MARCH
1974
GASTONIA
NORTH CAROLINA
'Ttrestone
Textiles Company
BENNETTSVILLE • SOUTH CAROLINA BOWLING GREEN • KENTUCKY
i
YELTON
KING
HIRSCH
• Ralph King, from plant
manager at Bowling Green,
Ky., to Gastonia division
headquarters as general fac
tory manager.
• Thomas L. Yelton, Bowl
ing Green manager of pro
duction, to plant manager at
Bowling Green.
• Robert C. Donaldson,
from technical manager at
Bowling Green, to produc
tion manager at that plant.
• David W. Hirsch, from
supervisor of Quality Con
trol at Bowling Green, to
plant technical manager.
William L. Schneider,
DONALDSON from chemical engineer at
FRANK A. LePAGE
Enterprise Not So Tree’
Free enterprise as an eco
nomic way of life has be
come so saddled with regu
lations and controls that the
term is just about outdated,
and the system itself not so
free anymore. A Firestone
executive vice president
talked on this at an annual
meeting of the Henderson,
Ky., Chamber of Commerce
last month. Said Frank A.
LePage:
“The economic system which
was the cornerstone of the
growth of this country has be
come the target of government
appointees, consumer activists
and even legislators who rule
their views with emotions, rath
er that with facts. So, the sys
tem has become filled with dents
and cracks.”
LePAGE was in Henderson
recently to outline plans of the
Firestone plant being built for
production of wheels and rims
for medium and heavy-duty
trucks. Production is expected
to begin in July.
In his talk, LePage listed
many alphabetized agencies
which control business and in
dustry—noted that “the system
is not so free anymore, and is
becoming less free with each
passing day.
“I’m not saying that aU regu
lations and activists actions are
counter-productive. Many are
valid and beneficial. Some in
dustries and businesses need to
be jogged to do a better job.
“Nor am I saying that aU seg
ments of business are Simon-
pure and that they should not be
made liable for mis-deeds.
“I’m only asking for reasoned
thinking and control for the
benefit of us all. You and I—
everyone who cares about sav
ing our economic system—must
start to speak out. . . . Tell of
our accomplishments, communi
cate with employees, get ac
quainted with our legislators
and keep them informed, go
into the schools and onto the
campuses. . .”
Six Retired At Gastonia
Louell E. Thomas, Shop—his working record with
Firestone: 35 years and 10 months.
Five others at the Gastonia plant had long records,
too, as they joined Thomas in retirement, as of
March 1. They are:
John R. Fender, TC Twisting, 32 years, 11 months;
Howard A. Moore, Shop, 32 years, 6 months; Eva N.
Plyer, TC Twisting, 32 years; Edith J. Robinson, TC
Twisting, 30 years, 11 months; Monroe Jackson, TC
Twisting, 27 years, 2 months.
UGF Reached Goal
The United Givers Fund of Warren County (Ky.,)
reached its goal of $170,000, it was reported as of Feb. 1.
Success in the money-raising effort means that charitable
and character-building organizations supported by the UGF
will be able to function acceptably during 1974, and bene
fiting thousands of people.
TEXTILES DIVISION
Five Appointments
Five management assignment changes within
Firestone Textiles Company became effective March
1, the announcement made by James B. Call, division
president.
At the annual meeting of the
UGF board of directors in late
January, retiring members were
commended for three-year terms
of service.
A special expression of thanks
went to Ralph King, UGF re
tiring president, and manager
of the Firestone Bowling Green
textile plant. (Since then, Mr.
King was transferred to Gas
tonia as general factory man
ager of Firestone Textiles Com
pany.)
Wilh the Bowling Green UGF,
King had served as board mem
ber, allocations commissioner,
campaign general chairman, and
1973 president.
In the 1973-74 UGF drive for
operating funds, Firestone peo
ple at Bowling Green con
tributed nearly $18,000.
The $170,000 raised in the
campaign supports 11 communi
ty services in Bowling Green
and Warren County.
Bowling Green, to super
visor of Quality Control.
Ralph King, general factory
manager, succeeds Francis B.
Galligan who retired after 30
years with the Firestone Com
pany.
King had been manager of the
Kentucky textile facility since
January of 1970.
A native of Abbeville, S. C-.
he was graduated from Clemson
University in 1952 with a BS
degree in textile manufacturing.
He joined Firestone at Gas
tonia in early 1962 as a manage
ment trainee. In the summer of
that year he was assigned as
assistant manager of Firestone’s
Buenos Aires, Argentina, tex
tile plant, later to become man
ager.
He returned to Gastonia in
rnid-1966 and later that year
was made manager of the Ben-
nettsville, S. C., plant of Fire
stone Textiles Company.
After about four years at Ben-
nettsville, King was appointed
manager of the Bowling Green
plant.
In Bowling Green since early
1970, King has been active in
civic affairs, having most re
cently served as president of
Bowling Green—Warren County
United Givers Fund, and as a
director of the Chamber of Com
merce.
Before coming with Firestone
12 years ago, King was associ
ated with Woodside Mills,
Greenville, S. C., as assistant
plant manager.
Thomas Yelton, production
manager at Bowling Green since
More, Page 2 •
Martinelli Spoke
On Safety
Guido Martinelli, industrial
engineer at the Firestone Gas
tonia plant, was awarded $25
for placing third in a speaking
competition at the recent an
nual meeting of Blue Ridge
Safety Council.
Martinelli and the others who
participated in talk presenta
tions on industrial safety, repre
sented supervisory personnel of
firms in the council. His talk on
“How to Sell Safety to Em
ployees” stressed this basic
theme:
“The combined effort of
knowledge, application and at
titude, coupled with good com
munications and a lot of motiva
tion, equals an effective program
of ‘selling safety’ ”.
1974
GOALS
Suggestion Program
Firestone president Richard A. Riley has set three major
goals in the company’s employee suggestion program for this
fiscal year, ending Oct. 31. The goals:
31,094 suggestions of which 6,757
were adopted. Company savings
resulting from the suggestions
amounted to $1.34 million.
Employees who had ideas
adopted received $229,276 in
added earnings.
An additional 623 suggestions
and $45,134 in savings from the
Sales and Office, and Canadian
Salaried programs brought the
total of suggestions received to
31,717 and total savings for the
company of $1.38 million.
MORE suggestions were sub
mitted by employees than in
any other single year in the al
most 56-year history of the pro
gram, and for the second time
in two years, savings from
adopted ideas exceeded $1 mil
lion.
More, Page 3*
• A participation rate of at
least 600 suggestions per 1,000
employees at all participating
facilities.
• Total company savings of
$1.5 million through suggestions
"at work."
• Establishment of suggestion
programs at plants in Nashville,
Tenn.; Firestone Adhesives at
Detroit, and at several addition
al facilities outside the U.S.
Reviewing the 1973 suggestion
program: For the third year in
a row, Firestone employees sub
mitted more ideas to the com
pany’s program than did em
ployees of any other major rub
ber company.
IN FISCAL 1972-73, hourly
and salaried employees at fac
tory installations of Firestone
and its subsidiaries turned in
//
• • People, materials to work with, machines and equipment
to help get the job done; and working capital to make it possible
(this through investments and profits) are basic essentials in pro
duction. Each is vital, and all these must work together. In the case
of machines—think how handicapped productivity would be with
out them!