FISHER” BODIES

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 348, 8 May 1928, Page 7

FISHER” BODIES

AN IMMENSE FACTOR'! Public demand for the ultimate in appearance and comfort so far as the motor-car is concerned is one of the chief factors in the automotive situation to-day, according to Mr. H. J. C. Henderson, of the Fisher Body Corporation. “Xo manufacturer.” says Mr. Henderson, “can think of turning out a car without giving a first place to consideration of how it looks how well it satisfies the modern demand for comfort and convenience. It is no longer enough to give the car buyer a conveyance that will run. The car must be smart in appearance and have the individual touch that only concentrated expert knowledge can give the body and its appointments. “In the development of body-buihl-ing. great strides have been made 1 within the last few years. Indeed, ai- ; most all the progress has been of very recent accomplishment. Body plantlof a size undreamed of a few years ago, equipped with machinery that has been very lately devised and developed, have become such an outstanding part of the industry that they arrest the attention of every one who undertakes a study of the industry as a whole.

“Since bodies first began to be mad? by the Fisher Body Corporation in 1908, the company has produced more than 4,000,000 units. Progressing to the present point of capacity has meant the building up of a huge organisation that not only produce in quantity but can keep to the highest standards of quality and individuality. AVhen the company began it had a modest capital of £IO.OOO. When it became a division of General Motors it was an organisation with a capitalisation of millions sterling. To-day it occupies 40 buildings, with a floor area of nearly 350 acres, or more than 15,000,000 square feet. “Its activities include a mammoth factory for the manufacture of body fittings and accessories; another for the production of mechanical hardware; and one where plateglass is made. It is by far the largest maker of motor-car hardware on earth, and one of the largest makers of plateglass. About 50,000 employees are on the pay rolls, and represent rather more than 125 distinct trades. A staff of over 100 engineers is constantly engaged in designing and developing better bodies.

“We work at such close standards of measurement that parts of any one model will exactly fit every other body of that same type; precision in Fisher manufacturing is comparable to that required in the making of motor chassis of the highest types. “After the countless necessary operations of manufacture, assembly and final finish required to produce the modern body have been completed, the company puts the familiar plate with \Body by Fisher’ printed on it much in the same spirit as an artist puts his name on a finished picture or as an artist in ceramics signs the plate or vase.