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The first Hellcat was built in August 1942. Five months later, the production line began to tick them off. This was unheard-of speed in an industry which used to need years to translate blueprints into planes. When a Navy brass hat dropped in to tell Grumman that he should expand to take care of Hellcat production, Swirbul pulled a mess of blue prints from his desk, said: "We are." When the officer said he would rush priorities for steel, Swirbul said: "I've got steel." And he had it, from Manhattan's razed Second Avenue elevated railway. But Grumman was still crowded for space. Wildcat and Avenger production was moved into General Motors' Eastern air craft division at Linden, N.J. The pattern which, in effect, made Grumman main purveyor to the Navy had been set. Now all the fighters and torpedo planes on most Navy carriers are Grumman-designed planes. This, more than words, shows what the Navy thinks of Grumman.
Turkeys for All. Despite its informality, the Grumman policy towards its workers is hardheaded realism. Everything is planned with one idea: will it help production?
Some 30,000 cheap, hot meals are served every day in the air-conditioned plant (none of the executive offices are air-conditioned). There are nurseries for the children of women workers, libraries with the book shelves economically made from old packing cases, an employes' orchestra to play for dancing during the lunch hour, volley ball, handball and base ball games. To the parents of new babies go record books, blue for boys, pink for girls. On Christmas, turkeys are sent free to everyone. This year, to make sure of getting them, Grumman bought the eggs and is now in the turkey business.
But the biggest thing in the Grumman policy of realism is the incentive wage plan. Started a year ago, it was the first in the aircraft industry. It is also probably the simplest. Time studies of individual operations are eliminated. The incentive pay bonus is paid, not on individual operations, but on the output of the entire plant. Thus on half of all poundage over a fixed rate (.48 pound per worker per hour) everyone in the company, from janitors up to executives mating $8,000 a year, is paid a bonus every three months. Bonus for the last year: 25% of wages.
No Problems. All of this, from turkeys to bonuses, is simply the Grumman way of getting the greatest production in the shortest time. As a result, neither absentee ism nor lack of manpower, the plagues of other war plants, have been a Grumman problem. Turnover, for all causes, including the draft, has been a small 2.3% so far this year, about half of the aircraft industry's average. Swirbul is fond of saying: "We're cold-blooded about all this, simply go out in the plant and tell the boys: you work a little harder and the company will make more money. If it does, then we'll give you more money."