Quote Originally Posted by ireload2 View Post
That is how the Ford Willow run factory built so many bombers. It was a 200 million dollar factory that from the beginning was designed to assemble the 4 engine B-24 bombers. The takt time of that factory was 57.6 minute per plane.
Fascinating Information. To see how fast we could gear up for war 75 years ago is staggering. Could we be so focused, aligned, and committed today?

In one of my innovation programs I challenge engineers to "Construct a Ship at least 160 meters long"
- Must hold cargo of 12,500 tons
- Must have a speed of at least 16 knots
- Must be built in less than a week with unskilled labor
Seldom does any engineering team say they would even consider the task. I then show them how Wendy the Welder and Rosie the Riveter constructed Liberty Ships during WWII. Here's the record:
Robert E. Peary constructed in 4 days, 15 hours and 26 minutes
- Joint Venture between Todd Shipyards and Kaiser Shipbuilding
- Innovative time-cutting techniques incorporated
- Seventeen banks of welding machines on each side of the hull,
- Pre-assembly of the deck in seven sections instead of 23,
- Complete outfitting of the deckhouses, down to bunks, fans and flooring, before assembly.
More than 747 vessels built in the four Richmond Kaiser Shipyards during World War II, a feat not equaled anywhere else in the world, before or since.
"Wendy the Welders" allowed unskilled laborers to do repetitive jobs requiring relatively little training to accomplish, which opened up jobs to women & minorities