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).
Strategic decision between in-house manufacturing and purchasing parts from external suppliers.
| Identifier | WestWitteringFiles\V\March1931-September1931\ Scan173 | |
| Date | 7th May 1931 guessed | |
| (2) In the past we have been forced into producing certain of our own parts because we could not buy in England anything suitable, and if we attempted to do so we found it necessary to educate the makers to a much higher standard, which was then offered to our competitors. This has happened again and again and has not paid us from so many aspects. You can see then why I am shy to purchase, and it was not merely vanity. For instance I believe it would have paid us very handsomely to have made our own road springs, but we must realise that things have somewhat changed, and also in these times of depression many things can be bought at a low cost. R.{Sir Henry Royce} | ||