Evening star., 1921-07-29
.|DtENESS CAUSES
LOSS Of BILLION
Experts Probing Waste in
Metal Trades Find I'm
menSe Labor Turnover.

NEW YORK, July 29.-Idle men and
, ly billion dollars a year in the metal
| trades industry, says a report iEsued
/ today by the committee on elimtna-
tion of waste in industry of the Amer
lean Engineering Council. This esti-
mate does not include the value of
productivity were increased.
Instability of. labor employment and
faulty management. the committee
said. are major causes of waste IN the
industry. which is the largest manu-
featuring industry in the United
States. both in number Of employees
and value Of products.
100000. 900 Yearly WASTE.
/ The average waste due to avoidable
labor turnover in the metal industry
is computed at $100,OO0.0O0. Modern
employment methods. embracing the
study of why men quit are urged.
I'VE have 100000 unnecessary sep
aratiOns the equivalent of 100000
workers annually separated and re-
/ hired" says the report.
Present industrial conditions in the
! United States and abroad are declared
seriously to have affected the metal
trades industry. which as a whole Is
operating at only about so per cent Of
| normal.
Manufacturers" the report adds,
! can undoubtedly hasten a return to
normal conditions by producing goods
make selling prices low enough to at
| tract buyers.
Managers Largely Blamed.
There are nearly 100000 people
engaged in the metal trades industry.
and an enormous increase in total
| production is possible. 1t is estimated
the responsibility for waste or nom
production rests with management.
namely, with the managers and ex-
| ecutives in the plants"
The report says that with the excep-
ton Of the shipbuilding branch of this
| resulting from strikes and lockouts
has not been as serious in the metal
| trades as in some other industries.
"An open interchange Of ideas and
business results by managements,"
continues. both in the particular in
dustry and in other industries. should
| lead to a higher level of methods.
service and general business ethics. II
carried on through definite channels
, such interchange might easily result
| in a combined study of the possibilt-
| ties in the future and the avoidance in
| the years to come. of such conditions
as we are now facing.
Labor Must Be Elevated.
1T is evident that management Of
labor must be elevated to a higher
J plane Because labor Is the major fac
! tor in most II not all industries. II
. should be led by recognized fntelli-
gence rather than by radical agitators
on the one hand or by stupid reaction
aries on the other.
! Remarkable and very favorable re-
suits have been secured in labor rela-
! tions and in improvement of efficiency
/ simply by establishing frank and
open conferences and free inter-
, inc open shops (shops in which no
I prejudice or discrimination Is al
! lowed to exist either for or against
/ men who do or do not belong to labor
! organizations, and sometimes by col
lective bargaining in the dealing with
all responsibility for keeping the
men to agreements fairly made be-
| tween management and employes). .
= Successful plants have management
systems, says the report, which con-
cludes:
ID. {. Man director OF HepOrtn.
1T will take time to bring the en-
! tire industry up to the higher level.
During that time some establish
l. ments will probabl be eliminated by
the competition Of the more advanced,
but in this direction lies the only
hope Of eliminating Industrial
wastes" .
The metal trades findings are q
part of the general report made by
the committee on its national assay
of industrial waste, directed by L. W.
Wallace of Washington as vice chair
man. The metal trades investtga-
tion was in charge of Fred J.. Miller
of New York and William B. Fergu-
son of Philadelphia.