B. Analysis of the results
167. Table 13 contains a summary of the average
values of the influences, that is, the indices of the importance of the factors affecting productivity. The total
influence and its principal components—the influences
of operation and size—are the averages of the influences
of each fabric count, which were obtained in table 14, by
means of comparisons between the actual and standard
consumption of labour per kilogramme of fabric.
168. The influence of size (1.05) is not very great,
but a comparison with the influence of size in the Brazilian weaving mills (1.02) indicates a tendency to build
small modern mills, which was also encountered in other
Latin-American countries.
169. Although the performance of the modern weaving mills of Sâo Paulo is fairly good compared with that
of similar industries elsewhere, with the exception of
Mexico, the influence of operation (1.89) shows that its
Chapter II. Brazil 2 5
Graph No. 2
PRODUCTIVITY OF TH E WEAVING MILLS INCLUDED IN TH E SAMPLE
Brazil (Sao Paulo)
X—Fabric count M—Means a modern mill
Y—Productivity in kilograms per man-hour
IX—Average of the modern mills The first number of a mill's key number is a reference.
The
IV—Standard productivity of a modern SOO-loom mill number underneath is the size of the mill in looms.
2 6 Productivity of the Cotton Textile Industry in Latin America
productivity could almost be doubled by the correction
of certain factors which do not depend either on the
machinery or the size of the mills.
170. The influence of operation was broken down
into the influences of speed, efficiency, and excess of
direct, indirect and miscellaneous labour. This was done
by examining mills "E " and "F " (tables 15 and 16), the
first of which works with yarn produced by a semimodern spinning mill, and the second with the yarn
from a completely new mill. Averages were taken of the
influences of all the processes of these mills and they
were adjusted, in table 17, so that the result should equal
the influence of operation which had already been determined by means of the general sample.
171. The redistribution of the influences was made in
the light of the following considerations, which arise
from a study of the analyses of mills "E" and "F", and
of the general observation made in the industry.
172. Nearly all the processes of the two mills (column
13 of tables 15 and 16) show speeds which are lower
than normal, but they have more effect on productivity
in the loom section because it normally consumes more
labour per kilogramme. The looms of the mills visited
work at approximately 94 per cent of their normal speed,
chiefly because they are still in the running-in period and
also because, by working slowly while the tenders are
still being trained, they can achieve a better output. This
influence, therefore, may be considered as being actively
corrected.
173. A certain inverse correlation was observed both
in mills "E " and "F " and in other mills visited, between
the influences of efficiency and of the excess labour employed at the looms; in other words, high efficiencies
were achieved with low work-loads, and vice versa. This
indicates the presence of factors which require a greater
consumption of labour than normal and which, if they
do not appear in the influence of efficiency, as is the case
of the weighted average of values in "E " and "F "
(1.02), have been included in the influence of excess
labour. The factors observed are, in order of importance,
the lack of training of the loom fixers, defects in the
preparation of the warp, lack of training of weavers and
cone-winder tenders, and defects in the twisting and
winding of the filling.
174. In order to give a numerical value to the relative
importance of these factors,' occasional observations were
made of the frequency of stops in the looms, classifying
them as far as possible according to their origin: mechanical, breakages in the warp, or breakages in the filling. As
a result of these observations it was possible to estimate
(1) the excess of skilled weavers necessary to maintain
normal efficiencies, under the defective conditions revealed by the frequency of the stops (influence: 1.26 approximately) ; and (2) the relative importance of the
mechanical causes, which depend mainly on the training
of the loom fixers, in relation to the deficiencies of the
warp and of the filling (influences: 1.14, 1.05 and 1.04
respectively). After separating, by division, the influences of the conditions just mentioned, the remainder of
the total influence of excess labour was found to be 1.35.
This figure is divided, by estimation, into the influence
which can be attributed to the lack of training of the
weavers and cone-winders (1.04) and that ascribed to
superfluous personnel; that is, labour which could be
eliminated at once without lowering efficiency (1.31).
175. This analysis was based on the loom section only,
since, as can be seen in tables 15 and 16, it is the origin
of nearly 90 per cent of the excess consumption of
labour per kilogramme.
176. In the lower part of table 13, the influences have
been rearranged in the following groups: (1) causes
which require only immediate action on the part of the
managers to reduce the personnel; (2) causes which are
being corrected and are expected to disappear very
shortly; (3) causes which require action on the part of
the manager in order to modify certain internal manufacturing conditions, and (4) causes which can be attributed to the spinning mills.
177. It must be remembered that the potential increase in productivity, as expressed by these influences,
can only be achieved if the elimination of causes, other
than low efficiencies and speeds, is accompanied by the
corresponding reduction in personnel thus made possible.
178. In order to enable the mills to raise their productivity to normal levels, they will have to install or
perfect systems for the control of efficiency and of the
quality of products and for the rational determination
of work-loads.
V . COMMENTS , RESULTS AND ANALYSIS OF TH E OLD
SPINNING MILLS OF RLO DE JANEIRO-DISTRITO FEDERAL
A. General comments
179. The individual productivity of the old spinning
mills of the region of Rio de Janeiro and the Distrito
Federal can be found in graph 3, together with the general averages and the productivity of the standard mills
which were used as norms for comparison. As none of
the mills is subject to the influence of size, the relationship between the individual curves and the standard
curves can be seen in the graph, without the need for any
adjustment.
180. All the mills included can be considered as typically old, with the exception of spinning mill no. 1,
which could be qualified as being 65 per cent modern.
181. It is interesting to note the consistency of the
results, especially in the sector of the graph between
counts 30 and 40. Setting aside mill no. 1, the productivity values range between the limits of 18 and 44 per
cent of the standard productivity of the old mills and 14
and 32 per cent of that of the modern mills. The limits
of mill no. 1 are 43 and 73 per cent of the productivity
of the standard old mills and 32 and 50 per cent of that
of the modern mills.
182. The following conditions were observed in most
of the mills:
(a) Systems for the control of humidification are
practically non-existent, and consequently, although the
climate provides natural humidity, it cannot be maintained constant within the required limits in order to
achieve the highest efficiency in each section of the spinning mills. The problem is difficult to solve in Rio de
Janeiro-Distrito Federal where the mill buildings with
high saw-toothed roofs, lead to variations of temperature. Even so, it is considered that no effort has been
made to correct, even partially, this cause of low productivity
. In the Sao Paulo mills, on the other hand, where
Chapter II. Brazil 2 7
there are similar conditions of natural humidity, although the outside temperature is lower,62 mills with partial or total humidity control are commonly found.
(b) The working condition of the machinery is bad.
The main defects observed were badly worn card clothing, poor operation of the spindles of the spinningframes, and lack of stability of the roving-frames.
(c) The labour turnover is low in mills which are far
from the cities and which have their own working communities. This is attributed to the good labour-management relations existing there, based on excellent social
services and a praiseworthy effort on the part of the
managers to instill in the workers a sense of attachment
both to the mill and the community. A situation similar
to that of Sao Paulo was observed in the mills situated
near or within the cities: a boom in building and the
irregular activity of that trade gave rise to a continual
flow of workers from one industry to the other.
(d) The remaining comments coincide with those
mentioned in connexion with the old spinning mills of
Sao Paulo.
B. Analysis of the results
183. Table 18 contains a summary of the average values of the influences, that is, the indices of the importance of the factors affecting productivity. The total
influence and its principal components—the influences
of the type of equipment, operation and size—are the
averages of the influences of each yarn count, which
were obtained, in table 19, by comparisons between the
actual and the standard consumption of labour per kilogramme of yarn.
184. The influence of size is 1, in other words, there
is no size influence since all the mills included in the
sample have over 25,000 spindles. The influence of the
type of equipment is 1.37.
185. The influence of operation (2.76) was broken
down into the influences of the draft schedule, speed,
efficiency and the excess of direct, indirect and miscellaneous labour, by means of the analysis of mills "G"
and "H" (tables 20 and 21) which, in the yarn counts
examined, represent medium and low conditions of productivity, respectively. Averages were taken of the influences of all the processes of these mills and they were
adjusted, in table 28, so that the result is equal to the
influence of operation which had already been determined by the general sample.
186. The redistribution of the influences was made in
the light of the following considerations which arise
from the study of the tables of analysis mentioned above
and of the general observations made in the industry.
187. The influence of the draft schedule observed in
mills "G" and "H" is due to discrepancies between the
process organization actually observed, and the standard
organization. Although similar discrepancies were observed in the industry as a whole, they are of no impor-
" The climatological conditions of the places visited can be
judged from the following data published in the Anuario Estatistico do Brasil, 1948:
Absolute
maximum and Average monthly
minimum compensated Average monthly
temperature temperature relative humidity
(°C) (°C) (%)
Rio de Janeiro....40.3—10.9 19.4—27.8 73.0—86.1
Distrito Federal...37.4—14.9 21.2—27.9 74.0—89.4
Sao Paulo 34.4—02.1 13.7—22.4 70.1—86.4
tance; their values are not sufficiently great to affect
productivity to any great extent and, because of the
necessity to adapt the draft schedule to a relatively large
number of yarn counts, the values may alter from one
day to another and even become positive where they were
negative, or vice versa. For that reason, this influence
has been grouped with the others considered as capable
of being corrected.
188. It was observed that in some mills of Rio de
Janeiro-Distrito Federal, productivity was affected by
the machine speeds, which were lower than normal. This
was due to the excessive wear of the machinery, the additional cleaning necessary for the cotton, and the carelessness of the personnel responsible for mechanical adjustments and changes of pulleys and gears. Mills "G" and
" H " which probably represent the extremes of good and
bad preservation of machinery, show contrasts in the
influence of speed in nearly all their processes. When
the influence of speed (1.15) was unequally allocated
between causes requiring modernization for correction
(1.05), such as the lack of maintenance of the mechanical and operational conditions of the machinery, and
causes not requiring modernization (1.10), such as the
excessive wear of the machinery, it was borne in mind
that the most important defective mechanical conditions
(e.g., those of the spinning-frames) cannot be corrected
without the investment of large sums in new spindles and
other pieces of machinery subject to wear. If these investments could be made, it would be more profitable to
modernize, or semi-modernize, the machines by fitting
them with high-draft systems and increasing the capacity
of their bobbins.
189. The observations of a high frequency of yarn
breakages in the spinning-frames led to the conclusion
that most of the low efficiency is due to deficient humidity control, cleaning, and maintenance. These are not
the sole causes, however, because excessive wear of the
machinery must also influence efficiency, and numerous
cases were found of tenders leaving their machines especially when they were ready for doffing. More importance has been attributed to the conditions of humidification, cleaning and maintenance (1.06) and less to the
carelessness of the tenders (1.05) and the excessive
wear of the machinery (1.03).
190. The estimate of the number of superfluous workers under exsting conditions was based on general observation of their activities and on occasional measurements
of the breakage frequency of the yarn in the spinningframes. It was estimated that as a result of the defective
manufacturing conditions, the labour employed per kilogramme is probably 40 to 60 per cent more than that
established as standard. For the sake of simplification,
an excess of 50 per cent (or an influence of 1.50) was
attributed to manufacturing conditions. Since certain
portions deriving from the influence of production, totalling 1.24,63 had already charged to these conditions, the
remainder of the influence (1.20) was separated from
the total influence of excess labour (2.12) and allocated
equally among conditions such as humidification, which
can be corrected, and others such as the excessive wear
of the machinery, which cannot be corrected without
modernization. The rest of the total influence of excess
•• Calculated as the product of influences 0.98, 1.05, 1.06, 1.10
and 1.03, which appear in the third and fourth columns of the
redistribution of the influence of production.
28 Productivity of the Cotton Textile Industry in Latin America
labour (1.71) was attributed to superfluous personnel
which could be eliminated without affecting efficiency.
191
. In the lower part of table 18 the influences have
been re-arranged into groups according to (1) causes
which require only immediate action on the part of management in order to reduce personnel; (2) causes which
require preliminary action on the part of the managers
to improve certain manufacturing conditions; (3) causes
which can be corrected without recourse to modernization; and (4) causes which can only be eliminated by
modernizing the industry.
192. In order to increase productivity, it is necessary
to establish adequate systems for the determination of
work-loads and for the control of efficiency and of product quality. It would also be necessary to select the best
workers and re-train them in order to adapt them to the
new conditions.
193. The lack of control of humidification was included among the causes of low productivity which can
be remedied without modernization, since it will probably be many years before these mills can be modernized.
In their case it would be advisable to invest in the improvement of humidification control.64
V I . COMMENTS , RESULTS AND ANALYSIS OF TH E OLD
WEAVING MILLS OF Rl O DE JANEIRO-DISTRITO FEDERAL
A. General comments
194. The results of the measurements of productivity
made in five mills in the region of Rio de Janeiro-Distrito Federal appear in graph 4, together with their general average and the curves of the standard productivity
which were used as a basis for comparison.
195. The old weaving mills of this group have machinery of approximately the same type and age. They
are all equipped with modern cone-winders and warpers,
but their slashers and looms are typically old. Some differences were found in the state of preservation of the
machinery and in the quality of the yarn used, but all
their other manufacturing conditions can be considered
similar.
196. The proximity of the individual curves and the
frequency with which they cross one another indicate
generally consistent results, although divergencies are
found in certain fabric counts, due, principally, to irrational work-loads, in relation to the type of product
manufactured.
197
. The observations range between limits representing 16 and 59 per cent of the standard productivity for
old mills, and 5.5 and 23 per cent of that of modern
mills.
198. The following conditions were observed in most
of the mills:
(a) Systems for the control of humidification are
practically nonexistent ;65
(b) With a few exceptions, the yarn used is irregular
and neppy; this is probably the most important cause
of low efficiency;
" The supervisor of a Sao Paulo mill declared that in his yarn
section, production increased IS to 20 per cent after the installation of a modern system of humiducts.
" See the general comments relating to the old spinning mills
(c) The lighting is insufficient;
(d) A great variety of fabrics is manufactured, many
of them in small quantities. As a result, the number of
times the machines must be stopped in order to change
the product is increased, and efficiency is consequently
lowered;
(tf) The work-loads are on the whole very low, both
in the old and in the modern sections. An excess of service personnel was also noted, especially in the yarn depots, where there did not seem to be much work to be
done.
