To the Editor of the Crimson:

The writer would like to expand on the idea which was outlined in his letter in today's Crimson. This would be to create mobile labor units of a very fluid nature. These would be so organized that they could be transported from one job to another, be it a job of plant construction or a job of shipbuilding. By "fluid units" 1 mean units which can be altered in size to fit any particular need. Any job shall have working on it the maximum possible number of men and the test of whether a job is being properly run will be that there will always be a few men standing around with nothing to do. This may seem like gross in-efficiency but if you grant that "one plane today is worth ten planes a year from today," then the method will appear less mad. Thus, the point where there is just the maximum number working is not easy to determine. So it is proposed that it is better to look for the point which is 1 or 2 per cent above maximum rather than operate at 30 or 50 per cent below maximum. It may be remembered that sacrifices in efficiency can be made if they will serve to gain time, apparently a paradox but true, nevertheless.

The number of ships under construction will depend on the number of men available for work. Crudely, assuming that the distribution of available workers of different types exactly fitted the relative demands for these types, and assuming ships of uniform type, the number of ships under construction would be arrived at by dividing the number of available workers by the maximum number of workers that can operate on a single ship.

The system employed would be analogous to modern industrial methods involving the use of the assembly line. Since it is obviously not possible to have ships or plants on a moving assembly line, the alternative must be to have the ships and plants stationary and the workers moving.

Further, not only will the allotment of materials be simplified, due to having a smaller number of jobs under construction at any one time, but the chance of a shortage developing on any single job will be greatly lessened.

Labor union problems will no doubt arise. Labor unions can either declare a state of emergency or they must be conscripted to meet the present need. Arrangements will have to be made to house properly the mobile labor units. If necessary, homes can be taken over by the government under condemnation orders to take care of this. To be sure, this is all very high-minded but a few years of it now will be better than a lifetime of it later on. Construction companies must find a means of cooperating whereby their own accounting and administrative problems will be solved.

The main object will be not to have under construction a vast number of ships and plants scheduled for completion at some remote date in the future. Rather, there must be under construction a smaller number, as outlined above, scheduled for the most rapid completion humanly possible.  Gustav Bergson,  Instructor in Physics and  Communication Engineering