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THE IMPORTANCE OF REPAIR WORK.

20th July 1920, Page 12
20th July 1920
Page 12
Page 12, 20th July 1920 — THE IMPORTANCE OF REPAIR WORK.
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

AS TIME goes on and the network of road transport spreads across the country, the question of repair work becomes one of over increasing importance. With labour costs as heavy as they are to-day, unless repairs are execrated expeditiously by the most economical methods, repai: charges are liable to mount up to such formidable figures.

. In repair work, very much depends upon the exiieri(nee, initiative and resource of the repair .shop engineer. .There is little of' routine about repair work, esp-ecialiy'when carried out on a smal scale that is to say, routine as it is understood in mamifacture. Each repair job must be examined and treated according to its particular requirements •and, upon the decisions then made,to a large' eKtent depends the ultimate cost and success of the repair.

Ill advised and hastydecisions, either as to the -actual repair operations to be performed, or, as to the unethods by which, they shall be carried out, will make all the difference between reasonable and prohibitive costs.

The Status of the Repair Engineer.

This points to the necessity of the iupervision of repair work being entrusted to none but experienced and resourceful hands and, in this connection, the status of the repair shop engineer is worthy of

consideration. ,

The qualified engineer who is responsible for the maintenance and repair of heavy vehicles to-day too often receives but scanty recognition fcr the work he does. Often the better his work. is done, the less "there is to show for it. A busy repair shop is not necessarily a criterion of good work; it may, in fact, be exactly the reverse. c14

The successful engineer is he who keeps his vehicles oat of the repair shop as much aspossible. Thus, it may be that a really good man may escape appreciation and, in fact, incur the risk of disparagement by his very success. His own good work may lead the employer, who does.not think too deeply, to question the justification for his retention. For this reason alone, the status of the repair shop engineer should be upheld.

The Question of Qualifications.

The engineer to-day who specializes in repairs is burdened 'with a legacy that has been handed 'down to all repair men since the cycle days. His position has been endangered, all through the history of motoring, by the man who started mending punctures and graduated, eventually, to the botching of motor vehicles. Not that every 'Self-edueated repair' mania a failure, but there a-re very many who have overstepped their capabilities in this way, to the great damage of the repair shop craft. There is no room in heavy-vehicle repair work to-day for the-half-baked-amateur mechanic. It is an engineer's job, and it requires an engineer's training for its proper accomplishment. Moreover, the purely practical engineer is not always the most successful man to-day. Some knowledge, at least, of theory is required. The modern motor vehicle is scientifically manufactured, and it must as scientifically be put right when it .goes wrong. The materials of which it is made are diverse in composition, and the treatment to which they can with safety be submitted, must often be selected with great care, and calls for" more than a slight acquaintance with metallurgy.

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