ACQUIRING TECHNICAL BACKGROUND
PowerGrip Salesman attend American Course
Ten weeks intensive training
In the issue of last June we revealed the introduction to this country of
the PowerGrip Timing belt, described in the States as the greatest
development in transmission in the past 50 years. Last autumn two of our
Mechanical Sales force-- R. Chalk and W. Kerr-who had been assigned to
PowerGrip Sales-spent some ten weeks on a training course in America.
Here is their story;
"Among those in our company who have been given the opportunity to
visit United States Rubber Company in America , we were probably the first
to attend such a comprehensive training course as that held in
Philadelphia last autumn. This course which ran for ten weeks was
organized by the United States Rubber Company School of Power
Transmission, and we were the second group of students to attend.
Exacting Timetable of Study
"On Monday 1st October we assembled in one of the convention rooms
of the Benjamin Franklin Hotel to meet J. Stevenson, Sales Manager of the
Transmission Division, who was responsible for the organisation of the
school.
" We were introduced to our fellow students, two of whom we knew
from correspondence in USRI. The remaining 5 were all new employees of the
Company, and were mainly graduates of Engineering colleges such as Georgia
Tech ETC.and who were engaged as Power Transmission Engineers.
In
session at Philadelphia listening to one of the lecturers
on the technicalities of PowerGrip . Mr Kerr is on the right of
the front row and Mr Chalk on the right of the second row
The introductions over we spent the remainder of the first morning
discussing the timetable for our course, and the syllabus of the subjects
to be covered. Lectures started at 8am each day, and continued until 5pm
with a break of one hour for lunch. The subjects to be covered commenced
that afternoon with a lecture on the history of power transmission and
moved on next day with the development of various engineering formulae
such as horse power, torque, tension, and tension ratio, kinetic energy,
moment of inertia etc.
Having established these fundamental principles of engineering, we
studied each of the mediums of power transmission used in industry such as
flat transmission belting, Vee belts, gears, chains, gears, and PowerGrip
timing belts . In addition, clutches, gear and speed reducers, shafting ,
bearings and bearing loads were all discussed , so that in the test
examinations , which would be given two or three times per week, we could
be asked to draw up a specification for a drive to meet given conditions,
first of all selecting the medium of transmission to be used, belts,
chain, or gears, then deciding it's size or type, size of shafting, type
of bearing etc.
This is
the handsome "Certificate of Proficiency" presented
to both North British Salesmen and much treasured.
H.G.Kieswetter, General Sales Manager, US Rubber International ,
made the presentation at the graduation ceremony
Administrative Course in New York
"Where the drive medium being discussed was one which was
manufactured by US Rubber , then the lecturer was one of the staff of the
Philadelphia Factory. However for such items as chains, gears, electric
motors etc. visiting lecturers from companies engaged in the manufacture
of these products gave the instructions.
"In addition to these lectures we made visits to factories to see
these various products produced. We visited our own factory at Tacony on
several occasions, of course, studying manufacturing techniques of flat
belts. Vee belts and PowerGrip belts. One such visit involved a plant
survey, and for this we were warned to wear old clothes. The survey
consisted of a study of the power source and transmission medium on
certain selected machines in the factory, and as a result we were all
literally smeared with grease and oil at the end of our day.
"Of our six weeks' stay at Philadelphia the last two were spent
studying the PowerGrip belt, a U.S. Rubber patented product which enjoys a
tremendous demand throughout America, and a demand which is still
increasing rapidly.
R
Chalk and W. Kerr snapped during
one of the sessions
"Our last four weeks were spent in New York, most of the time
studying administration methods and branch systems.
"It should be mentioned here that each of our American colleagues
was to be appointed to a branch where he would control sales of power
transmission products, and in particular build up PowerGrip timing belt
sales. As his first task he would give a training lecture to all his
general mechanical salesmen, teaching them how to calculate PowerGrip belt
drives. In order to fit us for this task we were each called on to give an
abbreviated training lecture, lasting approximately one hour, to the rest
of the class, who then joined in general discussion, giving a constructive
critique of product knowledge, presentation, mannerisms, etc.
A Wonderful Experience
"Finally, Graduation Day arrived, and each student was presented
with a diploma certifying that he had satisfactorily completed the course
at the U.S. Rubber Company's School of Power Transmission, and wesoon had
to say good-bye to our friends, and return to Britain. However, we would
not wish to give the impression that our ten weeks' stay was 'all work and
no play.'
"We found that our American colleagues believed in 'work hard and
play hard', and we experienced that overwhelming hospitality and
friendship that is so characteristic of the American people. Our fellow
students were determined that we should enjoy our stay, and also see as
much of the American way of life as was possible, both by entertaining us
I their homes, and also showing us everything of interest.
"We know that we made some very good friends while we were in
America, and the weeks we spent in their company will be remembered for a
very long time. Above all, we are very grateful to have had the
opportunity of visiting America and attending this wonderfully organized
course, a course which has been fully reported in technical journals as
the 'most comprehensive course in power transmission ever organized by any
company in America
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