THE HISTORY OF TUNGSRAM 1896-1945 - MEK

TUNGSRAM• > . ^86In 1937, for the first time since the Depression, theincandescent lamp production reached the twentymillion barrier, never to fall below that mark again.In the late 1930s the incandescent lamp productionhad the following breakdown:Lamp designs* Normal vacuumlampsNormal gas-filledlampsuptolOOWlamps from 150 WFestoon lampsSpecial lampsPearl sealed lampsGlow lampsKrypton lampsA total ofFisca1937-19386,132,168.• '7,789,564958,258162,5224,327,2263,091,33913,1282,675,69425,149,899year1938-19394,906,9347,620,0971,008,830162,8233,394,7911,874,80244,8974,718,94323,732,117Looking at the table the sudden growth of the kryptonlamp production, going up by nearly 80 percent withinone year, becomes evident.According to the scedule, in 1937 the production of 9.2million incandescent lamps were targeted in the first 4months of that year; furhter 6.5 million lamps were tobe manufactured in the summer months — betweenMay and August —, and in the remaining 4 monthsanother 9.3 million lamps would complete the roundfigureof that year's total of 25 million lamps. ' j ^The variety of designs shown in TUNGSRAM'S productionwas matched by the fluctuating intensity of theirmanufacturing throughout the year. Generally, threeperiods were distinguished within each year.The reason for this was that the quality of the lampsproduced during the summer heat was inferior to thatof the lamps manufactured in the cooler months. Forthis reason, and also to protect the health of theworkers, in that period the factory only ran for sevenhours a day, or 35 hours a week, since only maintenancework was done on Saturdays. The productionpeaked in December and in the following couple ofmonths. Experience showed that the "cheapest andthe best quality lamps were produced' in thosemonths. The cooling air had a lowertemperature in thewinter months, allowing to fill the lamps to a higherpressure. The workers' productivity was lower duringthe summer months, in the inefficiently cooled and oftoo low clearance work halls.The incandescent lamps were being marketed primarilywithin the framework of PHOEBUS in this period,too. The cartel's trading was also hurt by the Depression,as it can be seen from the trade figures ofTUNGSRAM:Year193019311934193519361937Number of lamps sold19,616,00013,045,00016,430,000 "• '.18,223,00021,600,00027,361,000The table clearly indicates that the trading did notreach the level of business done in the first year of theDepression until 1937. The trade figures could haveeven been better, had the company always been ableto meet its inflated quotas during the mid-1930s. (Forexample, in 1935 TUNGSRAM missed its quota by 2.5million lamps TUNGSRAM'S quota came to 10.13percent of the cartel's total business in 1939.The company's export had the following break-downone the international market in 1936:.V,