PIECEWORK AND PRODUCTION

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22112, 7 June 1937, Page 8

PIECEWORK AND PRODUCTION

American Industrial Methods NEW ZEALAND VISITOR'S IMPRESSIONS "In most American factories the employees are paid by results in place of a standardised hourly or weekly wage, and this practice arouses a general ambition to earn as much as possible, with a consequent speeding up of production said Mr A. E. Mercer, a Christchurch manufacturer, in speaking to a representative of "The Press of his impressions on his recent visit to America. . Mr Mercer visited a number of big manufacturing plants in Chicago, Detroit, and other large industrial centres. At the great majority of plants the employees were on piecework, and their earnings were relatively high w lt h skilled workers in New Zealand. A welder for instance, averaged 6s an hour and a metal worker 4s an hour n most cases there was a stipulated minimum which the men had to Sin, and those employers with whom he had discussed wages conditions said that the employees earn in.c the higher wages and, of course, producing more were in the great est demand. Work at High Pressure Payment by piecework had developed the habit of quick movements on the part of American workmen, and this struck the visitor very forcibly. At some ! the factories visited by Mr Mercer hourly wages were paid as in New Zealand; but there again, having at one time or the other worked on piecework, the employees had the quickness of movement of men working at high pressure. Offsetting the high wages paid by American industry was the fact that the cost of living and the standard of living were high. ■ Contrary to the generally accepted opinion, Mr Mercer said, outside of automobiles and a few other standard lines, he found the cost of some manufactured articles in the United States relatively dear by comparison with New Zealand. He was intrigued for instance with the case of stainless steel sink tops, a line in which he was [interested, complete figures in respect j of which were supplied to him by American manufacturers. Costing sa dollars 68 cents (approximately £l2) to manufacture, this article was sold by the manufacturers at a net price of 87 dollars 50 cents (£l7 14s) and by the time it reached the consumer the net price was 218 dollars (about £43 12s). The retail price of the same article, of equal standard of quality, in New Zealand, manufactured from materials imported from Great Britain was £ls 10s—a difference of £2B. This was a big contrast; yet it was a fact. Two factors induced this situation, commented Mr Mercer. One was that higher wages and higher rents and other higher overhead costs obtained in America, and there was an absence of direct selling from manufacturer to consumer. The practice was for the manufacturer to sell the whole of his output to certain stores at a set price, and the stores themselves bore the whole of the expenses of advertising, display, and marketing. In New Zealand the selling expenses were not at the same high ratio and the price had to be attractive to bring the article within the scope of the purchaser. Spirit of' Co-operation Another factor which favoured the American manufacturer was that he had such a tremendous population to work on* that he had no difficulty in commanding a high price for good quality lines. On the other hand, he was simply not interested in persons who could not afford to buy his products—there were plenty of others with money, and willing to pay the price askdd. Mr Mercer said that he had returned home convinced, that New Zealand's secondary industries could not make much headway unless the population of the Dominion was materially increased Even in Canada, a country with a population of 10.000,000. the cry to-day was for more population to provide a sufficiently large buying public to ensure progress on the part of the manufacturing industries. , In America, Mr Mercer found what he described as a wonderful spirit of co-operation and goodwill between manufacturers. Although they might be in direct opposition to each other With certain lines, they did not hesitate to help one another, even going to the length of sharing designs and patterns and in other ways assisting rival organisations. The reason for this was the common belief of the manufacturers that the more they pulled together and exchanged ideas and the like, the more they could between them create a bigger buying demand.