Friday Morning Videos: 1950's Whirlpool Assembly Line

Here is some classic footage of the Whirlpool assembly line in the 1950's.



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Friday Morning Videos: Tour a Refrigerator Factory

This morning we have a video we found that takes us behind the scenes at the Whirlpool/Amana refrigerator factory in Newton, Iowa. The interview is primarily concerned with energy efficiency and several steps Whirlpool uses to increase efficiency are discussed.

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Throwback Thursday: News Recap September 19, 2014

If you have been reading the W.L. May Blog but haven't checked us out on Facebook, Twitter or Google+, you may not be getting the whole story. We use all of those social media outlets to share news stories that relate to our industry as well as appliance tips we have found from other sources. Here is a recap of some of the top stories we have seen lately. A lot has been happening so without further ado:

We start with a few consumer friendly articles we feel would be great for sharing:

• The Simple Dollar discusses the cost effectiveness of hand washing dishes vs a dishwasher. Link
• Rodale News made these suggestions for saving money when running your refrigerator. Link
• Reviewed.Com shared their picks for best American made appliances. Link
• Deseret News offered 8 tips for keeping produce frsh in the refrigerator. Link
• Angie from Angie List gives her opinion on the age old question: repair or replace? Link
• C-Net published their washing machine buying guide. Link
• The Daily Orange made some suggestions for new college students tackling using dorm laundry facilities. Link

Next, we look at the manufacturers and how they have been in the news recently:

• Whirlpool announced the hiring of a new executive chef. Link
• Multi-Housing news approves of Whirlpools "Ice" line of appliances. Link
• Whirlpool announced the launch of the industries first induction double oven freestanding range. Link 
• A new design of Heier dishwasher doesn't have a handle for its latch. Link
• Whirlpool announced their new WashSquad app for iphones. Link
• GE's chefs talked about what they like about GE appliances and shared a few recipes. Link
• GE told us about the process involved with formulating a new color of appliance paint. Link

We found a few articles that might be of interest to those of you who love all thing appliances:

• We reposted this older story from Digital Trends about some hi-tech refrigerator magnets. Link
• Newsleader.com discussed retro style appliances and their growing popularity. Link
• Peta Pixel shared a dishwasher trick for film photographers. Link
• Main St. had an in-depth piece on smart appliances and the internet of things. Link
• Scott. J. Higgins makes the argument that the washing machine was a more important invention than the internet. Link
• We found these images of destruction for those of you who like such things. Link
• Wired reported on a concept idea for washing machine sharing. Link
• Gigaom tells us why they think washing machines, not refrigerators, will be the first successful internet connected appliances. Link
• Digital Journal told us about a blog that offers dating advice based on what the dates refrigerator looks like inside. Link

Sometimes, the links we post are related to technology, business or happenings on the internet:

• Smart Van posted an excellent article about stock management and its relationship to first call completion rates. Link
• KFGO reported cautious optimism for manufacturing in 2014. Link
• Smart Van makes the list again with their 7 Deadly Sins for Service Calls. Link
• Hubspot offers 30 Terrible Pieces of Social Media Advise You Should Ignore. Link

A new contest was announced

• Womans world is giving away a Frigidaire refrigerator. Link

We close with an interesting article about the history of the Philips screw and screwdriver:

• From A Continuous Lean. Link

Fix It Friday-How A Clothes Dryer Is Made

"How It's Made" is a frequently interesting program that can be found on the Science Channel. For those of you who may not know of the show, they go to manufacturing facilities of everyday items and show the process used to make those items. This episode is all about clothes dryers. It is pretty neat seeing the assembly line churning out dryers that we may be someday be sending out parts to repair. I did hear an error in the narration toward the end of the clip. The narrator mentions that the timer turns on the appliances "various switches and gears". As we all know in this business, a dryer doesn't have a transmission or gears for the timer to activate. Really though, that is a minor point in an overall interesting clip. Also, who out there can identify the brand of dryer?

Thanks for watching this  clip and visiting our blog. If you have a repair you would like teach others to do, we would love to feature it on a future Fix It Friday. Email me at rob.m@wlmay.com if you would like to submit a video or article. Of course, we will give all credit to you and your company for any items we decide to use. Have a great weekend!