State

This year, for the first time , two new North Carolina manufacturing plants were acclaimed among the " Top Ten’ factories in the United States by "Fac¬ tory" Magazine, which for the past 27 years has been making this annual award on the basis of over-all excel¬ lence in planning and construction. Hanes Hosiery Mills Company. Weeks Division, in Winston-Salem, and Aeronautical Electronics. Inc., of Ra¬ leigh, were among the ten chosen from 500 nominations by leading U. S. ar¬ chitects, engineers, and builders. Each received a citation and an original Kent Day Coes water color of its plant. Both Hanes Hosiery and Aerotron are "home grown" Tar Heel organizations. Ilanes Hosiery Mills Company. Weeks Division. Winston-Salem. N. C.; Architect-Engineer: Lockwood Greene Engineers, Inc., Spartanburg, S. C.; Consulting Engineer : Davidson and Shepard. Greensboro. N. C.: Prime Contractor: Fowler-Zones Construction Company, Winston-Salem, N. C„ and The Bahnson Company. Winston-Salem, N. C. Among the Nation’s “Top Ten” Hanes Hosiery Mills Company Weeks Division "A perfectly co-ordinated productive masterpiece," says Factory ; and this judgement is emphasized by the fact that this plant has only 15 per cent more floor space than the Hanes Hosiery main plant, yet it will produce 40 per cent more hosiery because of efficient planning and equipment. This is the largest hosiery mill under one roof in the world, located on a 626-acre site near Winston-Salem, pro¬ viding for virtually unlimited expansi¬ bility to keep pace with consumer de¬ mand. This 721,325 square-foot plant, in which all departments are now only partially occupied, is designed to em¬ ploy about 4,000 people before it will need enlarging. The new Hanes Hosiery plant — which is a complete manufacturing unit, capable of operating independ¬ ently of the other Hanes facilities — is constructed along both sides of a central backbone that neatly consoli¬ dates communications, utilities, traffic, and administration. Expansive manu¬ facturing and service departments stretch out on each side of the back¬ bone. “Everything has been designed to make working conditions efficient and pleasant. Excellent work-area lighting, nearly 100 per cent air-conditioning with highly-engineered controls, acous¬ tic treatment, plenty of music from well-distributed speakers, almost 100 per cent perimeter parking with nine entrances, imaginative use of color, and a top-flight cafeteria — all these are among the chief factors that make this a truly significant plant." Aeronautical Electronics, Inc. The Aerotron plant, located four miles north of Raleigh, is the world's largest exclusive manufacturer of two- way mobile radio equipment. Rela¬ tively modest in size, Aerotron employs some 130 people, but the company is growing rapidly and plans ultimately to triple the size of its buildings. Especially impressive is this com¬ pany’s efficient handling of materials. Acroiron’s operation hinges impor¬ tantly on gathering a variety of elec¬ tronic components, fabricating them into wired subassemblies, and soldering into concurrently fabricated chassis. Factory emphasizes that “Good han¬ dling — or bad handling — is created when the plant is designed. The best plant layouts and handling systems arc those planned before building design." In this connection, the magazine re¬ fers to "Aerotron 's well-planned ma¬ terial handling methods within its clean, neat and excellently lighted small (250-person) plant." Aeronautical Electronics. Inc., Raleigh. N. C.: Architect: Holloway-Reeves. Raleigh. N. C.: Builder: Davidson and Jones, Raleigh. N. C. CONSTRUCTION IN NORTH CAROLINA 29