Burger: I've called you in here because we're in real trouble if we can't lick this reject problem fast. The company need all the panels we can ship, and more, if it's going to catch up with this new-model market. Both new models of the panther and the Cheetah are going over bit, and if we slow down on panels, the old man in Detroit will be on my neck fast. So let's get all the facts out on the table and run this thing sown before lunch. Bob here says line #1 started throwing burrs at the end of the 10 o'clock relief break and Line #2 went wild about 9:30. Bob, suppose you tell us just what you've found out so far.
Polk: You've about covered it, Oscar. Farrell, the supervisor now on Line #2, says he's checked several times to see if these burrs in the panels are being caused by something in the sheets, but he hasn't found anything suspicious. Sheets all look nice and clean going into the press, but many come out rough as hell. He says the inspectors report that rejects rose from under 1% to nearly 10% all of a sudden. George Adams says it's about the same story, and he can't figure it out - it just started up suddenly after the relief break.
Burger: Doesn't Farrell or Adams have any idea why it started?
Polk: Well, Farrell is sure it's deliberate sabotage by the drawpress operators, but he can't catch them at it. He says it's not hard to produce burrs and rough spots if a man positions a sheet just slightly wrong. He says the men on his line are mad as hell over his suspending Joe Valenti yesterday, and he had another argument when Valenti came in this morning against orders and tried to take back his press job. Farrell called the guard and had Valenti escorted to the gate.
Burger: What's that? I never heard about this. What's going wrong with Valenti? (He turns to Industrial Relations Manager Coggin.)
Coggin: Oh, I don't think it's all Valenti's fault. He and Farrell have been at it for a long time, as you no doubt know, arguing over management's rights. Farrell says he saw Valenti go behind the tool crib yesterday afternoon during the relief break, and Farrell swears Valenti has a bottle with him. He caught Valenti drinking on the job last year, you remember, and says he wishes he'd fired Valenti them instead of suspending him. You know how Farrell is about liquor, especially on the job. Anyway, he accused Valenti of drinking on the job again, and after some hot words he sent Valenti home for the rest of the week. Any Patella, the shop steward, protested Farrell's action immediately, of course.
Polk: Farrell's OK, Ralph; he's doing his job.
Burger: Let's get back to this reject problem. What has Valenti go to do with it?
Coggin: Well, I talked with Patella, and he reports the men on all four lines are sore as hell. They made some sharp cracks about Farrell being a union-buster yesterday after the argument and again this morning when he threw Valenti out. When the drawpress on #2 started putting out a lot of rejects on Panther panels, and Quality control reported this to Farrell, he went over to the press operator and make some suggestions on placing the sheets, or something like that. The man just glared at him and said nothing, Patella tells me, and Farrell finally walked away. The reject rate stayed high, and during the whole 15 minutes of the relief break the men from all the lines were talking together about Valenti's case. Patella says Valenti's young brother, Pete, a spot welder who works on Line #3 under Dawson, called for a walkout, and quite a few seemed to think it was a good idea - contract or no contract. Then right after the men went back to work, Line #1 started to throw off rejects at a high rate.
Burger: What does Adams think about this, Ralph?
Coggin: He won't completely buy that sabotage theory of Farrell's, but he admits there doesn't seem to be any other explanation. The maintenance troubleshooters have been all over the press and can't find anything wrong. the die is OK, and the hydraulic system is OK. They made some adjustments on the iron claw that removes the piece from the press, but that's all.
Burger (turning to quality Control Manager Ben Peters) : Ben, what is your idea about this?
Peters: It's hard to say what might be causing it. We've been checking the sheets from Zenith Metals we started using this morning, and they looked perfect going through the blanker. Besides, it's only on lines #1 and #2 that we're getting burrs, so maybe we've got trouble with those presses.
Polk: I'll check it with Engineering, but I'm willing to bet my last dollar the presses are OK.
Burger: Yes, I think you can forget about trouble in the presses, Ben. And the blanker's never given us a hard time, ever. Still, you'd better have Engineering check that too, Bob, just in case. Meanwhile, I'd like to .... (He pauses while the door opens and Burger's secretary slips in and hands Peter a note.)
Peters: I'll be damned! My assistant, Jerry, tells me that Line #4 has just begun turning out a mess of burred rejects. I wouldn't have thought that slow old line could go haywire like that - those high-speed presses on the other lines, maybe, but not on Henschel's steady old #4 rocking along at 50 panels an hour.
Polk: Well, that seems to knock out a theory I was getting ready to offer. With #4 acting up, too, it looks like the press speeds aren't to blame. Now I guess we won't have long to wait before Dawson's line also starts bugging up the blanks.
Coggin: Maybe #3 won't go sour if what Patella says about Dawson is true. He says Dawson's men would go all out for him if he asked them, and I gather Patella hasn't has much success selling them on his anticompany tactics.
Burger: That's stupid. Hell, when will the union wake up and
give us a fair day's work for the pay they're getting? But let's stop
this chatter and get after these rejects. Check anything and everything
you can think of. We can't afford to shut any line down with the factory
as tight as it is on Panther panels. Let's meet back here at 4 o'clock
this afternoon.