Fred J. Heick

Publication Date

1965

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

First Advisor

Sims, Clarence A.||Hackamack, Lawrence C. (Lawrence Carroll), 1921-

Degree Name

M.S. (Master of Science)

Legacy Department

School of Business Management

LCSH

Automatic machinery

Abstract

Statment of the Problem. The problem involved in this research paper is in the area of automatic machinery. This thesis is a survey of current factory and business periodicals to determine the feasibility of and the benefits to be derived from the use of automatic machinery by the small lot producer. This study attempts to survey the small lot production field and determine whether there is any feasible place for automatic machines. Methods and Procedures Used. This survey was conducted through the use of current factory and business periodicals. This secondary information proved quite valuable in showing where automatic machinery is used today by small-lot producers. Summary of the Findings. It was found in this survey that there is a definite place in the small lot producer's shop for automatic machinery. Three valuable findings were arrived at from the three hypotheses. The first hypothesis stated that automatic machines could be beneficial to the small lot producer because it could tend to lower costs. Some possible costs lowered by automatic machinery were: 1) initial cost, 2) manufacturing time cost, 3) quality control cost, 4) direct labor cost, 5) floor space cost, 6) set-up cost, 7) tooling cost, 8) inventory cost, and 9) safety cost. It was concluded from Chapter two that it is feasible for automatic machines in many cases to reduce certain costs and thereby prove beneficial to a small lot producer. The second finding was that if a small-lot manufacturer could not afford the initial costs of automatic machinery it would be feasible for the producer to convert his manual machines to automatic equipment. Many times this conversion can be done in their own shop at their own convenience. These small-lot producers found that converting old manual machines to automatic equipment could cut down on the initial cost. In the chapter on conversion two specific areas were looked into: die casting and numerical control. In die casting it was shown that converting the machines and plant are not very difficult. In the numerical control section many advantages were point out for putting numerical control on automatic machines. The third finding was based on the third hypothesis which stated that the small lot producer can use his skilled personnel with only minimal retraining for his automatic machinery. It was noted that the roles of the operator and maintenance men are going through dynamic changes. This data in the fourth chapter pointed out the possibility for the small lot producer to keep his present personnel and with slight preparation and retraining use them on his automatic machines. Again the specific area of die casting was looked at to see the fate of the experienced skilled operator. It was found that some would be pushed up and some would be pulled under as automatic machinery got more widely used on this particular industry. This research showed that there very definitely is a place for automatic machinery in the small lot producer's atop. The day of using automatic machinery only fear mass production is already in the past.

Comments

Includes bibliographical references.||Includes illustrations.

Extent

xii, 98 pages

Language

eng

Publisher

Northern Illinois University

Rights Statement

In Copyright

Rights Statement 2

NIU theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from Huskie Commons for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without the written permission of the authors.

Media Type

Text

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