A shipyard public-address system

THE Richmond yard 2 of the Permanente Metal Corporation has been using a high-power public-address system for 24 months. With more than 2,000 paging calls each day, it has been highly successful. The calls are limited to those directly affecting production. Trucks, cranes, inspectors, and foremen are called to places in need of them. Much time is saved by reducing the time a crew of men has to wait for its work to pass inspection or to receive new orders. For example, the breakdown of a whirley crane means that all riggers, shipfitters, pipefitters, shipwrights, electricians, and welders must wait for needed material until the crane is repaired. As it requires specially trained electricians and mechanics, who may be scattered throughout the yard, to repair a breakdown, the public-address system is vitally important in locating these men.