From the Rolls-Royce experimental archive: a quarter of a million communications from Rolls-Royce, 1906 to 1960's. Documents from the Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation (SHRMF).
Quality issues and manufacturing responsibility for a batch of 250 cams with a supplier named Matravers.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 153\2\ scan0345 | |
| Date | 3rd July 1937 | |
| -2- RHC{R. H. Coverley - Production Engineer}/EG.1/DB.{Donald Bastow - Suspensions} 3.7.37. I suggested we pay them 33-1/3% of cost to us on any of the 250 cams that are scrap due to the slack centre trouble, if they cannot recover same by regrinding. Any of this said batch of 250 which are scrap due to bad bores and faulty trimming, polishing etc., are definitely their scrap and will not be allowed for. Comm.Matravers held the opinion I ought to have allowed a 50% basis, but I pointed out that the faults existing had been the subject of complaint more or less all along in different batches and no real improvement had been made until the last month, in the method of attack to eliminate the slack centre trouble. I tackled the possibility of production of cams at R.R., as circumspectly as possible, stating that all the people at Derby were of the opinion that he would be pleased to be rid of responsibility of manufacture of cams to our standard of requirements, and would he care for us or agree to us trying to make the cams, this was answered by the statement that had the question been asked a month ago he would have given careful thought to the question because he was very worried about the job as a whole, but now he is very hopeful of success, and would not be prepared to acquiesce, because they are obtaining a certain commercial value from the fact of producing cams for R.R., and he would not be satisfied with their efforts if they failed to produce to our requirements. We see-sawed on this point for some time, I pointed out the hold ups we had experienced and the general unsatisfactory state of affairs but the fact is Matravers would have to admit a certain amount of failure to his company if we did start manufacture, and at the present juncture would not freely give his consent to our taking over manufacture. I put it again that unless we did get better cams in future than we have had in the past, we certainly should have to approach the manufacturing aspect very seriously. RHC{R. H. Coverley - Production Engineer}/EG. | ||