ABSTRACT
In an automobile assembly plant, the moving line controls production. In a certain sense it guarantees that a given quantity of the product be manufactured in a given increment of time. This describes the regular procedure for covering absentees, the difficulties as described in the foreman's own words, the remedies suggested by foremen for improving the present system, and their suggestions for eliminating some of the causes of absenteeism. One of the practices for "covering" an absentee is to assign a utility man to a vacant operation. Each foreman is provided with one or more utility men who are capable of performing all the jobs in a section. Teaching men to do more than one job, using replacements from off-line operations, "borrowing" a man from another foreman — in these and other ways foremen tried to gain flexibility for temporary manpower shortages in spite of the rigid manpower requirements of the assembly line.
