Automatic Age

T he A
u t o m a t ic
A ge
15
“M A C H IN E SH O P M E T H O D S H A V E
B U IL T O U R B U SIN E SS”
A n In terview w ith C. P . T h om as
B y J. M. B U C K L E Y
The T h om as-K ern s C om pany at
R ock Island, 111., is one o f the
largest m anufacturers o f m erchandis­
in g m achines in the country. In the
early part o f 1922 the present style
w as adopted w hen the G risw old M fg.
Com pany w as taken over. This last
m arkable.
In the fa c to r y — w ell equipped with
m odern m achinery— th ey n ow em ploy
betw een th irty and fifty men w orkin g
in about 15,000 square fe e t o f space.
In addition to this, in an isolated
location , a separate building is m ain­
tained w here painting and drying
through oven process is done.
M r. Th om as is n ow 48 years o f
age. A ft e r graduating from the M as­
sachusetts T ech n ical Institute, he was
v ery active in oth er lines o f business
as a m echanical engineer. A b ou t
eigh t years a g o he organized and
headed the R eyn olds
E n gineerin g
C om pan y o f R ock Island, 111., w hich
originated and built special m achinery
and high grade tools. D u rin g the
w ar, this organization kept the R ock
Island arsenal supplied w ith tools
and 4-inch naval guns.
A lth ough the
products
o f the
T h om as-K ern s C om pany are know n
nationw ide, peculiarly Mr. Thom as
has never m et any oth er m anu fac­
turer o f autom atic m achinery. W h at
he has accom plished in m anufactur­
in g and selling the products o f his
firm has been done w ith ou t advice
from others in the business, a sort
o f lo n e -w o lf proposition.
C. P. T H O M A S
m entioned firm had fu n ction ed since
1889 and w as the pioneer o f all vend­
in g m achine m anu factu ring concerns,
G risw old bein g given credit generally
f o r putting ou t the first peanut ven ­
dor. T w o yeai’s ago w hen this large
business w as absorbed by Mr. C. P.
Th om as and E. L. K erns, Mr. T h om as
had no k n ow ledge w hatsoever o f the
vending .machine industry and what
he has accom plish ed is indeed re­
© International Arcade Museum
Says Mr. Th om as “ M achine shop
m ethods have built our business. M y
early training and particularly the
experience I gained w hile operat­
in g the R eyn olds E n gineerin g Co.,
taught me that every industry is basi­
cally similar. T he first th in g I did
w as to re-organ ize the production end
o f the business, impi’ov in g the system
here and there, until we w ere finally
producin g with clock -lik e precision.
Then the sales end o f the business
took care o f itse lf au tom atically.”
The
chew in g
gum ,
peanut
and
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