Inland Fisher Guide Plant (New Jersey)
Encyclopedia
The Inland Fisher Guide Plant was a General Motors
facility located in the West Trenton
section of Ewing Township, New Jersey
that opened in 1938 as one of its most modern plants and was operated by the firm for 60 years. The facility was initially part of the Ternstedt division of GM's Fisher Body
unit and was used to construct auto parts such as body moldings, door handles and other interior components. During World War II, the facility was converted to build torpedo bomber
s for the United States Navy as part of GM's Eastern Aircraft. In 1961, the plant was the site of the first industrial robot
used in the United States. At the time of its closure in 1998, the plant made auto components for Delphi Automotive. The buildings on the site were demolished and by 2011 funding had been received by Ewing Township from the federal government to remediate contamination on the site in anticipation of plans to redevelop the area for commercial purposes.
Harold G. Hoffman
. The plant was dedicated in November 1938 at ceremonies attended by GM Chairman Alfred P. Sloan
and company president William S. Knudsen
. The facility employed a crew of 1,500 when it opened in September 1938, though plans were made to double the number of employees to accommodate expectations that production would be doubled as the condition of the American economy improved in the wake of the strong Republican gains in the 1938 congressional elections, which Sloan described as being an "indication of returning common sense."
for the United States Navy
during World War II. Subassemblies from other factories were shipped to Ewing Township via the Reading Railroad and were combined with other components built at Ewing, with the completed planes brought to Skillman Airport (later known as Trenton-Mercer Airport
) for delivery to the military after test flights were completed. The first Avenger built at the plant was test flown in November 1942, less than eight months after the facility had started undergoing conversion for military purposes. A total of 7,800 Avengers were constructed at the plant in Ewing, including the plane George H. W. Bush
was flying on September 2, 1944, when he was shot down over the Pacific Ocean by Japanese anti-aircraft fire. In September 1945, the Navy turned almost all of the plants it had acquired during the war would be turned over to the Surplus Property Administration, with portions of the Ewing plant being one of the limited number of exceptions. After the war ended, the plant was converted back to producing auto components.
automated hydraulic arm developed by George Devol
and Joseph Engelberger
to position into cooling pools units of aluminum door handles and other automotive components weighing as much as 40 pounds (18.1 kg) that had just been die cast from molten metal, eliminating the risks to employees of handling extremely hot metal pieces and taking over on a permanent basis a task that had previously been performed by three shifts of employees. The first production Unimate was donated to the Smithsonian Institution
in 1971 after being used for 100,000 hours during its 10 years of continuous operation at the Ewing plant.
, General Motors announced in May 1994 that the plant would be kept open as the result of an agreement with the UAW under which the plant's workforce would be reduced by 25% as an effort to reduce costs.
No longer economically competitive with other manufacturing facilities, the plant was to be permanently closed in 1998, resulting in the loss of the 900 people who had been producing seat adjusters, moldings and painted exterior components. The last day of operation was in June 1998 and the 350 workers still on the payroll, who were promised job opportunities elsewhere, were given commemorative books as they punched out for their last time.
The plant was demolished and General Motors paid annual property taxes of $75,000 as of 2010 for the 80 acres (32.4 ha) of land previously occupied by the plant, the minimum that would be due for unimproved property. While the building had been assessed for $7 million while it was operating, the value of the property for taxation purposes had declined to $940,000 by 2010 for the vacant land.
The site has been targeted for cleanup and commercial redevelopment by Ewing Township, with a $10.4 million grant received in 2011 to cover the costs of remediation of the site. The funds would come from the Revitalizing Auto Communities Environmental Response Trust established following the 2009 bankruptcy filing by General Motors
to be used for the cleanup of 89 properties that had been owned by GM and will be distributed to Ewing Township as the remediation project progresses under the supervision of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection
.
General Motors
General Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...
facility located in the West Trenton
West Trenton, New Jersey
West Trenton, New Jersey is a section of the Trenton suburb of Ewing Township, located just northwest of the capital's city limits.It is home to the New Jersey State Police Headquarters, Trenton-Mercer Airport, Trenton Country Club , New Jersey Manufacturers Insurance Company, The Homasote Company,...
section of Ewing Township, New Jersey
Ewing Township, New Jersey
-Demographics:As of the 2010 Census, there were 35,790 people, 13,171 households, and 7,980 families residing in the township. There were 13,926 housing units. The racial makeup of the township was 63.1% White, 27.6% African American, 0.3% Native American, 4.3% Asian, 0.0% Pacific Islander, 2.2%...
that opened in 1938 as one of its most modern plants and was operated by the firm for 60 years. The facility was initially part of the Ternstedt division of GM's Fisher Body
Fisher Body
Fisher Body is an automobile coachbuilder founded by the Fisher brothers in 1908 in Detroit, Michigan; it is now an operating division of General Motors Company...
unit and was used to construct auto parts such as body moldings, door handles and other interior components. During World War II, the facility was converted to build torpedo bomber
Torpedo bomber
A torpedo bomber is a bomber aircraft designed primarily to attack ships with aerial torpedoes which could also carry out conventional bombings. Torpedo bombers existed almost exclusively prior to and during World War II when they were an important element in many famous battles, notably the...
s for the United States Navy as part of GM's Eastern Aircraft. In 1961, the plant was the site of the first industrial robot
Industrial robot
An industrial robot is defined by ISO as an automatically controlled, reprogrammable, multipurpose manipulator programmable in three or more axes...
used in the United States. At the time of its closure in 1998, the plant made auto components for Delphi Automotive. The buildings on the site were demolished and by 2011 funding had been received by Ewing Township from the federal government to remediate contamination on the site in anticipation of plans to redevelop the area for commercial purposes.
Construction
The plant was constructed at a cost of $2 million and had its groundbreaking ceremonies in August 1937 that were attended by Governor of New JerseyGovernor of New Jersey
The Office of the Governor of New Jersey is the executive branch for the U.S. state of New Jersey. The office of Governor is an elected position, for which elected officials serve four year terms. While individual politicians may serve as many terms as they can be elected to, Governors cannot be...
Harold G. Hoffman
Harold G. Hoffman
Harold Giles Hoffman was an American politician, a Republican who served as the 41st Governor of New Jersey, from 1935 to 1938. He also served two terms representing in the United States House of Representatives, from 1927 to 1931.-Early life:Hoffman was born in South Amboy, New Jersey to Frank...
. The plant was dedicated in November 1938 at ceremonies attended by GM Chairman Alfred P. Sloan
Alfred P. Sloan
Alfred Pritchard Sloan, Jr. was an American business executive in the automotive industry. He was a long-time president, chairman, and CEO of General Motors Corporation...
and company president William S. Knudsen
William S. Knudsen
William Signius Knudsen was a leading automotive industry executive. His experience and success as a key senior manager in the operations sides of Ford Motor Company and later General Motors led the Franklin Roosevelt Administration to commission him as a Lieutenant General in the United States...
. The facility employed a crew of 1,500 when it opened in September 1938, though plans were made to double the number of employees to accommodate expectations that production would be doubled as the condition of the American economy improved in the wake of the strong Republican gains in the 1938 congressional elections, which Sloan described as being an "indication of returning common sense."
War effort
Car part production at the plant ended on December 12, 1941, and one month later the factory became a unit of Eastern Aircraft, one of five former General Motors plants in the area which was shifted to the war effort and used to construct the TBM variants of the Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo bomberTorpedo bomber
A torpedo bomber is a bomber aircraft designed primarily to attack ships with aerial torpedoes which could also carry out conventional bombings. Torpedo bombers existed almost exclusively prior to and during World War II when they were an important element in many famous battles, notably the...
for the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
during World War II. Subassemblies from other factories were shipped to Ewing Township via the Reading Railroad and were combined with other components built at Ewing, with the completed planes brought to Skillman Airport (later known as Trenton-Mercer Airport
Trenton-Mercer Airport
Trenton-Mercer Airport , formerly known as Mercer County Airport, is a public airport located in Ewing, New Jersey, four miles northwest of the central business district of Trenton, a city in Mercer County, New Jersey...
) for delivery to the military after test flights were completed. The first Avenger built at the plant was test flown in November 1942, less than eight months after the facility had started undergoing conversion for military purposes. A total of 7,800 Avengers were constructed at the plant in Ewing, including the plane George H. W. Bush
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
was flying on September 2, 1944, when he was shot down over the Pacific Ocean by Japanese anti-aircraft fire. In September 1945, the Navy turned almost all of the plants it had acquired during the war would be turned over to the Surplus Property Administration, with portions of the Ewing plant being one of the limited number of exceptions. After the war ended, the plant was converted back to producing auto components.
First robot
In 1961, the facility became the first commercial user in the United States to use a programmable industrial robot to replace human workers, installing the 4000 pounds (1,814.4 kg) UnimateUnimate
Unimate was the first industrial robot,which worked on a General Motors assembly line at the Inland Fisher Guide Plant in Ewing Township, New Jersey, in 1961.It was created by George Devol in the 1950s using his original patents...
automated hydraulic arm developed by George Devol
George Devol
George Charles Devol, Jr. was an American inventor who was awarded the patent for Unimate, the first industrial robot. Devol's patent for the first digitally operated programmable robotic arm represented the foundation of the modern robotics industry.As an inventor he had over 40 patents and was...
and Joseph Engelberger
Joseph Engelberger
Joseph F. Engelberger is a physicist, engineer and entrepreneur who is referred to as the "Father of Robotics". Licensing the original patent awarded to inventor George Devol, Engelberger developed the first industrial robot in the United States, the Unimate, in the 1950s...
to position into cooling pools units of aluminum door handles and other automotive components weighing as much as 40 pounds (18.1 kg) that had just been die cast from molten metal, eliminating the risks to employees of handling extremely hot metal pieces and taking over on a permanent basis a task that had previously been performed by three shifts of employees. The first production Unimate was donated to the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
in 1971 after being used for 100,000 hours during its 10 years of continuous operation at the Ewing plant.
Closure
In December 1992, General Motors announced that what was then known as the Delphi Interior & Lighting Systems plant would be closed in 1993, which would mean that the 2,200 people working there would be unemployed. In September 1993, William D. Hurley of Independent Component Systems announced that a deal had been reached to acquire the plant from General Motors, as part of an agreement that had been reached with the assistance of the State of New Jersey, though the transaction never was completed. After reaching concessions with Local 731 of the United Auto WorkersUnited Auto Workers
The International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, better known as the United Auto Workers , is a labor union which represents workers in the United States and Puerto Rico, and formerly in Canada. Founded as part of the Congress of Industrial...
, General Motors announced in May 1994 that the plant would be kept open as the result of an agreement with the UAW under which the plant's workforce would be reduced by 25% as an effort to reduce costs.
No longer economically competitive with other manufacturing facilities, the plant was to be permanently closed in 1998, resulting in the loss of the 900 people who had been producing seat adjusters, moldings and painted exterior components. The last day of operation was in June 1998 and the 350 workers still on the payroll, who were promised job opportunities elsewhere, were given commemorative books as they punched out for their last time.
The plant was demolished and General Motors paid annual property taxes of $75,000 as of 2010 for the 80 acres (32.4 ha) of land previously occupied by the plant, the minimum that would be due for unimproved property. While the building had been assessed for $7 million while it was operating, the value of the property for taxation purposes had declined to $940,000 by 2010 for the vacant land.
The site has been targeted for cleanup and commercial redevelopment by Ewing Township, with a $10.4 million grant received in 2011 to cover the costs of remediation of the site. The funds would come from the Revitalizing Auto Communities Environmental Response Trust established following the 2009 bankruptcy filing by General Motors
General Motors Chapter 11 reorganization
The General Motors Chapter 11 sale of the assets of automobile manufacturer General Motors and some of its subsidiaries was implemented through section 363 of Chapter 11, Title 11, United States Code in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York...
to be used for the cleanup of 89 properties that had been owned by GM and will be distributed to Ewing Township as the remediation project progresses under the supervision of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection is a government agency in the U.S. state of New Jersey that is responsible for managing the state's natural resources and addressing issues related to pollution...
.