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

RCA VICTOR OFFICIALS EXPRESS SATISFACTION AS THE FIRST 1946 MODEL RADIO RECEIVER COMES OFF THE PRODUCTION LINE AT THE BLOOMINGTON PLANT. LEFT TO RIGHT: FRANK M. FOLSOM, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT IN CHARGE OF RCA VICTOR DIVISION; J. B. ELLIOTT, GENERAL MANAGER, HOME INSTRUMENTS DIVISION, AND J. B. MILLING, MANUFACTURING DIRECTOR. RADIO SETS IN PRODUCTION Blueprints for Reconversion, Held in Preparation for V-J Day, Speed Up Assembly of First RCA Receivers for 1946. ing Products, Home Instruments, Records and Tubes. Within their separate spheres, each of these businesses has the re- sponsibility for all functions of the business, including engineering, purchasing, manufacturing, ac- counting and selling. All these functions are the responsibility of a General Manager, who in turn re- ports to the Operating Vice Presi- dent of the RCA Victor Division. This modern streamlining within the organization will help to insure fast action and efficiency. Markets were studied and their potentialities mapped. While it is estimated that goods manufactured for the armed forces will comprise about 30 per cent of our total out- put in 1946, overall sales are ex- pected to be considerably above the prewar figure in all divisions — Home Instruments, Records, Tubes, and Engineering Products. Some indication of the market potentiali- ties for records and Victrolas alone is pointed up by the estimate that only about 15 to 18 per cent of all radio-owners who have phonograph turntables. Distribution methods, too, came in for their share of analytical study during the period of planning for peacetime production. The re- sult is that RCA Victor is geared to a streamlined, more efficient distri- bution system. The new program By Frank M. Folsom Executive Vice President in Charge of RCA Victor Division THE day following the end of the war, a number of my asso- ciates and I sat in Camden reading the hundreds of telegrams and let- ters cancelling the production of military, radar, and electronic equipment. These cancellations wrote the final chapter to the story of RCA Victor's contribution to vic- tory. In six years of wartime engineer- ing and production, RCA Victor never failed in its obligations. Our war efforts have been commended again and again by the Government and by men in the armed forces who depended upon RCA Victor equip- ment. When peace came, it did not find us unprepared, for practical long-range plans had been carefully made for this event. One of the first steps taken toward reconversion was a stream- lining of organization so that we are better equipped and more effi- cient to meet the stiff competition which is anticipated. Basically, the RCA Victor Division has been divided into four separate busi- nesses, each virtually a complete organization in itself. These four commercial divisions are Engineer- calls for fewer distributors, many of whom cover a wider area. Sales training courses have also been inaugurated for men who are now in the field selling peacetime products. Peacetime manufacturing will be devoted to the radio, electronic and sound reproduction fields, in which RCA has long been a leader, and which offer unlimited possibilities for expansion. Major products as- signed to each of the seven RCA Victor plants are: Camden: Broadcast transmit- ters, communications equipment, electron microscopes, industrial electronic equipment, motion pic- ture recording and reproducing equipment, aviation radio equip- ment, sound systems, home tele- vision receivers, industrial televi- sion equipment, records, export radio and many other products. Indianapolis: Radio console sets, Victrolas, record changers, records, auto radios, receiving tubes. BLOOMINGTON: Small radios and Victrolas of all types. Harrison: Receiving and al- lied type tubes. Lancaster : Power, cathode- ray, photo and special type tubes. Saugerties: Tube mount as- semblies. Hollywood : Film and disc re- cording, manufacture of records. To Enlarge Floor Space Anticipating a substantial up- swing in production and sales, RCA Victor plans to add 400,000 square feet of manufacturing floor space in the next few years, including an additional plant at Indianapolis for the production of radios and the ex- pansion and modernization of rec- ord-making facilities at Camden, Indianapolis and Hollywood. Plans are also being made for the con- tinued use of the 825,000 square feet of space added during the war, which will be largely used for the manufacture of radios and engineer- ing products, such as special elec- tronic apparatus for industrial use, testing devices, and motion picture equipment. Speaking generally, we expect to be back on a normal peacetime schedule in about six months. For- tunately, no important reconversion [18 RADIO AGE]