THE HISTORY OF TUNGSRAM 1896-1945 - MEK

TUNGSRAM..^.'i^28investments, the company paid out 6,5 million Koronas-individends between 1906 and 1914. In the sameperiod it raised its equity to 6.5 million Koronas, whileits capital reserves reached 5.8 million Koronas. TheUjpest plant, complete with machinery, was valued at8.7 million Koronas in the fiscal year of 1913/1914. Thecompany's liquidity is best shown by the fact that ithad 5.1 million Koronas in outstanding debts as opposedto its 4.3 million Koronas liability, while alsobeing in possession of supplies and goods worth 4million Koronas.The following figures can also demonstrate the triumphof tungsten lamps:Fiscal year1908/19091909/19101910/19111911/19121913/1914Profit (Koronas)Carbon-filamentlamps373,372346,088194,715100,30415,000ProfitTungstenlamps17,599320,093630,820376,784641,000Chief executive officer, Gyula Egger, technical managerJozsef Pinter and marketing manager Lipot Aschnerwere all instrumental in turning TUNGSRAM into alarge corporation. Gyula Egger acted as administrateurdelegue after 1 May, 1906. His duties consistedof checking the business management and representingthe company abroad. With the passing of the yearshe became gradually less active and the running of thecompany was left with the managerial and businesswizard, Lipot Aschner, who held the complete confidenceof the two major share-holders, the two banks.(141) Jozsef Pinter continued to act as the technicalmanager of both departments, although he was gettingmore and more tied up with the running of theMechanical Department. The two distinguished managerswere elected to the board of directors on thegeneral meetings held in 1912 and 1913.The heads of departments running the Lamp ManufacturingDepartment were Dr. Ferenc Salzer, Simon Justand Armin Helfgott. (142) The chemical engineer,Aladar Peczel joined TUNGSRAM on 1 March, 1912.Earlier he had worked for Westinghouse, the Vienneseincandescent lamp manufacturer. His services to thecompany proved invaluable when the company'stungsten lamp production went through a criticalphase. (143) Developing the production technology ofthe tungsten-coil lamps in the TUNGSRAM was associatedwith Perczel's name.The company's work-force was 2,300 in 1910, whichgrew to 3,600 by 1913. At the same time, theTUNGSRAM Hungarian Wagon and Machine Factoryemployed 2,500 workers, while Mannfred Weiss Steeland Metal Works had 6,000 employees. (144)TUNGSRAM introduced certain regulations in 1913,which uniformly applied to the work-force as a whole,requiring "every worker to show, both in his conductand work, loyalty, honesty, diligence, as well as obedienceand respect towards his superiors". No onewas allowed to leave the factory during working hours,unless one had permission in the form of an exit ticketsigned by one's superior. People could only havemedical examination in the factory's surgery with anappointment card issued in the workshop office. "Theworkers were allowed to consume food brought fromhome on the premises only when that did not interferewith the continuous work". (145)The adverse housing situation in the locality greatlyhindered the company's efforts to expand the workforce,and did that especially in the case of the skilledworkers. This problem affected the Lamp ManufacturingDepartment more than it did the rest of the factory.The management of the company first wanted toimprove the situation by building roughly 200 flats forits workers in 1907. Several suggestion had beensubmitted in connection with the Tungsram HousingEstate. The executive committee finally instructed thetechnical manager, Jozsef Pinter to work out thedetails of the proposal. (146)The workers' cultural advancement was not helped bythe slowly progressing construction work. Minor in-