Evening star., 1949-10-02
British Team
Sees Reason
Steel Is. Tops
Complete Revamping
of Foundries Is
Indicated Goal
By c. {. Dunn

80 per cent greater than in British
foundries.
This conclusion, reached by q
team of British steel founders who
spent. six weeks in March and
April touring the States and
studying industrial "know-how'
there. is made the starting point
f.: their report. published on Fri
day. The foundrymen Travelled
under the auspices of the Anglo
American Productivity Council
and were first in a series of British
industrial teams to study Ameri-
can methods. F. A. Martin, chair
man of the British Steel Founders
Association. led the group which
included managers. technicians
and workers.
The report covers 108 pages and
is richly illustrated with photo
graphs. technical drawings and
statistical tables. It would be
difficult to imagine a more out
spoken plea for higher produc-
tivity in British foundries.
Plea for Production
The team report makes their
attitude on productivity abun-
dainty clear. They call it "the
means to obtain freedom from
the fear of want" and declare
roundly: ANY rule, practice or
policy acting against high produc-
tivity offends the community as
q whole
1t is clear that they did not ap-
prove of everything they saw. For
instance. they emphasize that "the
compulsion of fear" is potent
factor IN American industry.
Moreover. they have found that
labor in United States steel foun-
dries, judged by British standards,
is "conspicuously unskilled."
Much higher wages in the
United States of America, the re-
port says, can buy standard of
living only slightly higher than
the British. because of the differ
ence in the cost of living.
The team found that greater use
IS made in America of power
operated plants for handling ma
terials. American practice has
gained the lead here, the report
adds, because the work is repeti-
tive and lends itself to mechani-
zation.
Efficiency Becomes Emotional
First, last and all the time" it
says, arrangements are actuated
by the belief that high rates of
production are essential to in
dividual and collective success.
First, last and all the time. work.
ers at the bench, at the machine
and in the Office subscribe to the
same belief. This belief is not
simply intellectual appreciation. It
has a firm emotional hold upon
the whole body Of American in
dustrial thought"
The aim of American manage
ment, the report says, is maximum
output from the minimum labor
force. Labor saving, reduction Of
the grade of labor required, maxi
mum mechanization, control of
sales to encourage a higher order
of repetitiyeness combine in the
American foundries with a careful
attention to maintenance and
willingness to try new methods.
The team concludes that "the
achievement Of high productivity
is advantageous to every one en-
ployed." Monetary incentives are
effective in America, because tax
alton does not nullify or nearly
nullify the extra reward for extra
effort and consumer goods are
there to absorb extra earnings.
Competition Rules
Competition is the governing
factor and opposition to a course
designed to increase productivity,
even If it intensifies competition,
Is rare. the team found.
It also found that the physical
basis of high productivity is the
use : machines. It can be main
tained at a high level only if the
products are in sufficient numbers
to justify the use of machines
The readiness of the American
worker TO accept new machines,
new methods and the use of new
materials is most evident.
There appears" the report adds,
"little tendency in the labor un-
ions to press any policy that would
act in restriction of production"
The team includes in recon-
mendations the need for some
form of direct incentive" for Brit
ish foundrymen. They add that
the present system of calculating
wages in the British foundries is
neither simple nor sensible and
that simplifcation is overdue.
The report also recommends
that "by the touchstone of high
productivity. neither the failure
of a company which works at low
productivity, nor the loss Of his
job because an employe is in
efficient, is to be regarded as un-
: fair" .-.F
: Concerning technical improve
ments, the report says that the
reconstruction of British steel
boundaries is q long term matter
but many have grown haphazard
and must either be made more
efficient or come under the ham
,mer prepared for the inefficient.
Among its short-term recommen-
dations, the report includes:
/. Rearrangement Of machinery
and work benches and reduction
of unnecessary handling.
2. Installation Of handling ma
chinery.
8. Installation of more produc-
tion machinery, with more atten-