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multistory assembly line
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Steve203
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Illustration from late 40s Packard advert showing how compoents worked their way downward through the plant toward the final assembly line.

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Posted on: 2015/1/15 12:08
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Re: multistory assembly line
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HH56
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Makes you wonder how something promoted as "new" could be considered old fashioned and obsolete and needing a single story building in less than 10 years.

Posted on: 2015/1/15 12:12
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Re: multistory assembly line
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But "it's new and improved"!

Posted on: 2015/1/15 12:18
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Re: multistory assembly line
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Steve203
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HH56 wrote:
Makes you wonder how something promoted as "new" could be considered old fashioned and obsolete and needing a single story building in less than 10 years.


Nothing "new" about that kind of multifloor layout. Ford did that downward workflow in Highland Park in the 20s.

More likely I'd call this a look into the thought process of the Packard honchos. They were selfconcious about having an old plant, so tried to defend it as modern, when the layout of the plant is probably the farthest thing from the customer's mind.

And while the honchos were wringing their hands about having a 40 year old plant, they could look out the window at the equally old Dodge Main, humming away as it did until 1980, and the mid 1920s vintage Cadillac on Clark St that ran until Poletown opened, and Chrysler on Jefferson, parts of which dated back to the pre WWI Chalmers plant, which ran until 1990.

Smells of "plant envy", especially when Kaiser had this layout....but then Kaiser was losing vast amounts of money.

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Posted on: 2015/1/15 12:32
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Re: multistory assembly line
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58L8134
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Hi Steve203

One wonders if that postwar "one-story plant envy" was more a reaction to Kaiser-Frazer emphasizing Willow Run as the latest, most modern thing rather than there being any real advantage to the layout. Even the "ideal" River Rouge had a second story if I understand correctly.

Given the majority of customers neither knew nor cared what the plant configuration was where their cars were built, management would have been better off to simply organize the factory the best they could to deliver a quality product efficiently.

Let the upstarts of Ypsilanti crow all they liked about their "efficient" new plant....while hiding their loss statements from the public! After the first year or so, K-F would have been better off hold up in the old Graham-Paige plant.....maybe rented the old Hupmobile plant as supplement if sales were high enough.

Steve

Posted on: 2015/1/15 19:17
.....epigram time.....
Proud 1953 Clipper Deluxe owner. Thinking about my next Packard, want a Clipper Deluxe Eight, manual shift with overdrive.
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Re: multistory assembly line
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Steve203
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58L8134 wrote:
Hi Steve203

One wonders if that postwar "one-story plant envy" was more a reaction to Kaiser-Frazer emphasizing Willow Run as the latest, most modern thing...

Let the upstarts of Ypsilanti crow all they liked about their "efficient" new plant....while hiding their loss statements from the public! After the first year or so, K-F would have been better off hold up in the old Graham-Paige plant.....maybe rented the old Hupmobile plant as supplement if sales were high enough.

Steve


Quite possible Packard fell under the spell of K-F advertising, or some outside "management consultant". Ground floor plants had become the thing in the 30s. iirc Chrysler on Lynch Rd was built around 29, and was all ground floor. But Ford was the only one to walk away from multi-story plants that were not ancient, Highland Park and the original Lincoln plant. But then Henry didn't have any stockholders to justify his decisions to.

The production space of the Graham plant on Warren in Dearborn was all ground floor as well. At 1M sqft, it wasn't up to Kaiser's standards of thinking big. Graham also had a body plant on Michigan Ave in Wayne, just on the east side of the tracks from the Ford plant. Graham also had a body plant in Evansville, In, though I think they sold that to Briggs in the 30s.

In the late 40s, I believe the Hupp plant had a tennant. The Graham plant in Wayne was sold to Gar Wood in 47 and Wood built garbage trucks there until about 72. The Warren plant was first leased to the government for storage and display of surplus machine tools the government was selling. In 47, that plant was sold to Chrysler for asseembly of DeSotos and later Imperials.

From what I've read, Christopher had E Grand set up so it ran pretty well. The millions they spent on the plant in Utica. Millions more to move powertrain production up there, which created more cost trucking the powertrain components back into Detroit. Millions more to move final assembly into Conner. All so they could be "modern"?

Posted on: 2015/1/15 20:25
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Re: multistory assembly line
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Posted on: 2015/1/16 16:28
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Re: multistory assembly line
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Steve203
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Nice bit of PR spew on that plaque. Meanwhile, I don't recall if it was the Ward book about Packard, or elsewhere, stated that in 55 Conner was running 2 9hr shifts all week and 3 Saturdays per month, and management was constantly screaming for more output. The manager of the "modern" Conner plant's reply was "we can build 25 cars an hour, and none of them will pass inspection"

Posted on: 2015/1/16 18:16
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Re: multistory assembly line
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JT120
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From Mill & Factory

Posted on: 2015/1/16 19:05
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Re: multistory assembly line
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Steve203
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JT120 wrote:
From Mill & Factory


JT, would it be possible for you to scan those diagrams and post them large enough to be readable?

Thanks!

Posted on: 2015/1/16 19:14
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