detailed information for as long a time as is necessary, and to teach them the important parts of the work in hand. This, as you can imagine, is more difficult in this shop where we do not manufacture large quantities than it would be in a shop where there was a uniform operation, such as there would be on shells, and work of that kind.
We have taken cabinetmakers and taught them to run boring mills; blank book salesmen to assemble units for our SURFACE GRINDERS; shoemakers to assemble units for SURFACE GRINDERS; carpenters to run turret lathes, and plain helpers or sweepers to break in on Surface and Floor Motor Grinders.
We also have a number of women in the shop whom we have taken in without their having any previous experience in machine work, and taught them various operations, such as broaching, bench work, drilling, turning bevel gears, vise work, cutting long threads, and work of a similar nature, and have found them very satisfactory on this class of work.
We have endeavored to teach them the rudiments of this work before putting them on to regular production work, but after they master the first part of it, all the work that is done is on a regular production basis, and we have found in a great many cases that they have been able to reduce the time taken per piece to a very marked degree over what has formerly been taken by men.
I send herewith eight photographs of our operatives that have been broken into skilled work of various kinds throughout our shop, that has previously been done by men skilled in the particular line involved.
We think that some of these are almost remarkable, when we consider what our attitude was two years ago on work of this kind, refusing absolutely to put anyone on who had not been skilled in the particular line involved.
(Signed) Winfield W. Blakeman,
Superintendent.
Assembly of our caliper device used in connection with our high-power vertical-surface grinder, for fine measurements on parts being surface ground.
Done by “a man 63 years old, a shoemaker by trade, who has been on this work since June 27, 1918, and has learned in that time to completely assemble these delicate instruments, making the proper adjustments, lapping and doing a quality of work that passes a rigid inspection.” Blanchard Machine Co.
Thread-cutting operation on a feed screw for our surface grinder, which is made from a forty-carbon steel, is 26½ inches long and has one-quarter inch pitch acme thread about two-thirds of its length that must be a close fit in a bronze unit.
Done by “a young lady, who has been on this class of work since May 9, 1918, has been able to take these screws from the rough stock, turn them to grinding size and finally finish cutting the thread in a time that is less than was formerly taken by skilled machinists. We think that this is one of the most remarkable jobs done by the women in our shop, as this work requires very careful attention and unusual skill.” Blanchard Machine Co.
Assistant Inspector. Blanchard Machine Co.
Done by “a young girl of twenty years, who has been assistant inspector since April 29, 1918, and while she does not understand all the technical phrases used in connection with, work of this sort, there is a very large percentage which is merely routine, and if it does not pass the gauges provided she refers it to another man to put on production work.”
Machinist. Operation of Turret Lathe. Blanchard Machine Co. Done by “a young man, carpenter by trade (not in draft), having no previous experience on machinery but by keeping a uniform line of work going through this machine, and giving him careful instructions, he is able to almost equal that of a skilled operator. He has been in our employ since January 9, 1918.”
Finish turning of steel bevel gears to accurate dimensions, using compound slide and producing a quality of work that will pass the most critical inspection.
Done by “a woman who had no previous experience on lathes and came to work in June of this year.” Blanchard Machine Co.
Graduating of the segment plates used on our high-power vertical surface grinder. It calls for the use of an index head and making every fifth line three-sixteenths of an inch longer than the balance of the lines in the section, using a gauge shown on the front of the machine for this purpose. Blanchard Machine Co.
DONE BY “a young lady who had a small amount of experience assembling on automobile starters before she came to work for us on June 24, 1918. By setting up the machine and not giving her too difficult jobs, she is able to about equal the time taken by the average man.”
Jig drilling on a 20-inch upright drill that has previously been done by men. Blanchard Machine Co.
DONE BY “women operatives who are usually able to practically reach the time taken by the men on this work. In a few cases where the men have had a longer period of experience they have been able to improve on the time taken by the women. A great deal of this work calls for drilling and tapping, as well as counterboring and spot facing.”