Radio age research, manufacturing, communications, broadcasting, television (1941)

50,000 PRODUCTION IDEAS RCA Victor and Radiomarine Emphyees Strike Heaoy Blow at Nation's Enemies Through the Adoption of 35% of Suggestions for Improuements. RCA employees, using their nat- , ural ability and ingenuity to figure out ways to do their jobs better and easier, and save valuable production time and materials, are setting a high standard of "think- ing for Victory" for the war plants throughout the nation. More than 50,000 production ideas—averaging at least one for each member of the RCA family composed of 41,000 men and women —have been dropped into sugges- tion boxes since Pearl Harbor was smashed in the sneak Japanese at- tack on December 7, 1941. High National Ranking That these suggestions dropped into the special boxes provided at the various plants have had an ef- fect as deadly as bombs dropped upon the Axis by Allied war planes is indicated by the fact that a sin- gle RCA plant—RCA Victor Divi- sion at Harrison, New Jersey— stands fourth among more than 4,000 war plants and shipyards in the entire country in point of total national honors conferred by the War Production Board to labor- management committees sponsor- ing suggestion systems. Keyed up by the long-heralded invasion, labor-management com- mittees at Harrison and Camden launched special pre-invasion sug- gestion drives in May, while a month earlier President Charles J. Pannill announced the Radiomarine Corporation of America Suggestion Plan, which in its first two weeks stimulated 568 suggestions, of which eighty-two were granted prizes. D-Day, which electrified the world on June 6, was an appropri- ate occasion for announcement of results of the 15-day pre-invasion suggestion drive staged under la- bor-management committee aus- pices, May 1(5-31. at RCA Victor Division, Camden. In this fruitful "Suggest for ^'ictory Campaign," 3,255 suggestions were jammed into the suggestion boxes, repre- senting an average of 200 a day to add to Axis woes. Donald M. Nelson, Chairman of the War Production Board, told Harrison workers that their pro- duction ideas "have helped make invasion possible," in a telegram recently received by Chairman Jo- seph N. Mayer and Vice Chairman W. L. Van Keuren of the plant's War Production Drive Committee, representing employees and man- agement respectively. Aptly titled "Suggestion Arma- da", Harrison's pre-invasion drive commenced May 29 and closed June 10. By the time General Eisen- hower's record invasion armada got under way across the English Channel, Harrison's "Suggestion Armada" had enlisted 300 ideas. The final total for the two weeks was 871. Because every outstanding em- ployee idea adopted at Harrison is automatically forwarded to Wash- ington by the War Production Drive Committee and the sugges- tion sub-committee, headed by Miss Mildred Parks, Harrison has long been identified among the leading committees of the nation for quan- tity and quality of production sug- gestions. Evaluated by Experts Ideas submitted to War Produc- tion Drive Headquarters in Wash- ington are regularly evaluated for WPB honors by distinguished tech- nical experts comprising WPB's Board for Individual Awards. Highest honor attainable by a war worker is the Citation for Produc- tion Ideas, rarely given. Higlily coveted are the Certificate for Pro- duction Ideas and tlie Honorable .Mention. These three categories of na- tional honors have been bestowed by WPB for approximately two years. RCA Victor Division, Har- rison, has received a total of 75 national awards, including 13 Cer- tificates and 62 Honorable Men- tions, as of July 1, 1944. RCA Victor Division, Camden, leads all RCA manufacturing plants, however, both for total ideas submitted and percentage adopted since Pearl Harbor through April, 1944. Camden employees have responded to the call of their War Production Drive Committee with an avalanche of 24,334 sugges- tions, of which 10,617, representing 43.6 per cent, have been adopted, thereby accelerating and imin-oving tremendously the output of RCA equipment for the armed forces of the United States and our Allies. Plant Totals Listed The following table eloquently tells the story of RCA "thinking for Victory" from Pearl Harbor until last May 1: Pcr- Nuinber of Number ceiitage IMant Sugpestioiis Adopted .\dopted Blooniington 4,924 710 14.4 Camden 24,334 10,617 43.6 Harrison 9,926 3,485 35.1 Hollywood 213 84 39.4 Indianapolis 6,329 1,423 22.5 Lancaster 2,223 569 25.6 Total 47,949 16,888 35.2 On two occasions in Washington, the spotlight has been focused upon RCA employees especially invited to the Nation's Capitol to receive sig- nal honors for ideas. Radiomarine, latest RCA com- pany to install a suggestion system, in awarding eighty-two prizes for the best of 568 suggestions sub- mitted for its opening two-week period, gave two top prizes of $25 J each to James Dooley of the Ma- ^ chine Shop and Harold L. Grant of Shop No. 2. Ernest J. Patane, Per- sonnel Chairman, is the Suggestion Committee Chairman. Widespread in scope, contributions received to date include ideas affecting im- provements in efticiency and pro- duction, safety and benefits to health, and cures for tardiness and absenteeism. Buy War Bonds [28 RADIO AGE]