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Post by sc397 on May 19, 2021 15:42:12 GMT -8
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Post by sc397 on Apr 23, 2023 4:52:31 GMT -8
Here is another one.
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AMC Vid
Apr 23, 2023 5:15:24 GMT -8
Post by sc397 on Apr 23, 2023 5:15:24 GMT -8
The engine plant.
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AMC Vid
Apr 23, 2023 17:00:30 GMT -8
Post by PHAT69AMX on Apr 23, 2023 17:00:30 GMT -8
"The Untold AMC Stories" 2020 book
Peter M Williams, Gordon O. Sparks, Austin B. Hosterman
start page 36
"Timing Is Everything - Long Conveyors and Broadcast Timing"
In a huge manufacturing facility covering millions of square feet (AMC almost 6 million sq. ft.)
various components should arrive at the proper point, at the proper time for installation, on the proper car.
In Kenosha, it started with the machining area.
The machining area built axles. Inside those axles were gears that were
ground and assembled to tubes. There were multiple different axle ratios
that were available for the cars. The machining area built and painted rear
end assemblies to a bank. When the car order was generated and released
it went through the broadcasts system to the various departments to allow
time for loading the proper item to a conveyor so it would end up at the
correct installation spot on the respective chassis line.
The Engine Division built one 4 cylinder engine, two 6 cylinder engines,
and three or more V8 engines. All these engines were released as orders into
a storage bank. The engines were "run in" on natural gas to ensure that
they would run correctly. After this, they were drawn out of the bank and
assigned to car orders. The broadcast would indicate what options would
be required when the engine was "dressed" in the Engine Dress Department.
From the Engine Dress Department, the engine was hung on an overhead
conveyor for it's very long trip to the appropriate chassis line. There
were two conveyors, one for the east chassis line and one for the west.
They would arrive at the proper time at the proper station for
the proper car and be installed properly. Is this proper?
Tires and wheels would be assembled on the 4th floor of Building 20 on
the northeast end of the Chassis Department. Wheels and tires would be
assembled by broadcast to ensure the proper tire and wheel set would
be loaded to the proper conveyor for the east or west chassis line.
The conveyors would transport the wheel sets to the proper line
for the appropriate car to be installed.
Bodies would be built to order in either the Main Plant, Lakefront Plant,
or Milwaukee Plant. The broadcast would be hung on the car and it
was transported via conveyor from Main Plant or body hauling truck
from either the Lakefront or Milwaukee body plants to the
ACCUMULATION CONVEYORS ahead of either the west or east chassis line.
end page 36
start page 37
There were helpers along the way. The Broadcast Department along with
the IT Department had a big hand in the process. Interestingly enough,
some engineer in history calculated the length of the conveyor, it's speed
and the point of delivery. Amazing!
To me it always seemed interesting how everything always came together
in the myriad of systems and over the long distances. How long did it take
to calculate the line speed of the delivery conveyor to enable it to meet it's
targeted installation point? There were so many possibilities for failure. A
bearing or gear fails and the line goes down. Again, it's that miracle thing.
Each time it's right, it seem like there's a miracle afoot.
R x T = D
end page 37
==================================
"The Untold AMC Stories" 2020 book
Peter M Williams, Gordon O. Sparks, Austin B. Hosterman
start page 31
"Body Mix Roulette - The Chaos Of Body Handling And Body Option Mix"
One management executive purportedly, wistfully said: "It would be nice if
we had enough orders in our in box to balance our production processes".
However, at AMC they did not have that luxury. There where times when
there weren't enough orders to even run the plant and the workers were
sent home early.
Given the number of models, the virtual blizzard of optional possibilities
on those cars that ran through the Main Plant and East Chassis assembly lines,
we had previously noted that each car that actually ran when it came time
to get off the assembly line, was considered a miracle.
In the plant during the 70's we ran the following cars:
Hornet - 2 door, 4 door, Sportabout Wagon, and hatchback.
In the Concord era they ran a similar matrix of cars,
but added the Eagle models as well.
Concord and Eagle 2 door, 4 door, Wagon, and Hatchback.
Eagles did not come in a Concord Hatchback variety.
In addition, there were dozens, or maybe hundreds
of different trim option combinations that were available
with these cars. It was like being in a blizzard with
heavy winds whipping things all over the place.
The one thing would could count on was
not having "the perfect model mix".
There were a few basic car subassemblies that were the same for every
car. However, that sameness quickly was eclipsed by the varieties of 2 door
and 4 door, Gremlin, Sedan, or Wagon models. This was further complicated
with the hatchback or trunk for a sedan and choices of quarter windows
and so on.
When an Industrial Engineer (IE) created man assignments, they allocated
a time element for each step of the workers flow. An optimal model mix
was needed to allow for enough low option cars (low work content) to
allow recovery when a spate of heavily optioned cars came down the line.
Often, when a model mix contained a very heavy option content, workers
would try to complete their assignments as they floated own the line out
of their main work station location, which did cause anxiety and frustration.
Thus, there were a lot of cars that had incomplete work done to them,
Repairmen were very busy making things right. Sometimes, extra "floaters"
were placed on the line to relieve the situation. Often, there weren't enough
end page 31
start page 32
of these relief folks to allow work to be done completely and the work
standards grievances (workers claiming to be overworked) poured in.
That's when the IE's were called in to sort things out. Sometimes we were
lucky and we were able to move a screw or a part here or there, Other times,
these complaints escalated into great disagreements. Heaven forbid
that the IE would have to admit defeat and add a workstation to the line.
Sometimes, the issues were only temporary and things bumped along until
the next spate of heavily optioned cars came down line.
Building 40 Main Plant had a body mix operation on the 3rd floor of the building. It
was an uninsulated area (hot in summer, cold in winter) with ACCUMULATION LINES that
were elevated about 24 inches above the lower floor ceiling. Each ACCUMULATOR LINE
held 24-30 bodies on body trucks. The 3rd floor roof also leaked onto the steel floor
plates. When the floor was wet it became a hazardous workplace (especially if it
froze). Maintenance workers hung sheets of plastic to direct the leaking water
away from the steel plates.
(Please bear with us, as this part is very convoluted. ...
We pause for an explanation. ...).
If you were to arrive on the 3rd floor of Building 40 it would be very confusing as
partially finished bodies were pulled from conveyor lines and pushed to ACCUMULATION
LINES ahead of the next process. The 3rd floor ACCUMULATION LINES were oriented in
a north to south pattern. Bodies would arrive at the ends of their respective feeder
lines on the north side of the floor and they would depart from the ACCUMULATION
LINES on the south side of the floor.
Ahead of each of the other areas (Pre-trim, Main Trim, and East Chassis Areas) on the
south side of the 3rd floor was a separate broadcast management employee whose job it
was to mix the cars from the associated lines prior to the next area to attain some
sort of a balance of body styles and option content. They input data into a teletype
machine and they would get the sequence of the next body to move forward to the next
area.
(In on the north side, out on the south side.)
Given that the cars might have started out in each department as possibly correctly
mixed cars, by the time they got to the 3rd floor they were a hodge-podge of model
mixes. This was due to the internal departmental processes and various repair holes and
option lines they might have visited prior to arriving on the 3rd floor. ... It
certainly was not perfect! But it's what we had.
(Back to our story.)
The car bodies coming to the 3rd floor were coming from the internal production
processes in Building 40 (Paint, Pre-Trim, and Main Trim Areas)
and external production processes (Lakefront Plant).
end page 33
start page 34
Similarly, FULLY FINISHED bodies would arrive at a different location on the same 6)
floor and they too were pulled and pushed to the ACCUMULATION LINES ahead of the East
Chassis line.
The west end of the 3rd floor would handle incomplete cars. Cars would
be carried via chain conveyors on body trucks. The first set to arrive would be Paint
OK cars. They would be pulled from the north "paint shop" conveyor and moved across the
open floor plates by Material Handling Body Handlers (MHBH) to the ACCUMULATOR LINES
ahead of the Pre Trim line. On the south side of those Pre Trim ACCUMULATOR LINES
the broadcast management employee would direct the MHBH to pull the correct body from
one of the various ACCUMULATOR LINES to try to create a body mix that would allow the
smooth operation of the Pre Trim line. note 1: In a plant that ran a wide variety of
body types and options within those body types, it was critical to evaluate and mix the
lightly optioned bodies in between heavily optioned bodies. This allowed the employees
to install heavy options in some bodies and then "recover" when the next body was a base
car. Often when there were insufficient orders, or a heavy spate of highly optioned
bodies, operators had insufficient time to complete their assigned task. This caused incomplete
tasks and copious repairs.
After the bodies were OK'd from the Pre Trim line they traveled up the conveyor to the
north end of the 3rd floor. They would be pulled from the north Pre Trim conveyor and
moved across the open floor plates by MHBH to the ACCUMULATOR LINES ahead of the
Main Trim line. On the south side of the Main Trim ACCUMULATION LINE, the broadcast
management employee would direct the MHBH to pull the correct body from one of the
various ACCUMULATOR LINES to try to create a body mix that would allow the smooth
operation of the Main Trim line. note 1:
After bodies were deemed OK from the Main Trim
line, they traveled up the conveyor to the north end of the 3rd floor, this time on the
east end of the floor. This line was especially difficult to manage at the end of
the line. Peaked metal floor plates encased the conveyor. These were 2 feet above
the lower floor's ceiling. The MHBH had to push the trimmed body on the heavy body
truck up over the conveyor line, over the 6-inch to 8-inch hump above the steel floor
plates. It was interesting to watch them push enough, but not to hard to lift the body
off of the body truck to get across the humped line. Later, after many years, we
managed to get a switch activated air assist, which pushed the body truck up and over
the hump. The MHBH then just had to guide the body and truck to catch it and to ensure
that it didn't get 13) away from them. The bodies would be pushed to the
East Chassis ACCUMULATOR LINES.
end page 34
start page 35
At the same time as the Main Trim OK bodies were arriving on the 3rd floor,
the west body hoist would be unloading OK bodies from the Lakefront plant
motor transport body hauling trailers to a conveyor. These bodies would
climb to the 3rd floor and arrive at the center of the north floor. The MHBH
would pull the body off the line and push it to the East Chassis ACCUMULATOR LINE.
Now we have two body plants (Lakefront Plant and Main Plant) feeding
the East Chassis Lines from the north side of Building 40, 3rd floor.
Feeding the East Chassis line on the south side of ACCUMULATOR LINES was
another set of the ACCUMULATOR LINES on the 3rd floor.
(Fed from the Main Trim and Lakefront feed lines.)
This broadcast management person would go down the ACCUMULATOR LINES
and create a list of cars on that line which he would type into the teletype machine.
This would be the point when engines would be sequenced onto the engine dress line in
the Engine Dress Department at the other end of the Kenosha AMC complex. (* Note 2)
The broadcast management employee would receive the new broadcasts
on the teletype printer. As each car was pulled from the ACCUMULATOR LINE
the old trim broadcast would be discarded and a new broadcast for the
East Chassis line would be hung on the body radiator cross member.
The broadcast management person directed the MHBH which line of cars to pull from.
This created a model mix for the East Chassis line. Sometimes they would pull from
more than one (Accumulator) line at a time balancing Main Plant bodies with Lakefront
bodies.
*Note 2:
The engine Dress Department broadcast release point for the West Chassis line
was the point where the incoming body was removed from the Motor Transport body
hauling trailer and placed on a body truck which was fed to an ACCUMULATOR LINE
ahead of the West Chassis Department assembly line. The release point was when
they knew what the order was for and the type of engine to load to the Engine
Dress assembly line.
When feeding the East Chassis line the MHBH would pull the body from the
ACCUMULATOR LINE. Then relocate the body to the destination line where the
body handlers pushed the body onto a moving overhead "clamshell" body
carrier with open arms. They closed the open arms around the body, which,
at the right point, lifted the correctly positioned body up off the body truck
and the clamshell carriers continued on to the East Chassis Department.
The empty body truck was then pushed onto another line, which cycled it
back into the Main Plant system for reuse.
As a car advanced through the build process, the optimal body mix sometimes became: "Well, this one's next regardless of what model and options it has." If there weren't enough bodies to have a contiguous line, skips were run down the line. the workers loved this, while the company took a dim view of that condition.
There were perpetual complaints from each receiving area that they were "being screwed by the mix". As IE's we were given a schedule and model mix. What looked good on paper didn't always translate to good enough on the shop floor. We were often needled by workers for the variable conditions created by the process. Often times, we referred to MODEL MIX AS A GAME OF CHANCE - I.E. Roulette.
end page 35, end chapter,
"Body Mix Roulette - The Chaos Of Body Handling And Body Option Mix"
===============
eod
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Post by sc397 on Aug 9, 2023 14:54:53 GMT -8
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AMC Vid
Aug 9, 2023 15:01:30 GMT -8
Post by PHAT69AMX on Aug 9, 2023 15:01:30 GMT -8
Lot of good stuff in that Racing Dealer Promo, looks to contain some very early 1969 footage and pictures, one picture appears to be the Prototype AMC Hurst S/S AMX parked at a track event or something.
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AMC Vid
Aug 9, 2023 19:30:57 GMT -8
Post by 69Rebel on Aug 9, 2023 19:30:57 GMT -8
I love the 1960s slide show version of Power Point.
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Post by sc397 on Nov 3, 2023 12:04:33 GMT -8
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AMC Vid
Nov 10, 2023 4:14:47 GMT -8
Post by javtwotone on Nov 10, 2023 4:14:47 GMT -8
Go Humpster Go!
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AMC Vid
Nov 11, 2023 9:16:01 GMT -8
Post by PHAT69AMX on Nov 11, 2023 9:16:01 GMT -8
Ah man he's gonna gut it!
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