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[scien…] tifically and technically solved. We are at present
engaged in finding new ways of manufacturing gun barrels with a high bursting
resistance and of increasing their performance by reducing barrel wear.
We are taking a very important part in the development of stamped armor
plate for the air force. A special development of our plant is the wedge-shaped
rolled wing beam belt, made of steel with an ultimate tensile strength of 120
kg. of which rather large deliveries of experimental types have been
successfully installed. These wing beam parts permit improvements in aircraft
design and appreciably reduce the requirements of light alloys. We also
developed a weight-saving method of attaching the tail and wings to the
fuselage. Besides working out material-saving manufacturing methods and the use
of low alloy steels for torpedo pressure tanks for the navy, we also developed
a method of producing cast stainless ship propellors for destroyers, torpedo
boats, submarines, cargo launches, and mine sweepers. We have also developed a
series of special materials for measuring and indicating instruments for the
navy and air force from the point of view of saving foreign exchange. These
materials are partly still in development and partly already in use in larger
quantities. Nickel-free materials for magnetic mines and nickel-free parts for
gyro compasses, sound and ultra-sound ranging equipment for the navy and for
the air force, deflection-correcting magnets of highest power for course
determination, nickel-free transformers for automatic pilots, and loading
equipment and relay parts of pure iron (substitute for Swedish charcoal iron).
Difficulties in connection with employment of labor
Our
plants were faced with serious difficulties, just as were those of other firms,
by the removal of employees made necessary by the war and the increasing
difficulty of obtaining personnel. We may certainly consider as a special
accomplishment the fact that we have, in spite of these difficulties, kept our
deliveries in all lines up to the old heights both quantitatively and
qualitatively.
Our Grusonwerk (Magdeburg) was hit especially hard by
these difficulties. The fact that of an initial employment of approximately
7,500 an addition of approximately 4,600 and a loss of approximately 3,400
employees occurred shows the amount of retraining, apprenticing, additional
training, and constant changes which lies behind these figures. In addition to
all this. the present labor force includes approximately 1,100 assigned
employees, 900 foreigners, and 600 women, together approximately one third of
the total |
334 |
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