Re: New "What Ifs?"

Posted by Leeedy On 2014/8/9 8:56:02
Quote:

Steve203 wrote:
An 8 x 10 glossy photo I have from Packard News Service showing a view of the Packard plant from Harper Avenue in Detroit was issued in 1946. Here is part of what the caption on the rear of the photo states:


Has that photo been uploaded to this site? Does it show building 84A along Harper that was added after 42 for the Merlin test cells?

The total represents MORE manufacturing floor area than famed Willow Run."


I had noticed that EBG and Willow Run are both billed as 3.5Msqft, however material concerning Kaiser says the actual main factory floor at WR is 2.5Msqft, so the Packard caption is probably right.

There was zero reason the schlep everything from EGB all the way out to Willow Run...

They might have picked up some efficiency from improved work flow, no schlepping stuff over bridges from building to building or up/down elevators, but gain enough to make the move cost effective? Cadillac didn't see any need to move out of Clark St, which was almost as old as EGB, until Poletown was built in the 80s.

Many thanks to everyone here who contributed to my understanding of what was going on at Packard in that period. The more I think about it, the more sure I am that Packard should have jumped at Hudson's merger suggestion in 53, consolidated assembly at EGB, consolidated body building at Hudson's body plant, retired the step down body and sold a retrimmed Clipper with a 308 as a Hudson.


Yes, this has been an interesting thread.

RE: has my photo been uploaded to this site... No. But I believe a similar one was posted in one of the threads. I rarely upload photos. That in itself could become a career!

RE: Cadillac and Clark... People conveniently forget that Cadillac was doing many of the very same things with their vehicle construction and their plant as Packard was. Packard had bodies trucked over from Briggs on Conner... Cadillac had bodies trucked over from Fisher Body off of Grand Blvd. Packard had multiple buildings... Cadillac had multiple buildings. But Cadillac had GM steering the big ship and ultimately, that (and some increasing commonalities with other GM makes) was the big reason everything ended up at Poletown.

As far as efficiency at Willow run and in lengthy acreage vs.multiple stories... there can probably be endless arguments for the value of each. And each have merit. Having worked in both... AND having done a stint or two on movie lots, I can assure you, I have experienced times when an elevator ride would have been far preferred over a long sojourn to the back 40 someplace (which then requires an equally-long ride back). Dropping components or even bodies through a hole in the ceiling rather than having to go on a cross-country trip over distances does have some advantages. And... Dearborn assembly (another place I spend a few months long ago) operated just fine with multiple stories. Production of Mustangs, Falcons and Rancheros was monumental in the 1960s there.

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