25*—
! 20* —
15%_
I 10* —
5*_
25.'*6
ENERGr COSaEBYATIOJI
PEHCEHIAGE BY PLANTS IM
TEXTILE DIVISION
( POa 12 MONTHS ENDING JULY 1976 )
16.38
20.54
NOVEMBER
1976
T'tt*e$tone
Textiles Company
Gastonia Bennettmlle n t ;
TS.T ^1 T o t /• Bowltn9 (Jrreen • K.entiick\
iSorth Carolina South Carolina
YOUR
GIFTS
Will Do So Much
• The $46,553.20 which F’"estone Gastonia employees
ibuted to the United Way of Gaston County in October
will go to helping people through 34 community services
and agencies during 1977.
TEXTILE
DIVISION
Energy-Use Down
Energy consumption at six Firestone Textiles Company
plants and the Memphis, Tenn., tire factory treating unit has
been reduced 16.38 per cent from the 1972 energy-use base
rate for these facilities. Textile engineer Guido A. Martinelli
points out:
months of upcoming winter.
INCLUDED in the division
program of energy savings are
the textile plants at Gastonia,
N.C.; Bennettsville, S.C.; Bowl
ing Green, Ky.; Woodstock, Can
ada (three plants) and the treat
ing unit at Memphis.
Major users of combustion en
ergy are the fabric-treating op
erations at Memphis, Gastonia
and Bowling Green and boilers
at all facilities involved.
• This division-wide reduction
rate represents savings of
enough energy of all kinds in
use, to run the entire Gastonia
operation for seven months.
Martinelli, energy coordinator
for the division, said that be
cause of curtailment of natural
gas to a minimal level, the Gas
tonia, Bowling Green and Ben
nettsville plants will be operat
ing principally on standby No. 2
and 6 fuel oil during the coldest
Through pledges to be paid by
payroll deduction, Firestone peo
ple will add this major portion
to the other contributed funds,
toward reaching the overall
county goal of $763,000.
Thomas A. Grant and Ralph
Reep, chairmen of the annual
in-plant solicitation, reported
that. . . .
• Firestone participation in
giving was 94.7 per cent of em
ployment. Fair Share giving was
63.2 per cent.
• Average gift per contributor
was $36.48.
“You have done it again—peo
ple helping people,” said Philip
R. Williams, Gastonia factory
manager. He pointed out the
significant increase over that
contributed last year (the 1975
amount was $41,098.)
☆ ☆ ☆
At the Firestone Bowling
Green (Ky.) plant, employees
added $14,483 to the BG-Warren
County United Givers Fund to
ward this year’s county goal of
$190,000. Of the 562 employees
making UGF pledges, nearly 77
per cent were Fair-Share con
tributors.
Employees a t Bennettsville
contributed $3,851.04 to the
United Fund of Marlboro Coun
ty. This represents 100 per cent
participation of the employment,
and 81 per cent Fair Share giv
ing.
Leaders of the fund campaign
were M D. Coleman and Frances
Fletcher.
The Year Ahead; ‘Promise’
Top Pay Now — $25,000
The least—$15. The most—
$25,000. Maximum Firestone
award for a single suggestion
went into effect November
1. The “top going price” for
a suggestion had been $10,000
for several years.
Increase in the amount,
approved by Richard A.
Riley, chairman, applies to
suggestion programs at par
ticipating plants and loca
tions of The Firestone Tire &
Rubber Company and its
subsidiaries in the U.S. and
Canada.
“This increase in the
amount of our maximum
award marks an important
milestone of our Suggestion
Program,” said H. B. Palmer,
manager of the corporate
suggestion department.
more on page 2
J. B.
CALL
• Fiscal year 1976-77 holds
considerable promise for our
business over 1975-76, James
B. Call said at the managers
and controllers conference in
October.
“It could be a record year
if we seize the opportuni
ties,” he added.
The division president and
general factory manager R. L.
King led in the two-day Gas
tonia meeting, reviewing the
past year of division operations
and presenting plans for the new
business year which began Nov.
1.
Plant
In addition to the review and
outlook, the information ex
change treated a variety of sub
jects. Among topics were sales
and profits, Equal Employment
Opportunity, wages and cost
control, fabric usage, customer
relations, scheduling, fabric
treating and packaging improve
ment, energy conservation, pol
lution control, safety, product
quality, accounting, process and
product development, mainten
ance and improvements; em
ployment practices, training and
benefits.
SEVERAL Gastonia staff peo
ple presented special reports on
phases of the division operations.
Representing the plants of the
division: Gastonia—P. R. Wil
liams, factory manager, and
H. S. Laver, controller; Ben
nettsville—Claude Smith, man
ager; Bowling Green, T. L. Yel-
ton, manager, and Joseph Duffy,
controller; Woodstock — Hugh
Dorman, general manager, and
Frank Masek, controller.
Winter's almost here again
and the U.S. Bicentennieil Year
is drawing to a close. Guinn
Costner is ready for cold weath
er, with her commemorative knil
cap and its 1776-1976 Bicenten-
n i a 1 design. Guinn's parents
work at Firestone. Gastonia—
David, a twister bobbin chsinger
in TC Twisting; and Linda, a re
spooler operator in the same de
partment.
☆ ☆
☆
More Cycle Tires
Firestone has re-entered the
production of motorcycle tires
for both on and off-highway
use—the tires to be on the mar
ket by Spring 1977.
The company last made motor
cycle tires in the U.S. in 1960.
For the past two years it has
been in development work and
testing of motorcycle tires.
Tires being produced incorp
orate advance designs and the
latest rubber compounds; will be
marketed to motorcycle acces
sory distributors which will sell
the tires to motorcycle dealers.
Tires will also be available to
motorcycle manufacturers.
More than 100 members of International
Management Club Gaston County chapter
visited Firestone in October. Their tour of
the plant followed the club monthly meet
ing at the YMCA and was part of a con
tinuing program of visiting business and in
dustry in the county.
Here, club member-visitor Daniel Cun
ningham (left) and Lee Welch watched
Hazel Splawn operate a Terrell splicing ma
chine in TC Weaving, and (right) Boyd Pitt
man examined spools of yam in TC Twist
ing.
Current Gaston chapter IMC membership
includes five persons from Firestone Tex
tiles—Rita Franks of Quality Control; Bryan
Schroeder, Shop; Kenneth Cash, George
High and James Wilkes of TC Twisting.
Eight With Wew Status’
• • It was “so long” to the quill and loom, drillpress,
keypunch machine and all other things at work for
8 at Gastonia, Oct. 31. Of “the years put in” by the
time they retired, Clarence Case, Shop balance ma
chine operator, had the most: 40 plus 1 month.
Next was Novella James, keypunch operator in
Data Processing, with a few days more than 39
years. Then, Meta Gathins, weaver in Cotton (chafer)
Weaving, 34 years, 5 months.
Johnny Byrd, quill handler in Cotton (chafer)
Weaving, 31 years, 6 months; John A. Jenkins, Ware
house shift supervisor, 29 years, 7 months.
With 29 years, 6 months: Porter Cable, loom start
er in TC Weaving; and Paul Nolen, Shop electrician,
27 years, 2 months. Paul Gann, Shop millwright, re
tired with 10 years and 10 months service.