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Aviation History
1943
1943 - 2095.PDF
AUGUST 26TH, 1943 FLIGHT 223 Balanced Aircraft Production Select Committee Reports "No Serious Bottleneck," but Spares Position Unsatisfactory : Anxiety About Lack of Qualified Personnel THE tenth report by the Select Committee on NationalExpenditure, issued as a White Paper on August16th, deals with aircraft production. The Commit- tee reaches the conclusion that most of the difficulties which formerly beset the industry have been solved or are on the way to being solved, and that since no serious bottleneck now threatens to retard output, production may be regarded as substantially balanced. Since the limits of expansion of the labour force are being approached, it follows that increases in the output of aircraft must be sought mainly by all-round improvement Whea changing over from an old to a new type, loss of output has often been a subject ol criticism, especially by the workpeople. A technique has now been evolved for minimising the loss of production. It is now the practice of M.A.P. to make a programme lor the development of a new type so that should difficulties arise, arrangements, particularly the ordering of materials, can be made well in advance to prolong the programme of the old type. Manufacturers complain ot the frequency of changes in the monthly delivery programme. One firm received three differ- ent programmes in one week, and another, engaged in full production on a well-estab- in the efficiency of the in- : lished type, had its pro- dustry. A number of pro- posals for achieving this are contained in this Report. During its inquiry the Committee visited sixteen firms engaged on the manu- facture and assembly of air- frames, undercarriages, air- craft engines and airscrews, and representatives of both management and workers were heard. Evidence was given on behalf of the M.A.P. by the chief executive; by representatives of several Production Directorates; by the Deputy Controller of Construction and Regional Services; by three Regional Controllers; by the Director oi Contracts; and by the Director of the R.A.E., to which a visit was made. Representatives of the Ministry of Labour and National Service gave evideniSe of the calling-up of men in the aircraft industry ; and the views of the industry as a whole were given by repre- sentatives of the S.B.A.C. Some fifty memoranda were sub- mitted from official and non-official sources, including among the latter those from the Institution of Professional Civil Ser- vants, the Association of Scientific Workers, and three Fellows of the Royal Aeronautical Society, selected by that body. The interesting disclosure is contained in the Report that the Minister of Aircraft Production has stated that the total weight of completed aircraft produced in this country in the first quarter of this year was more than half as much again as in the corresponding quarter of last year, and that the output of structure weight per person employed in March, 1943, was more than one-third greater than in March, 1942. These facts indicate the progress of the industry both in regard to total output and efficiency. Planning the Programme On the subject of co-ordinating production with research and development the Repoit points out that results in the past have not always been happy, as shown by the vicissitudes of certain types, the development and production of which have suffered through failure to achieve the necessary co- operation. " It is held that appointment last October of an Air Chief Marshal (Sir Wilfrid Freedman.—ED.) to be Chief Execu- tive of M.A.P. was a step in the right direction. Concerning the allocation of productive capacity the Report offers the criticism that, whereas in the early days of expan- sion a high degree of co-operation was attained between the Air Ministry and the industry in drawing up plans through the Air Supply Committee, the relationship has not been so close since then. The Ministry of Aircraft Production inclines to prefer separate contracts with firms or groups of firms engaged on the same type of aircraft rather than with the industry as a whole. It is not suggested that there is any lack of consultation about changes of programme with the firms immediately concerned. "Approached individually," the Report states, "with a proposal that he should undertake a particular part of a new programme, a contractor is hardly in a position to offer sound reasons why he should or should not accept it. Confronted collectively with the complete new programme, the industry might well offer constructive suggestions which would help the Ministry to distribute the work to the best advantage." DURING its inquiry the Select Committee .on National Expenditure, a summary of whose Report on Airaaft Produc- tion is given on this and the next two pages, visited 16 firms and heard evidence from both management and work-people. The Report discloses no serious bottlenecks, and output con only be increased by improving the efficiency of the industry. Proposals for doing this are contained In the Report. gramme changed seven times in eight months. Modifications are now understood by the industry to be necessary, but some con- cern is expressed at the cumu- lative effect of a number of modifications, each justifiable m itself, on the performance of an aircraft. The Report throws an inter- esting light on the subject of dispersal of factories. Nineteen main aircraft firms which, in January, 1938, managed 45 production units each employing more than 100 workpeople, were at the beginning of this year managing 323 such units. One large group, which contributes 85 units to the above total, has in addition some 265 smaller units under its direct control. Output of engines, the Report states, is generally up to programme, and in a few cases slightly above it. The output of spares is not, however, entirely satisfactory, and the subject is Teferred to in more detail below. Undercarriage production has not been free from serious difficulties, but the Committee offers no observations at this stage. On the method of ordering undercarriages, however, the Report has a good deal to say. By the system in force, whereby the aircraft is ordered complete with undercarriage, it is the responsibility of the aircraft firm to provide it, the distribution of orders for undercarriages depends on the pre- ference of aircraft-designing firms, and one undercarriage maker may be overloaded with work while another is short of orders. The Committee agrees that on general principles it is advantageous tp place as large a proportion as possible of the aircraft on embodiment loan, and there is a tendency in that direction. Standardisation of undercarriages is affected by the design of the aircraft, and standardisation of complete undercarriages might prejudice improvements in aircraft design, but under- carriage components are more amenable to standardisation, and a committee of representatives of, firms specialising iii undercarriages was formed in September, 1941. Standardisa- tion has been reached, the Report states, on hand pumps and some half-dozen minor items, and a range of standard diameters for machined parts has been agreed. Progress has be"en slow. A smaller standard range of screw threads has been drawn up and approved by many manufacturers, but few have adopted it. Wheels, axles and forks, of which there are a great variety, were considered, but the agreement of aircraft constructors to a reduction in the number of types was not obtained. The acute airscrew shortage which at one time threatened to become a bottleneck has been relieved. The Report'points out that there are two airscrew designing firms, and that a technical committee of the S.B.A.C. rejected the suggestion that one should be selected on the grounds that the loss of output caused by the change-over would outweigh the advantages. Spares One aspect of aircraft production with which the Committee is not satisfied»is that of spares. To some extent it blames the industry, taking the view that managements have felt that they received less credit for the production of spares than of
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