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SUB CONTRACTS
(Continued from Page 8)
Office of Small Business with weekly
reports on all contracts which are of a
non-secret nature and which are in ex-
cess of $25,000. These reports are con-
solidated, published, and made avail-
able for reference at Department of
Commerce Field Offices and 5.000 co-
operating outlets. They give the names
and locations of prime contractors, the
items contracted for. and the number
and dollar value of the units involved.
Bv reading these weeklv synopses regu-
larly, you can locate possible subcon-
tracting opportunities in your area and
in your specialized field.
If you are located at a distance from
the Department of Commerce Field Of-
fice which serves your area, you can
write to it for the address of the near-
est cooperating procurement informa-
tion office, which may be a local cham-
ber of commerce, bank, public utility,
industrial development commission or
other public interest group. (If there is
neither a Department Field Office nor
a cooperating information outlet in
your city, you might urge the local
business or industrial association to be-
come a cooperating office. If it wishes to
do so, it should apply to the nearest De-
partment Field Office.)
Another source of information on
contracts awarded by the Federal Gov-
ernment is the weekly Public Contracts
Bulletin of the Wage and Hour and
Public Contracts Division. U. S. De-
partment of Labor, Washington 25.
D. C. The Bulletin lists reports from all
Government agencies on awarded con-
tracts which are subject to the provi-
sions of the Walsh-Healey Act. This Act
applies to all Government contracts in
excess of $10,000, setting standards for
minimum wages and working conditions
of employees engaged in work under
the contracts. Upon written request to
the Department of Labor, your name
will be placed on tlie mailing list for
the Bulletin.
What a Prime Contractor
Will Want to Know
When you approach a prime con-
tractor in regard to obtaining a sub-
contract, it is important to provide him
with helpful, basic information about
your plant. The information he will
want probably will be of the following
types:
1. A description of your plant, its
facilities and location.
2. The item you now are making,
items previously made, and the processes
employed in making them.
3. Any previous experience as a
subcontractor, names of companies for
whom you subcontracted, and items so
produced.
4. An estimate of your available ma-
chine capacity.
5. A listing, with brief descriptions,
of the types, kinds, sizes, ages, and con-
ditions of your machines.
6. The tolerances to which you usu-
ally work, and the closest tolerances to
which you can work.
7. The materials you use. in order
of greatest use.
8. The number and kinds of em-
ployees on your payroll, including qual-
ifications of key personnel.
9. The current financial condition
of your plant.
10. The nature of your cost rec-
ords, including the length of time they
have been in use.
11. Transportation
and shipping
facilities available to your plant.
You might prepare a brief presenta-
tion of this and other information that
vou believe would be helpful in obtain-
ing subcontracts, and have copies dupli-
cated. A copy then could be given or
mailed, with a covering letter, to each
prime contractor from whom you solicit
work.
If, from the information presented to
him. a prime contractor is satisfied that
you and he might be able to work to-
gether, he may send a representative,
probably a field engineer, to inspect
your plant. The representative generally
will check the condition of equipment,
plant layout, production control and in-
spection methods, cost records and wage
rates. A favorable report from the rep-
resentative generally would lead to your
being asked to bid on future subcon-
tracts to be awarded by his company.
Assistance Given by
Prime Contractors
The type and amount of technical
and managerial assistance which prime
contractors give to their subcontractors
varies. In some instances, a prime con-
tractor will give extensive assistance to
a small subcontractor, particularlv if
he is anxious to do business with him.
In other instances, the prime contractor
will furnish the subcontractor only with
drawings and specifications for the work
to be done.
Undoubtedly, as the defense effort
grows, and with it the demand for sub-
contractors, large companies will be
willing to provide their subcontractors
with an increasing amount and variety
of assistance.
Based on the practices of certain com-
panies today and on practices employed
during World War II, some of the
types of assistance which might be of-
fered to you by a prime contractor are:
the furnishing of special tools needed
for the subcontracting work, or assist-
ance in designing such tools, the fur-
nishing of special jigs, fixtures and
gauges; advice or assistance in chang-
ing your plant layout, if this is found
necessary: assistance in obtaining ne-ed-
ed scarce equipment, thus avoiding pos-
sible long delays, and help in improv-
ing your inspection, production con-
trol, and cost methods.
"Progress Payments** and
Government Loans
Shortage of working capital does
not automatically rule out the possi-
bility of your handling subcontracts.
If a prime contractor believes that your
plant can turn out work of excellent
quality, he may be willing to give you
a subcontract and make partial pay-
ments to you as the work progresses,
thus enabling you to carry out the
contract.
Or, if you are awarded subcontracts
for one or more defense orders, and
your local bank is unwilling to take the
entire risk of financing them, you may
be^able to obtain a guaranteed V-loan
under Regulation V of the Federal Re-
serve Board. There is no fixed limit on
the amount of a V-loan, which can be
used to buy raw materials, to pay
wages, to pay rent and interest, and.
to a limited extent, to buy machinery
and equipment. The loan cannot be
used, however, to expand or build plants.
An application for a V-loan can be
made through your local bank to the
Federal Reserve Bank for your district.
Loans for expanding plant capacity,
developing manufacturing processes, or
producing essential materials are avail-
able from the Government under terms
of the Defense Production Act of 1950.
Such loans will be made only if their
use will speed production and deliveries
or services to aid in carrying out de-
fense contracts, and only if loans for
the purpose are not available from pri-
vate financial sources, with or without
Government guarantee, or from other
public sources on reasonable terms. The
Department of Commerce is the certify-
ing agency for most industry loans. Ap-
plications can be filed with the Depart-
ment in Washington or with Depart-
mental Field Offices.
If the loan application is approved,
the Reconstruction Finance Corporation
will act as agent for making the loan.
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW. MARCH, 1951