PAGE TWO
Tire$fotie 3J31WI
AUGUST 25, 1955
ENTERTAINMENT IN YOUR POCKET
^Big Set’ Features
In Midget ^Atom’
A compact portable radio so small that you can
drop it in your pocket or handbag, is now available
at the Firestone store in Gastonia. The mighty
midget measures five and three-fourths inches long,
three and three-fourths high and one and five-six
teenths thick. It has a four-tube superhetrodyne
circuit with rectifier and is housed in a Styrene case
around an armored chassis that protects it against
tube damage.
Its weight is one pound and seven ounces, in
cluding the two tiny batteries. It is equipped with an
improved built-in loop antenna and a speaker with
improved powerful magnet.
The radio may be had in red, blue, or red
trimmed with gold and lucite control knob. It is
priced at $29.95, minus discount for employees,
Mrs. Betty Mays, employee of the Firestone
store on Franklin Avenue, shows “The Atom.”
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TRANSFERRING A SET OF FIGURES into
easy-to-read graph form is one of the services per
formed by Statistical Quality Control. The chart
on the upper left, indicating that the process is
under control, shows all points falling between
the predetermined control limits. In addition to
the chart of averages a range chart shows
the variation in individual readings that make up
the average. Note that the points on the range
chart remain below the Upper Control Limit
(U. C. L.), too. On the other hand, a process that
is out of control, as the charts on the right indi
cate, shows an unchecked rise, with points falling
outside the Upper Control Limits. The range is
also irregular. These average-and-range charts
keep a constant check on the building of quality
into the components of a tire. If the process
changes, the quality will change, and the control
charts will immediately indicate this change—
a big help to the man-on-the-job.
Industry’s New Tools Help Maintain Quality
What is Quality Control?
Back in the days before mass
production techniques were in
troduced, a single individual made
the whole product with his own
hands. But industry today must be
geared to produce parts or assem
blies at a competitive price.
The total number of parts pro
duced, however, is not as impor
tant as the number of quality
parts economically produced.
Here’s where a big problem enters
the picture. No machine or opera
tor, regardless of the degree of
pei’fection and skill attained pro
duces identical parts. To overcome
this difficulty, a system known as
Statistical Quality Control has
been developed.
FIRST, S. Q. C. can separate
these variations in a single opera
tion into two types;
(1) The chance variation.
(2) The assignable variation.
The chance variation is the best
that an operation will give, and
this variation cannot be reduced
without changing either the method
or the equipment. The assignable
variation, on the other hand, is an
unusual or outside variation that
can be eliminated by finding the
cause and correcting it. But
S. Q. C. doesn’t do the correcting.
It merely indicates quality trends
in individual operations.
HOW IS THIS DONE? Let’s
take the specific case of finished
tire weights. A small number of
consecutive samples is taken each
day and weighed. From these fig
ures two results are obtained each
day: the average weight and the
range. These figures are “plotted”
on the average-and-range charts.
The extremes of the chance varia
tion are known as “control limits.”
Any point falling outside the con
trol limits is assignable and a
reason exists for its variation out
side the limits. Such charts can be
plotted for any operation. The big
advantage of the Statistical Qual
ity Control system lies in the fact
that an operation gives advance
notice of “getting out of control”
by creeping towards the specified
control limits. The necessary ad
justments can then be made and
a large amount of stock can be
saved from the scrap heap. Hun
dreds of operations are thus plott
ed.
Whenever this system is used, it
improves quality and uniformity.
And the key to the success of the
system is employee interest.
EVERYONE likes to know that
he is doing a good job. So with
the introduction of S. Q. C., charts
indicating the quality progress of
an operation were posted on the
department’s bulletin board. Now
the employee could actually see
what was going wrong, if any
thing, Applying their skill and ex
perience, operators and crews be
gan improving their record each
day.
Another reason for the interest
displayed is the spontaneous
sense of competition wherever
S. Q. C. is used. Different shifts
and individuals vie for the best
record at the end of the month.
Foreman and supervisors do not
have to rely on memory, and a
good record speaks for itself.
S. Q, C. is an important service
to the whole program of quality
production. Its success relies en
tirely on employee participation
and interest. A well-calculated set
of figures or chart is useless if it
continually indicates a product of
poor quality. Every dot on the
quality chart is the mark of per
formance. “Best Today—Still Bet
ter Tomorrow” is a tribute to the
high standards employees set for
themselves.
Conte Nome
FROM THE FIRESTONE CANADIAN
Labeled For Life
Remember your old school chums—“Red,” “Sandy,” “Peanuts,”
“Slim,” “Bobo”? Sure you do. Now, what were their real names?
The big fellow, who always sat in the front seat, “Red,” for example?
Bob? Bill? It’s difficult to remember, isn’t it?
Nicknames are probably as old as mankind itself, and usually
are quite harmless. And often they stick—for a long time.
However, there’s another kind of labelling” that can be very
dangerous. When someone says, “he’s stupid” or “lazy” or whatever
term the user chooses, it’s time for pause before accepting the state
ment. Quite often, the statement is made in a moment of annoyance or
disappointment. But it can be disastrous for the person who’s been
tagged. The name of perhaps the impression that a person is lazy or
stupid may linger on in the minds of others.
It may last a lifetime.
It may discourage a promotion.
It may end a friendship.
Labels are usually grossly unfair. A human being—in his simplest
form—is much too complex to be reduced to one-word judgement.
Someone once said that words are like sunburns—the more they
are condensed the deeper they burn.
So just pause and reflect before passing along a snap judgement.
Someone might be doing the same to you.
The Privilege Can Be Withdrawn
When you put the license plates on your car and the driver’s
license in your wallet, you have met your state’s requirements to
operate a motor vehicle. Without these, your time on the highway
would be short-lived. It is the Motor Vehicle Department’s way of
saying, “So far as we can tell, you should be permitted to drive”.
But from then on it is up to you. Respect the law and the rules
of the road, drive so as not to endanger your life or the lives of others,
and you may continue to drive. But—
Those licenses are not a right—^they are merely qualified per
mission. They do not say you can weave over the highways intoxicated;
that you can drive at dangerous speeds; or that you can commit any
act that may endanger the public safety.
You can’t get away with it. Continued bad driving habits, sooner
or later, will rule you off the road.
In one year 600,000 drivers had their licenses suspended or re
voked—every third one for intoxication. Speeding and recklessness
were also high on the list.
Remember, driving is not a right. It is a license which if abused
can be withdrawn. Respect it and continue to drive—safely, sanely.
Grandparents Twice In Same Day
Good stories have a way of re
maining good no matter if a little
old. And although it happened on
June 15, Mr. and Mrs. Martie
Briggs haven’t yet quite recovered
from the experience of becoming
grandparents—twice on the same
day. Two of their daughters gave
birth to a son each. Daryl Lathan,
son of Mr. and Mrs. Lathan Hall,
arrived at Garrison General Hos
pital at 11:58 a. m. Timothy James,
son of Mr, and Mrs. Jacob Keller
put in this appearance at 4:29
p. m,, on the same day, at Gaston
Memorial Hospital.
The grandparents are both Fire
stone employees. Mr. Briggs is in
the Twisting Department; Mrs.
Briggs in Carding. Mr. Hall, their
son-in-law, works in the Twisting
Department.
Plant Officer
(From Page 1)
headquarters was set up at the
police station an dthe mayor’s of
fice. They gave emergency aid to
the stricken area, maintained radio
communications, and generated
stand-by electric power.
IN THE WAKE of Diane, they
set up headquarters in Wilming
ton and patrolled the coast, furn
ishing power to a commercial radio
station and maintaining shortwave
communication with all communi
ties in the storm zone.
They took some 400 feet of
movies and a number of photo
graphs of damage in the coastal
area.
FIRESTONE NEWS
Volume IV, No. 15, August 25, 1955
Published by The Firestone Tire & Rubber Company
Firestone Textiles Division
Gastonia, North Carolina
Department of Public Relations
CLAUDE CALLAWAY, Editor
Department Reporters
CARDING—Edna Harris, Jim Ballew, Jessie Westmoreland.
SPINNING—Ray Thomas, Mary Turner, Maude Johnson.
SPOOLING—Nell Bolick, Helen Reel, Rosalee Burger.
TWISTING—Pearl Aldridge, Corrie Johnson, Lorene Owensby»
Dorothy Baber, Dean Haun, and Vera Carswell.
SALES YARN TWISTING—Elmina Bradshaw.
SYC WEAVING—Vivian Bumgardner, Lucille Davis, Sara Davis,
Nina Milton, Juanita McDonald.
CORD WEAVING—Roy Davis, Irene Burroughs, Mary Johnson.
QUALITY CONTROL—Sally Crawford, Leila Rape, and Louella
Queen.
WINDING—Mayzelle Lewis, Ann Stevenson, and Christine Stroupe-
CLOTH ROOM—Margie Waldrop.
SHOP—Rosie Francum.
WAREHOUSE—Patsy Haynes, George Harper, Albert Meeks,
Rosevelt Rainey.
PLASTIC DIP—Frances Huffman.
MAIN OFFICE—Mozelle Brockman.
SUPERINTENDENT’S OFFICE—Sue Van Dyke.
PERSONNEL OFFICE—Barbara Abernathy. ^