[Defense Contract Service]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

DEFENSE CONTRACT
SERVICE
AN APPEAL
TO EVERY AMERICAN- MANUFACTURER
PRODUCTION DIVISION
OFFICE OF PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT
This is an all-out effort—nothing short of all-out effort will win.
—Franklin D. Roosevelt, March 15, 1941.
»«
Nothing short of the practical limit of our available productive capacity is sufficient for the defense job we have now undertaken.
—William S. Knudsen, March 17, 1941.
»«
The Defense Contract Service has been organized to harness the full productive power of America to total defense. Through 36 field offices, it is recruiting every suitable factory—large and small—in the land. Every manufacturer will serve his country and himself by making full use of this Service.
DEFENSE CONTRACT SERVICE
What the Job Is
In June 1940, as the vaunted army of the French Republic was crumbling before the onslaught of mechanized aggressors, the greatest industrial nation on earth began in earnest the grim task of building an unbeatable military machine.
Since that time the task has grown ever greater—has in fact become the task of creating in this country “the arsenal of democracy.”
Toward this great goal our country started almost from scratch. Munitions plants, built in the turmoil of the World War, had been pulled down, stripped of equipment or converted to new uses as the United States gladly turned, following the Armistice, to the task of beating a swiftly-forged industrial sword into the machinery of peace.
For more than 20 years the Nation concentrated its energies and genius for mass production upon the output of automobiles, ice boxes, radios, and a thousand and one other useful peacetime products—the fruit of a free and vigorous democracy. Our facilities for making munitions dwindled to an insignificant level.
The fall of France was the signal for Congress to appropriate billions for rearmament. Swiftly, the Army and Navy placed huge orders. Of necessity, most of them went to large firms that had the managerial, engineering, and factory personnel to translate orders of such type and magnitude into terms of plant facilities, manpower, and materials.
Now every suitable factory in the country—large and small—must be enlisted. Only that way can we make more
1
weapons NOW for the defenders of democracy. It is the only way to get out the additional orders that are in the making. They must be filled in record time.
What You Can Do
Thousands of manufacturers whose useful machines are now idle or could be made available are asking what they should do to help. The answer is this : Write or go to the regional office of the Defense Contract Service at the Federal Reserve Bank or branch bank which serves the region in which you live. Send or take with you the information outlined later in this pamphlet.
The Defense Contract Service has been set up by the Office of Production Management, with the cooperation of the Federal Reserve System, to help democracy work swiftly. It provides a clearing house of information— close to home—f or prospective contractors and subcontractors, for Army and Navy procurement officers in the field, and for firms that now hold defense contracts and need subcontractors to help them speed up deliveries. These are its objectives:
1.	To establish a chain of conveniently located offices throughout the Nation where a contractor or potential contractor can receive all the information he could get from a trip to Washington.
2.	To advise manufacturers how to get contracts for defense work they are equipped to do.
3.	To encourage prime contractors to subcontract the greatest possible amount of their work.
4.	To help small shop owners pool their facilities so they can jointly participate in defense work which none of them is equipped to handle individually.
5.	To see that any manufacturer who has suitable facilities and is otherwise qualified for defense work obtains the necessary financing.
There are 36 regional offices of the Defense Contract Service—one in each of the 12 Federal Reserve Banks and
2
their 24 branch banks. With only one exception, there is one within 250 miles of every industrialist in the United States.
These regional offices are headed by production-minded business men. Their staffs include technical men competent to advise on the use and adaptability of plant facilities for defense work. Senior officers of the Federal Reserve Banks and branch banks are available to advise on financial problems. Staff members are there to explain the provisions of Government contracts.
Five great professional engineering societies are cooperating with the Service. Through them, technical advisors are available to the regional offices for consultation on special engineering problems—civil, electrical, mining, mechanical, or chemical.
Army and Navy Buying Lists
The Defense Contract Service offices do not take the place of Army and Navy procurement officers who have been maintained in the field for many years. On the contrary, they are there to help the armed services by sending more qualified bidders to them and seeing that their requirements are known to business men throughout the land.
Every regional office of the Defense Contract Service has lists of articles that the Army and Navy want to buy. Blueprints and, in some instances, samples of these items are on hand.
Many manufacturers have machines and skilled men to handle defense jobs, but do not know how to go about getting a contract. The Army and Navy would be glad to use their facilities if they knew about them; so, in many instances, would prime contractors.
Regional offices will help bring these groups together by expanding, correlating, and analyzing the many valuable plant facility surveys which already have been made by various public and private organizations.
The results of these surveys, plus information obtained from manufacturers who visit the regional offices, will pro-
3
vide a catalog of the productive facilities in every region of the country. By consulting this catalog, the Service will be able to direct Army and Navy purchasing officers to the plants they need, prime contractors to plants capable of handling subcontracts for them, and prospective subcontractors to prime contractors who have work they could do.
These catalogs of industrial facilities may also serve as the basis for organizing small manufacturers who, by pooling their limited facilities, can handle defense work.
Who Has Contracts Now
The Service will not assume responsibility for negotiations between primary and subcontractors. But wherever subcontracting will hasten deliveries, it will suggest to prime contractors what part of their work subcontractors can do—and urge them to farm out this work.
Lists of defense contracts already let are maintained at each regional office. These lists are brought up to date daily by dispatches from Washington. They enable the Service to tell potential subcontractors what firms have work they might share.
The Service also maintains at its regional offices a list of regular bidders for defense orders. This enables potential subcontractors to approach prospective prime contractors and figure on part of their work before they submit their bids.
The Office of Production Management believes that the spreading of defense work as widely as possible among existing plants is the best possible way to speed up imme-diate deliveries and to increase total production. Furthermore, it believes this the best way in which greater concentrations of industry, complicating the problem of economic readjustment when the emergency ends, may be held to a minimum.
Manufacturers should provide essential information when they write or go to a Defense Contract Service office. They should send or take with them photographs of the
6
interiors of their shops, taken from several angles, and pictures or descriptions of products they are now making or have made in the past. In addition, they should give the answers to as many as possible of these questions :
How many employees do you have?
How many people could you employ on a one-shift basis, a two-shift basis, or a three-shift basis ?
How many shifts are now working in your plant, and what is the length of each shift ?
How many shifts can you work with the labor supply available in your community ?
Do you have a design and development department ?
List each of your machines, by size, type, manufacturer’s name, manufacturer’s serial number, the year in which the machine was built, and the tolerances to which it will work.
How many machine-hours do you have idle per week, over and above present commitments? (This information should be broken down by types of machines.)
Is your power source adequate ?
What are your shipping facilities?
Who are some of your regular customers ?
Have you ever had a defense order and, if so, f01 what ? Have you ever been a subcontractor and, if so, for whom ? Have you ever subcontracted any of your work and, if so, to whom?
Plant Visits Planned
When necessary to find plants for specific purposes, the Defense Contract Service will send skilled production men, experienced in machine shops and manufacturing establishments, to inspect factories and consult with their owners.
The Service is decentralized to put the Office of Production Management in closer touch with the productive facilities of the Nation. But an organization is maintained at Washington to supervise and coordinate the entire program.
Robert L. Mehornay, of Kansas City, is Chief of the Service. Assisting him is a headquarters staff divided into these six sections :
7
Procurement Section, headed by C. J. Myers, of Oklahoma City, whose main function is to channel to the field offices complete information on where, when, and how to bid on Army and Navy contracts.
Financial Section, headed by Charles S. Garland, of Baltimore, which supplies to the regional offices complete information on financial matters connected with emergency plant construction and with prime and subcontracts for equipment and materials.
Subcontracting and Engineering Section, headed by Joseph L. Trecker and Francis J. Trecker, of Milwaukee, which supervises the extension of subcontracting work.
Contract Section, headed by Joseph P. Cotton, Jr., of New York, which explains—through the regional offices— the terms of various types of contracts used by the War and Navy Departments.
Special Services Section, headed by Peter R. Nehemkis, Jr., of Newark, N. J., which encourages responsible companies to organize groups of subcontractors around them.
Field Office Section, which coordinates the activities of the 36 field offices.
Generally speaking, all regional offices in each Federal Reserve district are under the supervision of a District Coordinator, a man distinguished in the business world. Each regional office, in turn, is under the immediate supervision of a District Manager or Assistant District Manager, who is a production-minded business man. Technical and business advisors complete the regional office staffs.
Where To Find Regional Offices
Here are the locations of the Federal Reserve Banks and branch banks, where regional offices of the Service may be found:
Atlanta, Ga., 104 Marietta Street.
Baltimore, Md., Lexington and Calvert Streets.
Birmingham, Ala., Eighteenth Street and Fifth Avenue, North.
8
Boston, Mass., 30 Pearl Street.
Buffalo, N. Y., 270-276 Main Street.
Charlotte, N. 0., 110 South Tryon Street.
Chicago, Ill., 230 South LaSalle Street.
Cincinnati, Ohio, Fourth and Race Streets.
Cleveland, Ohio, East Sixth Street and Superior Avenue.
Dallas, Tex., Wood and Akard Streets.
Denver, Colo., Seventeenth and Arapahoe Streets.
Detroit, Mich., 160 Fort Street, West.
El Paso, Tex., 351 Myrtle Avenue.
Helena, Mont., Park and Edwards Streets.
Houston, Tex., Texas Avenue and Caroline Street.
Jacksonville, Fla., Church and Hogan Streets.
Kansas City, Mo., Tenth Street and Grand Avenue.
Little Rock, Ark., Third and Louisiana Streets.
Los Angeles, Calif., Tenth and Olive Streets.
Louisville, Ky., Fifth and Market Streets.
Memphis, Tenn., Third and Jefferson Streets.
Minneapolis, Minn., 73 South Fifth Street.
Nashville, Tenn., 228 Third Avenue, North.
New Orleans, La., Carondelet and Common Streets.
New York City, 33 Liberty Street.
Oklahoma City, Okla., 226 West Third Street.
Omaha, Nebr., 1701-5 Dodge Street.
Philadelphia, Pa., 925 Chestnut Street.
Pittsburgh, Pa., Grant Street and Ogle Way.
Portland, Oreg., Sixth and Oak Streets.
Richmond, Va., Ninth and Franklin Streets.
Salt Lake City, Utah, Corner South Temple and East State Street.
San Antonio, Tex., Jardin and Villita Streets.
San Francisco, Calif., Sansome and Sacramento Streets.
St. Louis, Mo., 411 Locust Street.
Seattle, Wash., Second Avenue and Spring Street.
9
304003°—U.S.GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1941