HIDDEN GOLD

Use the cap. [Music] Through the ages of history, man has eagerly sought hidden gold. Many times his efforts have changed the course of history, have changed the maps of geography. The discovery of gold in 1849 changed the maps and history of our own country. [Music] Yes, man has always been willing to overcome unsurmountable obstacles and suffer untold hardships, even go to the far ends of the earth in his quest for the wealth of man. There are many instances in history where he has traveled long distances only to find that the treasure he sought was close at hand. [Music] Of times this wealth did not glitter in his vision as gold and he did not see it because man is blinded by the glitter of the gold he seeks. With the exception of the wealth buried within the earth, the fortunes of mankind have always been saved by someone. All around us are the things that represent hidden gold. But to see this treasure, we must look beyond what appears to the eye. In our everyday walk of life, we can see waste and carelessness which saved and turned into wealth. We could readily go to the far ends of the earth to seek. There is hidden gold in our day-to-day job in the cable, the apparatus, even the nails and screws that we use. Wire, too. It is difficult to understand how the unused portion of a coil of wire could result in this pile. The short pieces would have made good cross connections and some are not so short. The importance of performing our day-to-day job sometimes overshadows the small details. This man is returning new material. It should be returned if it cannot be used. But had he placed it in a locker, he would have saved time and energy because it could then have been reused in the field without returning. Yes, it is sometimes hard to visualize our hidden gold. Unfortunately, we do not always think of the time and money that can be saved through the careful handling of apparatus and material when we handle them. Sometimes it's the other fellow that causes the waste and trouble. Be sure the other fellow isn't you. Good housekeeping is a necessary part of any job, and the contents of one bag are only a drop in the bucket. That's why it's hard to believe the small odds and ends that we send back could result in a huge pile of miscellaneous supplies such as this. And remember, they have never been used. It is not always possible to understand the extent our individual actions can affect the whole supply process unless we know the whole story. So, let us watch this tote box, see what goes into it, and then follow it back through the supply process and discover what makes up our hidden gold. But before we do, let us first wave our magic wand over the box and change the colors of the items that were just placed into it, so we may follow them with ease. These tote boxes are just two of the thousands that are picked up by your supply force every day from the hundreds of trucks, garages, lockers, and other field locations. All are brought back to the telephone company return goods force where every item in each box must be identified, counted, and credited to the proper field accounts. Uh-oh. Wait a minute. We better use our magic wand on that box, too. That's better. These boxes are a small portion of one day's return. First, the boxes are segregated into a general accounting classifications or areas so that the proper field accounts can be credited with the return. Accounting is a very important part of our supply job. The tote box then goes to the returned goods for processing. This is the first place we uncover our hidden gold. When returned apparatus is carelessly thrown into a hamper, it often results in a tangled mass, taking much time and effort to untangle. There's that partly used coil of wire. It will take more time than the wire is worth to sort, coil, and return it to the field. Over 50% of wire returned is unused. Many times the proper winding of the cord around the set will prevent damage. Paper bags or used cartons in which the sets were shipped should be used for the return of apparatus. There is hidden gold too in the return of switchboard cords. If a simple knot were used to identify a defective cord, the cords could be easily sorted from the hamper and promptly sent to the repair shop. But the complicated knots must be set aside and a specific operation introduced to untie them. This is wasted time and effort both in the field and in your supply force and a lot of broken fingernails as well. There is real savings in the return of apparatus and material and packing in the hamper plays an important part. Badly scratched and broken apparatus is the result of poor packing. Failure to completely disconnect the apparatus is another contribution to breakage. It prevents proper packing and many times places undue weight on the items underneath. The extra effort of using paper bags, use cartons, or just plain waste paper to protect the returned equipment pays dividends. A good percentage of returned hampers contain unused material and equipment. And while the prompt return of these items is proper, every possible effort should be made to use them in the field first. This type of return places an unnecessary burden on the supply trucks, requires special sorting and special arrangements with the Western Electric Company to place in the warehouse. All our costly operations and so unnecessary if in the first place the amount of material ordered had been limited to the amount required. There is hidden gold in ordering only what you need. After the larger pieces of equipment have been removed from the hamper, the remaining contents consisting of ringers, indicators, relays, dials, keys, and the thousands of other items that you return are dumped into a sorting device where through the use of vibration, they are separated from one another and fed onto a conveyor belt. This eliminates the difficult job of removing them one by one. The larger of these returned items are selected, sorted, counted, and inspected. Those that are new are returned to stock. The defective ones are sent to the Western Electric shop for repairs. What remains on the belt after this selection is an assortment of miscellaneous parts, bolts, screws, rings, clamps. A very large percentage never have been used. These small items are one of our big problems. The selecting and sorting of these would far exceed their original cost. And remember, over 95% of these are unused, and we cannot recover them without even greater costs. So, we send them along with our so-called short pieces of wire, our scrap cable, our unrepable parts, and other miscellaneous junk to the smelters. Here at the smelting plant, these young ladies seem to enjoy their job of sorting our miscellaneous junk into the various types of metal, including our screws, rings, and other items. It is truly amazing to see these thousands of parts returned each day. After sorting, the brass, bronze, and other non-ferris metal are fed into separate smelting furnaces. These smaller furnaces contain buckets that must be tilted in order to pour the metal. Each separate type of these metals is poured into small pigs and shipped back to the factories. Copper, however, is a large item in our business, and the recovery process is much larger. First, the sheath or covering is stripped from the cable. The lead is recovered, and the wires, including our so-called shark pieces, are burned to remove the insulation. Then, the blacken wire is pressed into 50 lb bales to facilitate handling at the smelting furnace. Some of this could have been avoided if we had used these short pieces in the field. Our bales of copper, recovered copper line wire, and our small copper parts are then fed into an inferno where at 2,000° they are reduced to molten metal. Then the pouring begins. The molds are sprayed with a bone meal solution to prevent sticking and 300 lb of molten copper is taken from the smelter with one dip of the ladle. This is no job for careless people, for if the ladle misses by 3 in, an explosion would result. Just beyond the edge of this mold is a trough filled with water and any contact with the molten copper would be disastrous. This is really a steady job. This is truly liquid gold. While other pigs are being cast and when the temperature of this one has reduced sufficiently, the pig is dumped into water to complete the cooling process. The copper pigs are then sent back into industry to be forged, perhaps into the same type of wire that was discarded in the first place, preventing this is truly a source of hidden gold. But not all the apparatus and materials returned are fed to the smelters as junk. The large majority of the items are inspected to determine the amount of repairs required to make them as good as new. They are then accumulated and sent to the Western Electric Company repair shops. As an example, let us follow our talking set through the shop process. After removal from the hamper, the set was recovered to the electric company and forwarded to the repair shop where the number plates and finger wheel are removed. The set is then opened and thoroughly cleaned out with compressed air. If there are defective parts determined through test or observation, they are removed in this operation. If the set only needs cleaning, it is passed on to an operator who performs this function. Sometimes minor buffing is all that is necessary to restore the brilliance of the bake light. This is accomplished without taking the set apart. Every effort is made to expedite repairs wherever possible. The defective parts previously removed are replaced with new or reconditioned parts. In this operation, the magnets are re-energized and the bell properly adjusted. The set is tested for continuity, transmission, and reception. The ringer and dial are checked. The cord and set are given a breakdown test, and all are inspected for appearance. It is hard to distinguish between a new set and one that has passed through the repair shop. The same tests and the same adjustments are applied. Even the standard factory packing methods are followed. The set is then forwarded to the warehouse to again be placed in service and talking sets are no exception. Every effort is made to reuse every recovered item. Cords are another good example. Most of our cord trouble is located in the portion of the cord nearest the plug. So the plugs are removed and short cords are junk. The good cords are then placed in a dry cleaning machine and washed with a solution that also contains a waterproofing. This would do a fine job on your raincoat. In the meantime, the plugs are checked for wear, tested, and inspected. Defective ones are discarded. The cleaned cords are placed in a drying machine where they are well dried. A very large percentage of switchboard cords can be recovered in this manner. On the other hand, the percentage of station cords that can be reconditioned is small. So they are cleaned by hand. After the cords are dried, they are carefully inspected to determine if any stains remain. If stains do remain, the cords are placed into this blasting machine where ground walnut shells and rice hulls directed by compressed air is shot at the stain portion of the cord. This creates a miniature tornado and will remove practically every stain, even the toughest paint or lacquer. The defective end of the cord is cut off, the covering trimmed back and wound with thread to prevent fraying. Tips are attached to the tip and ring conductors. A thoroughly tested and inspected plug is then attached. A vast majority of the cord troubles are eliminated through this procedure. If any remain, the cord would be rejected on the final test. The complete cord is then electrically tested and placed in stock, ready to meet field demands. There is no hidden gold in these operations. Every item you return goes through the same process in the Western Electric shop. The coin machines are refinished, repaired, carefully tested and adjusted, inspected and packed, ready for new installations. Relays you return go through the same process. If individual springs are defected, they are replaced and the relay completely adjusted. The addition of new fuse wire to your return grasshopper fuses make them as good as new. Ringers are tested and adjusted. If the magnets are found open, they are replaced. Yes, even the smallest item you send back is carefully inspected to determine if repairs are possible. Heat coils are no exception. Every possible item is saved and reused, even the bake light receiver and transmitter caps, providing the cost of recovery is justified. If they are badly scratched and worn, they are thoroughly washed and then placed in these tumbling machines where the shiny bake light surface is restored by impregnating them with a black dye and canaba wax. Deeply scratched or broken, they must be replaced. Care and packing could save many of these replacements. Tools. We attempt to repair every defective tool returned, but many must be discarded because they have been misused in the field. pliers that have been used on hardened steel, screwdrivers that have been used as chisels or on improper size screws. There is a proper tool for every job. And if we use them, we can save thousands of dollars in tool repairs, prevent accidents, and make our job safer. Yes, there is real hidden gold in the proper use and care of tools. Unfortunately, we do not always realize that one individual return must be multiplied by thousands. And what may seem insignificant to us when multiplied can mean thousands of dollars saving in the end. But if we know and can visualize what happens to our return material and apparatus, we will realize that our knotted cords must be untied by someone. We will understand how improper packing and incomplete disconnections can cause damage and costly replacements. We will know the return of unused supplies causes loss of time and money and order only what we need. We will remember that our improperly used and broken tools, our discarded unused wire, and our vast quantity of unused parts and screws. The saving of these items is too costly and they must be fed into the smelters to again be sent back into industry. And if we realize that every item we return is carefully sorted, counted, inspected, and repaired, that it is properly packed and sent to the Western Electric Company warehouse and placed in stock to meet our current requisitions. Yes, if each and every one of us remember to order only what we need, and like this man, use care in returning material and apparatus, then we paid. Wait a minute. Are you forgetting already? How about that hidden gold? That's more like it. Yes. If every one of us remember the time, effort, and material wasted on our day-to-day job, we will have our hidden goal, and we won't have to look beyond distant horizons.