NOVEMBER, 1958
PAGE 5
PRODUCTS YOU HELP TO MAKE
Compounding Major Step In Tire Production
Mrs. Nell W. Robinson, cloth room, and Mrs. Mary C. Smith of
Atlanta, Ga., recently visited in the home of Mr. and Mrs. John
P. Smith of Gastonia. Mr. Smith is a clerk in the cloth room.
Robert Ramsey and Larry Sanders are newcomers to the cloth
room.
Mrs. J. A. Waldrep of the cloth room, and Mr. Waldrep at
tended the Mincey family reunion at Mrs. Waldrep’s old home place
near Ellijay, N. C., this fall. A large crowd was on hand for the
reunion program, which included special music and a picnic lunch.
Chief Petty Officer R. L. Nichols has returned to his Navy post
after an autumn visit in the home of his brother, J. Milton Nichols,
Spooling second hand; and Mrs. Nichols of the Cloth Room.
Christine Watson and members of her family from Sylva, N. C.
visited Mr. and Mrs. Howard Moses recently at the Moses’ home
near Candler, N. C. Mrs. Moses works in the Cloth Room.
Mr. and Mrs. Carl James and Mrs. James’ parents, Mr. and Mrs.
S. L. Owens made a fall trip over North Carolina portions of the
Blue Ridge Parkway. Mrs. James works in Payroll; Mr. James, in
Carding. Mr. Owens is overseer in Carding.
A stop at Boone and at Blowing Rock were among points of
interest for Mr. and Mrs. Price Roe, on a trip to Western North
Carolina at the peak of the fall color season. Mrs. Roe is in the
Shipping department.
Mr. and Mrs. Cicero Falls and daughter Hollis went sightseeing
in Northwest North Carolina during the fall color season. Outstand
ing on their trip was a ride on the famed Tweetsie Railroad, now
operated on a scenic line near Blowing Rock and Boone.
Katherine Edwards of Main Office, Jack Steele, Mr, and Mrs.
Paul Short and Mr. and Mrs. Harry Simmons visited in Raleigh on
a recent week end. While there they saw the Duke-Baylor football
game.
Mrs. J. H. Suttlemyre is a new employee in Main Office. The
Suttlemyres have a son, J. H., Jr. They live at 105 East Iowa
Avenue in Bessemer City.
Spooler tender Dorothy Beckham spent a recent week end with
her sister, Mrs. Alma Lee, in West Columbia, S. C.
Spooler tender Rosella Dover and members of her family
motored to Cherokee, N. C., in late fall. Besides the Cherokee Indian
(Qualla) Reservation, they stopped at several points of interest in
the Great Smoky Mountains area.
Pvt. Ray Short has returned to his army post at Fort Jackson,
S. C., after a recent week-end visit with his mother, Della Short, a
spooler tender.
—More on page 8
L
The Key To More Jobs
Did you ever stop to think how much you depend
upon your neighbor down the street—and how much he,
in turn, depends upon you? This principle in our society
is especially active in our jobs, and in the satisfying of
our daily needs.
For example, there is the product you help to make
at Firestone. Your neighbor needs it, and he buys it.
Maybe he is your milkman, your grocer, or the man who
sells you electricity and gas.
This principle of interdependence points up how the
money you paid for, say, your shelter and clothing last
month was provided through the product you help to
make, and its sale on the market. On the other hand, the
money which goes to your neighbor for his services and
goods helps him to supply his own needs and, in turn,
allows him to continue serving you.
The businessman who serves you is likely a Firestone
customer now. If not a customer, he is a potential one.
Let him know you appreciate his services and remind
him that your patronage is made possible through sales
of the company for which you work.
Copies of Acknowledgement of Good Service cards
are available from your department overseer and at the
Personnel office.
Sales Mean More Jobs for More People!
☆ ☆ ☆
Compounding and mixing of a
batch of rubber in the process
of building a tire is much like
the baking of a cake. The more
care and attention given to this
operation, the more improved is
the mixed stock—and the end
product.
In tire manufacturing, bales
of natural or synthetic rubber
are inspected, split and plasti-
cated, in preparation for com
pounding. This is the second
major operation in the building
of a tire.
More than 800 types of final
compounds have been establish
ed for making various Firestone
tires. Final compounds vary ac
cording to the purpose for which
they are to be used — treads,
sidewalls, plies, beads, tubes,
chafer strips. These compounds
are the result of extensive re
search and are selected only
after exhaustive testing by de
partment compounders.
Precise Measuring
Adds To Quality
All raw materials used in the
compounds are tested thorough
ly. They are sampled as they are
received in the plants, and un
dergo rigorous tests before being
released for use.
In the compounding depart
ment of the company’s tire-
building plants, exact amounts of
ingredients are mixed with the
rubber, to comply with rigid
specifications. Working as a
team, compounders weigh the
proper amounts of pigments for
each formula designated by the
laboratory.
In addition to the rubber stock
and certain mixing oils, ingredi
ents for compounding include—
Carbon black to make the rub
ber tough
Zinc oxide for speeding up the
activation process
Anti-oxidants to guard against
effects of weathering
Accelerators to speed up the
vulcanizing process
Sulphur to make possible the
vulcanization—that treatment of
Production Shows
America’s Growth
American production more
than doubles every 20 years.
Since 1900, our gross national
product has increased at an aver
age rate of three per cent a year.
This record of over half a cen
tury shows some ups and downs,
but the general trend is express
ed in an ever-mounting curve.
Many producers are small
businesses. One big motor manu
facturer buys from 26,000 sup
pliers and sub-contractors. A
large electrical company helps to
keep 25,000 smaller producers
busy.
The Firestone Company, dur
ing a recent fiscal year, spent
more than $400 million for out
side supplies—almost 40 per cent
of all the money taken in by the
company was paid out for ma
terials and services needed for
production. And a recent survey
showed that 13,423 suppliers
scattered throughout the country
furnish necessary materials for
Firestone plants.
Judging by past experience,
two million more businesses will
be established to make and dis
tribute the growing production
To maintain sales, please customers and meet com
petition, Firestone tires must be reasonable in cost and
outstanding in performance on the highway. They must
not check or crack, they must be flexible and resilient;
and they must give motorists a safe, comfortable ride.
Compounding—one of the major steps in the building
of tires—is an example of how quality is built into tires
by Firestone,
rubber to give it such qualities
as strength, elasticity, resistance
to solvents, and to render it
unaffected by moderate heat and
cold.
The quality of a tire and the
service it gives the customer are
—to a great extent—determined
by the precise measuring and
weighing of pigments.
Accelerators, sulphurs, anti
oxidants and retarders are criti
cal basic ingredients and must
be weighed with precision.
Pieces of rubber, pigments and
oils which have been thus weigh
ed and checked according to lab
oratory formula, are formed in
to a mixture, called a “batch”.
The Banbury Machine
Mixes Ingredients
The batch is next sent to the
Banbury mixer. This machine
can be likened to a giant mixing
bowl. It forces the rubber and
pigments through a pair of ir
regular rolls, chopping the ma
terials together.
In the Banbury, the batch is
mixed according to laboratory
specifications. Instructions tell
the operator how to mix, how
long to mix, proper temperatures
to maintain, and when to add
certain ingredients.
After the batch has been
through the Banbury mixer, it is
sent through the pelletizer ma
chine for additional mixing. It
is then forced out through a steel
sleeve which has small holes
in it. A rotating knife slits the
material into small pellets,
which are then water-cooled,
sprayed, dried and then sent
through the Banbury again for
additional mixing. Out of the
Banbury for the second time, the
material goes through a series of
mills, finally emerging in the
form of sheets. They are spray-
cooled and stored on skids, to
await further processing.
Samples of materials are tak
en after each operation has been
completed. These samples are
sent to the Mill Room Control
Laboratory for additional tests,
to insure that proper amounts of
the different ingredients have
been used.
When the stock passes these
tests, the laboratory approves
the stock for production.
Next article: "Milling."
4 MAIN CAUSES OF HIGHWAY ACCIDENTS —
AND WHAT TO DO ABOUT THEM
Driving too fast for condi- keep off high speed
highways.
tions.
REMEDY: Frequently check
speedometer. Ob
serve and obey
posted speed laws.
Drive more sJowly
in wet weather,
after dark, in con
gested areas.
• Impeding the normal speed
of traffic by slow driving.
REMEDY: If forced to drive
slowly, keep well
over to right. If de
sire to drive slowly,
use lightly travelled
secondary routes,
Crowding too closely behind
car ahead so that you have
neither space nor time to
stop without collision.
REMEDY: Allow one car length
for every 10 miles
per hour of speed.
Making U-turns by crossing
the dividing wall of the
super highway.
REMEDY: Follow traffic flow
by using overpasses
as a means to re
verse your direc
tion of travel.
© AMERICAN MUTUAL LIAB. INS. CO.
New Company Lab
For Missiles
The company has a new lab
oratory for research, engineering
and design of guided missiles
and weapons systems. Located
on a 20-acre tract at Monterey,
Calif., the single-story, concrete
block-and-steel structure con
solidates the work of the staff
of American mills and factories
during the next 25 years.
Your future is bright in Grow
ing America.
of scientists and engineers at the
Firestone Tire & Rubber Com
pany of California.
Firestone is prime contractor
for manufacture of the Army’s
Corporal Guided Missile. The
company also designs and manu
factures the launching systems
for the Regulus I and II guided
missiles. Regulus II was launch
ed successfully for the first time
September 16, from the sub
marine “Grayback” off the Cali
fornia coast.
Firestone scientists at the
Monterey laboratory also are
engaged in work on the Polaris
and Matador missile systems.