Waste Makes Costs Soar, Kills Sales And Reduces Jobs Everything you do on your production job in some way affects your company’s posi tion on the market. Every- thing you do contributes in part toward the final sale— or loss of sale. The surest way to “kill” a sale of our products is to raise ^he cost of production to the point where customers can buy cheaper elsewhere. Wasting ma terials is a big factor in pushing the cost of the company’s prod uct above that of others who ^ake and sell the same product comparable quality. This en dangers your job. ‘Waste control is a never- ending task—the same as safety, production itself, or building *^Uality into our products,” says ^Neil Gamble, waste control supervisor at the Gastonia plant. While it is true that waste Control is largely a responsibili ty of the scheduling, purchasing production departments, the effectiveness of any waste-re- *^'^ction program depends much J^Pon the individual worker. If is not conscious of costs and he does not realize the rela- ^OHship of costs and sales, he is ^oing a great disservice to his Company.” ^dds Mr. Gamble: “When I a worker throw away valu- ^ble material, or toss legitimate ®crap in the same container with ^^ste of another kind, I wonder: ^sybe nobody ever told that person how much the material Worth. He may not realize hat some of that scrap could ® Salvaged if he didn’t mix it.” Production manager F. B. Gal- igan points out: It s mainly a matter of at- ^^de that determines whether Person is waste-control-con- ®^ious or not. It is the responsi- ^^ity of the supervisory people department managers to that each worker under- ^rids the importance of waste ^oritrol and that he knows how ® ^0 his job in such a way that y^able scrap volume is kept as as possible. To have the proper attitude mmm about his responsibility toward waste control, each person on the job not only needs to know how to do the job, but must know why he is doing it the way he is. By knowing why, he takes more interest in his work. One result is that his more- careful performance cuts down the tremendous loss of materials which is possible in any form of production.” Your ideas can reduce materials losses in production CITING the bad effects of waste-carelessness to the com pany, quality control manager R. B. Hull says “over-scrapping can actually cause us to fail to meet production schedules. This can result in delayed delivery of tire fabric to our tire-building plants, and could cause the com pany loss of major contracts for our products. You can see how this would affect our position with competitors.” Of quality control’s part in waste control, Mr. Hull adds: “Our main job is to see that Firestone’s products are of uni form high quality for our mar kets. We can do this better if waste is kept at a very low level. “From the worker’s stand point, job security is endangered by over-waste. It costs about $18,000 in capital to create or maintain one job for a year. If the company is short-changed by excessive scrap, there are fewer jobs available.” “We scrap a lot of material all the way down the production line,” you may say, and add, “but much of it can be re-work ed, ‘freshened’, or diverted to other products.” Hole-in-1 . • People in America work- 9 on their television aerials at *^*^e suffpr more than 16,000 Maybe so. But as Mr. Hull emphasizes, “Re-working scrap ped material is sometimes as ex pensive or more expensive than throwing it away altogether. But we don't want to waste any thing because that amounts to loss of natural resources.” Mr. Gamble, Mr. Galligan and Mr. Hull singled out the Fire stone suggestion award system as the best way by which the thoughtful employee can share ideas to reduce costs of scrap ping, salvage, and complete waste. They say: “You win at least two ways — you get paid for your usable idea and share the benefits your ideas eventually mean to the company.” The main problem in waste control is getting persons in all departments to realize the im portance of small savings—small savings that add up to almost unbelievable figures when total ed. BY WAY of example, suppose we say that a certain type of nylon filament costs Firestone close to $1 per pound for ma terial and processing. Let’s say, also, that this is the price-per- pound of all materials used and produced by this plant. Now suppose man-on-the-job “Jones” scraps a pound per day for five day a week, he will be costing the company $5 in that time. Figuring a 52-week work year for Jones and his vacation replacement, his waste runs about $260 a year. Not much for a whole year, somebody says. But remember this is just one individual. Suppose a Jones works with 30 other men on his s'hift three shifts a day. This would bring the annual cost of waste in the department to around $23,000. Assuming Jones works with an average number of employees and wastes an average amount of material at an average price per pound, we can multiply by the nylon scrap value of 5 (the approximate number of process es through which tire fabric must go to reach final inspec tion), and get $702,000.00 for the 900-odd actual production peo ple at the Gastonia plant. TAKE AWAY one-tbird for savings through reprocessing salvageable materials, and it still comes to almost $460,000. Divid ed by the $18,000 capital re quired to create and maintain one job, this wasted money amounts to possible employment for 26 potential workers. But even more realistically, the resultant increase in Fire stone’s tire prices causes us to lose some sales, bringing the ac tual loss to much more than the $470,000 and a lot of jobs! While it is true that Jones’ story is one that we have “just supposed”, and that about one- third of the Gastonia plant employees are not involved in direct production, the principle remains the same in every de partment here: Less waste—more sales. More Conserving Materials Improves Company's Position in the Marlcetplace sales—more jobs and more peo ple employed. Waste of materials is every body’s problem. Reduced scrap moans increased job security and our improved position on an intensely-competitive market. For the suggestion-minded, cash awards provide tangible re wards for usable ideas on how to reduce material losses in manufacturing. These questions can be guide lines to money awards for you and your contribution to waste control: 1. How can we improve op eration of machines to save ma terials? What can be done to reduce trimmings, tangled and contaminated stock? 2. How can we help schedul ing so that less stock lies in storage, and so that fewer ma chine changeovers are required for a given amount of produc tion? 3. Are we throwing away materials that might otherwise have been salvageable? 4. How might we better in sure quality of materials during processing? 5. Are we using more materi al than specifications call for? 6. How can we improve “housekeeping” and handling materials to prevent waste through neglect or contamina tion? 7. Just where is the waste occurring? What is causing the loss? What can we do to stop it? Have a suggestion? August Calendar: Festivals, Fairs, Rodeos 'Jis ®bling mishaps every year. Au 9«st. 1983 Page 3 It was a hole-in-one for David Darwin a while back, making history in Firestone golf play here. David, golfing for just three years, teams up with his father, plant sales manager J. V. Darwin, in the Firestone Part ners League. Altogether there are 10 teams in the Firestone league this sea son. David is working in the shop here through mid-August. He will enter The University of North Carolina at Raleigh. Employee’s Brother Makes Colonel Nelson W. Kessell Jr. was recently promoted to colonel in the U. S. Army Reserves. He is attached to the 3280th Army Re-, serve Garrison Unit in Winston- Salem. His brother, A. C. (Freddie) Kessell, is a production staff as sistant at Firestone. Colonel Kessell’s father, Nelson. Kessell, is a ' retired general superin tendent of the plant here. August: days of summer on the wane—but more attractions than ever on the travel calen dar. “Roughing it”, water sports, nature study, festivals, early-season fairs, historic sites. These and many more are invitations to fun and re laxation for Firestone travelers this month. Plant Recreation has the reminder that within a few miles of Gastonia are such famed historic locations as Kings Mountain National Military Park 18 miles south of Gastonia, and Cowpens Battleground near Spartanburg. An added at traction near the Kings Mountain Revolutionary War battleground entrance is “Palmetto”, a frontier town now in the making. Already op erating is a 1917 narrow-gauge railroad and other amusements. The completed frontier village will have a lake with authentic paddlewheel boat, a sky lift and enlarged amusement park. National Forests in NC • The Recreation Department suggests a visit to one of North Carolina’s National Forests. They are: Croatan near New Bern, town dating to 1710. Here are Civil War breastworks, lakes, pine and swamp hardwoods near the Coast; Nantahala near Ashe ville, with lakes, waterfalls, Joyce Kilmer Me morial Forest, a portion of the Appalachian Trail, four wildlife management areas; Pisgah near Asheville has Mt. MitcheU, Linville Falls and Gorge, Pisgah National Game Preserve and five other cooperative wildlife management areas. Also has Craggy Gardens and Roan Mountain and a portion of Appalachian Trail; Uwharrie in Montgomery and Randolph counties has more than 200,000 acres of recreation land. These forests offer fishing, boating, swimming, hiking, horseback riding, hunting in season, scenic roads and trails. Facilities and accommo dations generally include camps and picnic grounds, cabins, and commercial resorts. Fair Time Coming Up ® North Carolina’s first fair of the season is the 14th annual Drexel Community Fair near Morganton, Aug. 19-24. Next on the calendar is the Alexander County Fair at Taylorsville, Aug. 26-31. At Hendersonville the 17 th annual North Carolina Apple Festival is Aug. 28-Sept. 2. Other seasonal festivities include the 10th annual Macon County Folk Festival at Franklin, Aug. 15-17, and Grandfather Mountain’s “One-Billionth An niversary” featuring selection of a Carolina’s Photo Queen and Press photographers camera clinic. Be sun to bring your CAMERA (\ RECREATION TRAVEL NOTES Crab Derby Down At Morehead • One of the state’s most interesting sports events is the NC Crab Derby, this the third annual one, at Morehead City, Aug. 23-25. This seafoods-indus- try center and popular resort has the Port Terminal which provides for ocean-going vessels and traffic along the Inland Waterway. On Bogue Sound, Morehead is ideal for small boating and other water sports. A large fleet of offshore and inshore party boats dock here. There is good GuK Stream fishing into September. Party boats may be chartered by the day, some equipped for eating and sleeping aboard. There are five ocean piers. Other sports events in the state this month include 500-mile Grand National auto race at Asheville, Aug. 11; NC State Shuffleboard Tournament, Hendersonville, 13-15 and 20-22; sailboat races on Kerr Lake, Henderson, 17-18, also Jet 14 National Championship Races, 22-25; Junior Rodeo and Junior Horse Show at Love Valley near Statesville, 17-18, also Love Valley Rodeo, 21-Sept. 1. Further samplings of things of interest in August: 9th annual Garden Tours at Highlands, 13; Land of the Sky Civic Ballet Festival, Ashe ville, 13; Parade of Barbershop Quartets, Ashe ville, 17; Virginia Dare Birthday observance at “The Lost Colony”, Manteo, 18; Classic Car Club of America, Nags Head, 21-24; “All for Mary” production at Flat Rock Playhouse, Flat Rock, 27-31; Rock Swap Shop at Almond, 31-Sept.l. September Preview • Fall Square Dance Fun Festival, Fontana, 1-8; Lion’s Club Fair and Exposition, Tarboro, 2-7; Cherokee County Fair at Murphy and Burke County Fair at Morgan ton, both 2-7; 57th annual Labor Day Celebra tion at Canton, 3-5; Ruby Rendezvous, Frank lin, 5-7.