The Connecticut labor news., 1921-08-05
Waste Elimination Committee
 Presents Startling Report
Instability of Arrangements and Neglect ot Elm plOyes Causes Enormous Turnover Wlth Consequent Loss of Millions to Employ CTS and Much More to the
 Workers.

GOO, 900 a year in the metal trades in duStry, says a report issued by the Committee on Elimination of Waste in Industry of the American Engi- neering Council. This estimate covers the value of labor only and does not include the value of materials that would be utilized if the productivity of labor were increased.
 The metal trades industry, called the largest manufacturing industry Tn the United States in the number ot employees and value of products, giv- ing employment to 2,ooo,ooo workers, IS declared to be operating as whole at only about Do per cent. of normal output The value of increased possl- ble production in the United States even in normal times would, it is es- timated, be over $5oo,ooo. Instability of labor employ nent and faulty management, the committee states, is responsible for the major causes of waste on non-production The average waste due to aVoidable labor turnover in the metal trades industry is computed at $Ioo,ooo,o ,ooo Modern employment methods, em- bracing the study of 'Why men quit, are urged.
 We have 2,ooo, 100000 unnecessary Separations the equivalent of D. COG, 100000 workers annually sepa- rated and re-hired somewhere" says the committee.
 The metal trades findings are part of the general report made by the committee on it's national assay of industrial waste, directed by L. w.. Wallace of Washington as vice-chair- man. The chairman of the commit ~f York The metal trades investiga- ton was in charge of Fred J. Miller of New York, ex-president of Amer ican Society of Mechanical Engineers, and William B. Ferguson of Phila- delphia
 Why It Is.
 The report states that it presents the views of managing executives in g of the plants visited. Being asked their opinion," the report says, ''as to the main cause of waste or in efficiency their answers were as fol- lows:
 In eight plants the answer re- ferred particularly to present buSl- ness conditions and was to the effect that the most important cause is the uneven volume of business or the fuctuation in the demand for the pro- duct; lack of enough business to keep going at normal capacity
 'In four plants the cause given concerned the railroad situation and the functioning of the railroad ad- juStment board.
 'ln three plants the cause given was lack of standardization of design of products.'
 "ln two plants the cause given was GIoI> ecutive saying that these had been caused by wartime conditions.
 Tn four plants the cause given was lack of planning'-the exact words used being lack of proper planning and routing; one lack of correct planning and material control; one 'unscientitc planning and manage ment,' and one lack of efficient plan ming and management methods
 'In six plants the cause given was lack of cooperation between man agement and labor
 'Other causes given in various plants were as follows:
 "'Lack of intensive study of meth ods'; cost control systems needed ,; daily cost report needed; lack of scientific management applied to all phases of the business; ineficiency of labor and excessive overhead.'
 In other plants special causes in the machine tool business were given as follows:
 "The failure of machine tool build CTS to supply what the public wants
 Most of the metal trades shops are very small and require personal handling by the manager of such i'm portant problems as are handled by our system of production control.
 Insufficient capital to develop sales and to improve facilities.
 'PurChasing in small quantities, by the small plants, which places them at a disadvantage as to favorable prices and as to transportation and handling expense"
 The major cause of waste or non production in the metal trades in dustry at the present time IS the un employment due to general bushes: conditions which affect all other in dustries, the report says, adding:
 Labor Bureau Statistics.
 "The United States department o labor, bureau of labor statistics, re ports on a survey of I,423 firms in tn, metal trades industry employing I, 643,z53 men, that the decreases in tn number on the payroll from Febru dIy, l9ZO, lO ICDI udl yJ IOZIJ WCIC A. per cent in the iron and steel indus try, 42.3 per cent. in the automobil industry, and Io6 per cent. in the ca building and repairing industry. Tn Employers Association of Detroit re port on March 10, E92I, that 79 shop were employing 67,I37 hands com pared to Io8,7o5 employed on Apr 7, 1920 In Philadelphia, out of tn I5o,ooo hands employed in the meta trades in July, 1920, about 3o,ooo wer out of work on March I, 1921.
 "The present industrial condition in the United States and abroad atfeC the metal trades very seriously an the industry as a whole is operating a only about Go per cent. Ot normal out put. Manufacturers can undoubtedl hasten a return to normal condition by producing goods as economicall as possible so as to make Sellln prices low enough to attract buyers.
 There are nearly 2,Ooo,ooo peopl engaged in the establishment ot tn metal trades industry and an enol nous increase in total production possible. It is estimated that at pre-: ent about So per cent. of the respor sibilty for waste, or non-product1o1 rests with management; | 6. with tn managers and executives Tn tn plants
 Estimated Waste.
 The estimated waste in IS reprt sentative plants selected by the con nittee averages 28 per cent. for thel
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