Solotone Uses Line Production to
Deliver Unit Every 7-10ths Minute
COIN
MACHINE
REVIEW
114
FOR
By Louis Karnofslcy
When the automobile manufacturers in-
augurated the assembly line years ago, they
really started something. If it weren't for
this close-mesh precision gearing, Solo tone
operators, now pleading for increased ship-
ments, would not be receiving a fraction of
their present allotment.
Every 7/10ths of a minute a new scin-
tillating Solotone box rolls off the line in
Bendix Aviation Corp.'s North Hollywood
plant. Six hundred units a day are un-
belted and packed.
Bu.t it wasn't always this oil-smooth be-
cause an 'assembly line can't be set up
over-night. It's comparable to a football
team_ Eleven men plucked from a campus
won't function as a clicky combination
without planning and practice.
The first Solo tone units were hand-built.
Last spring an assembly line was rigged
but maximum production totalled only 50
per day.
J
Even though geared for fast action, ' the
line can be disrupted by the shortage of a
minor part. In the past, lack of copper
wire, lamp bulbs and light brackets at one
time or another slowed down production
and threatened a shutdown, but the supply
situation has eased considerably since then.
Sales Engineer Vincent Moore accompa-
nied me on a tour of the plant, where 100
employees are forging the links in a long
. trail of music boxes. The first thing I
noticed was the heavy proportion of women
to men in the assembly line. It runs some-
thing like 25 to 1. (Not such a bad place
to work, fellows; at least the odds are all
in your favor.) Moore - explained it this
way: "We use men for the physical work
and for technical laboratory functions, but
when it comes to precision tasks, like sol-
dering a switch or screwing a plate, women
have more patience and will stay with it."
The actual assembly line is 'only about
75 to 100 feet long and 30 feet wide; but
it requires extensive auxiliary work by the
tool room, machine shop, processing room,
paint shop and oven to keep the line well
fed and rolling. Each part is inspected
before it is released to the Minute Girls.
The man who says this isn't a machine
age should take a look at this plant. Timing
is robot-precise. If a particular phase of the
operatiorl is a fast one and another phase
requires more time, then the number of
workers assigned to each operation is
aligned in proportion, so the line will move
clock-like, without gaps.
The first item to hit the table is the die-
cast zinc-alloyed back plate. Next comes
the retainer plates an d the terminal board.
Thus far the operation is hand-to-hand.
A fter the terminal board, it moves onto a
belt. The lower belt feeds to sub-assembly
stations while the upper one picks up the
assemblies and carries them back over the
same route.
~fter the timing assembly has been mi-
nutely and carefully built, it winds up at
FEBRUARY
1947
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one of six pre-testing stations; if okeh, it,
-
is rubber stamped.
If the mechanism does not pass the test,
lah technicians give it the specialized eye
and hand. If, after the last stage of inspec-
tion has been completed on the entire box,
it does not meet strict specifications, the
lab boys go to work on it, too.
The timer mechanism is fastened to the
back plate, the unit is wired, and starts the
return trip on the upper belt.
The light bracket is built up; in comes
the front cabinet, already coin-plated and
bracketed by the machine shop. The assem-
bly cabinet, with front grille, grille cloth
and plastic red window is affixed. The
speaker assembly, including transformer, is
inserted into the unit. Then the back plate
is wired to the front cabinet...
After the coin switches have been pre-
adjusted, the box goes to one of five test-
ing stations. The tester faces a board con-
taining three banks. The first one flashes red
if the circuit is wired correctly; the second
beams white if the counter switch is okeh,
and the third green lights if the music
circuit is functioning properly.
These are some of the questions the
tester must ask herself before writing
"O.K." on the check list: Is the timer cam
set screw tight? Light bracket shorted?
Phenolic washer in place? Solenoid screw
~t and locked? Solenoid plunger free?
Coin chute tested? Speaker tested? Do the
reject springs function? All in all, there
aTe fifteen points that must be given over·
all scrutiny. Each tester has a number
which she rubber-stamps on the check list
_ accompanying each box.
Last in line is the inspector who spot
checks on the testers. Rejects are less than
five per cent.
After the inspector has completed her
duties, the box is automatically forced off
the belt, coin box is inserted, and an auto-
matic indexing' machine stamps the seriai
number on the bottol1l of the back plate.
Each unit is individually packed in a
cardboard box; serial number is pencilled
on the outside of the container; carton is
taped, sealed_ Five aTe inserted into one
package, and on set rollers they ease out
to the shipping department.
Then to Solotone headquarters, from
whence they are whisked to operators so
they can increase location play.
New Vending Firm Protests
Location Picketing
NEW YORK---A former war worker and
two veterans, one wounded, who pooled
their savings to start a small cigarette and
candy business, the North Shore Cigarette
Service Co., have asked Justice Charles W.
Froessel in Queens Supreme Court for an
injunction to keep an American Federation
of Labor union from picketing their cus-
tomers.
The veterans are Nicholas Giannuzzi of
Woodside, Long Island, who served five
years in the Army and came out with a
mangled left hand, and hi,s brother, Michael,
who served a year and a half. Their partner
is John Lo Bianco, whose home is used as
the headquarters of their business.
They began openitions last September
furnishing customers with candy and ciga:
rette machines and servicing them, and by
January they had about 20 customers among
bars and candy stores. Then, according to
their com plaint, representatives of Local
Il75 of the Confectionery and Tobacco
Jobbers Employees Union approached them
with a demand for an initiation fee of
around $400 and an agreement not to
. sol,icit business from places doing business
with union members. When they refused,
the union began picketing the company's
customers.