. Analysis of the results
199. Table 22 is 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 type of
equipment, operation and size—are the averages of the
influences corresponding to each yarn count, which were
obtained in table 23, by means of comparisons between
the actual and the standard consumption of labour per
kilogramme.
200. The influence of size is 1, which means that size
exercises no influence, since the mills included in the
sample have more than 500 looms. The weighted average
of the influence of size in the weaving mills of the country as a whole is extremely low (1.02) because, as can
be seen in table 24, a high percentage of the industry is
made up of large mills.
201. The influence of equipment is in fact slightly
lower than indicated by the average value given (2.61),
as all the mills have modern cone-winders and warpers. Even were the necessary adjustment made, it would
still remain very important, in view of the mechanical
differences between ordinary and automatic looms. The
fact that the consumption of labour of the ordinary
looms is over two and a half times as great as that of
modern machinery (other conditions being equal), indicates the vital importance of installing modern looms in
order to increase productivity.
202. In this part of Brazil, the influence of operation
(average 3.04) is more important than that of the type
of equipment, and it is the highest of all the similar industries in the countries visited, with the exception of
Ecuador. It has been subdivided into the influences of
speed, efficiency and excess of direct, indirect and miscellaneous labour, by the analysis of the weaving mills "I",
" J" and "K", as shown in tables 25, 26 and 27. Conditions are approximately the same in all three mills, with
the exception of the quality of the yarn (which is superior in "I" and "K"), the control of humidification
(which is better in "K"), and the working condition of
the machinery (which is inferior in "J"). 6 6 Averages
were taken of all the processes of these mills and were
adjusted, in table 28, to make their product equal to the
influence of operation which had already been determined by the general sample.
203. The redistribution of the influences was made in
the light of the following considerations, which arise
of Rio de Janeiro-Distrito Federal.
" These remarks refer only to the old sections of the mills.
The quality of the yarn refers only to the yarn manufactured
in the old sections of the spinning mills.
Chapter II. Brazil 2 9
Graph No. 3
PRODUCTIVITY OF TH E SPINNIN G MILLS INCLUDED IN TH E SAMPL E
Brazil (Rio de Janeiro-Distrito Federal)
IV CM
m CA
X—Yarn count
Y—Productivity in kilograms per man-hour
I—Average of the old mills
III—Standard productivity of an old 25000-spindle mill
IV—Standard productivity of a modern 25000-spindle mill
K—Means carded yarn
C—Means combed yarn
A—Means an old mill
M—Means a modern mill
The first number of a mill's key number is a reference. The
number underneath is the size of the mill in spindles.
3 0 Productivity of the Cotton Textile Industry in Latin America
from a study of the tables of analysis mentioned above
and from general observations made in the industry.
204. It was found that cases of low speed were not
frequent in the loom section, which affects general productivity to the greatest extent. Moreover, there is no
reason why the looms should work at low speeds, even
though they are old, if their mechanical and operational
conditions are adequately maintained. For these reasons,
it was decided to attribute the resulting average influence
(1.05) to lack of adequate maintenance of the machinery.
205. In the redistribution of the influence of efficiency
(1.46), more weight was given to the poor quality of the
yarn (1.20) because it was observed that the majority
of loom stops were merely due to breakages in the warp
and the filling caused by defects in the yarn. The lack of
specialization of production, which varies greatly from
one mill to another, accounts for losses in changes and
delays equivalent to nearly 10 per cent of the available
machine-hours in the mills of Rio de: Janeiro-Distrito
Federal (influence 1.10).
The mechanical stops due to
frequent breakdowns of the looms, and other conditions,
such as defects of humidification and lighting, were considered less important than the causes previously mentioned, an influence of 1.05 being ascribed to them.
206. The total influence of excess labour (1.99) was
attributed to the existence of absolutely superfluous personnel, even after taking into consideration the fact
that large numbers of workers are needed to offset certain defective manufacturing conditions. This was done
because it was considered that the influence of efficiency,
which is very high, makes ample allowance for these
defective conditions. In fact, there are two circumstances
which support this estimate: (1) the excessive frequency
of loom stops observed in some mills could not, of itself,
give rise to an influence of efficiency which is much
61 Tables 25, 26 and 27 show that the efficiency of the conewinders of "J" is 9 per cent below normal and that labour is
14 per cent below normal, while the efficiency of the conewinders of "I" is 45 per cent below normal with ten times more
labour than is necessary. The efficiency of the looms of "I" is 19
per cent below normal with 1.26 times more labour (direct plus
greater than that observed; and (2) the analyses of mills
"I", "J" and "K" show that the low influences of efficiency do not correspond to high influences of labour,
as would be expected if there were a close relationship
between the numbers of tenders and output. In other
words, all excess labour could probably be eliminated
without any further deterioration of the efficiency of
production.67
207. In the lower part of table 22 the influences
have been re-arranged into groups corresponding to (1)
causes which require only immediate action on the part
of the managers in order to reduce personnel; (2) causes
which require preliminary action on the part of the
managers to improve certain manufacturing conditions;
and (3) causes which require action on the part of the
industry as a whole, in order to be eliminated. The influences have also been re-classified as to whether their
correction is or is not dependent on the introduction of
new machinery.
208. As stated in the cases of other sections of the
industry, the improvement of productivity also requires
the installation of modern systems to control efficiency
and quality, together with rational methods of determining work-loads. The latter is less important in- the
old weaving mills than in the other sections of the industry since the work-loads in non-automatic looms are
relatively inelastic with respect to the type of product
and to conditions. Moreover, there is a limit, probably
of six looms, beyond which the weaver could not supervise production adequately.
209. The reduction of personnel would not require
such important re-training as in the case of the old
spinning mills, since in the section which affects productivity most (the looms), the increase in work-loads
would not be very large.
indirect) than is necessary, while the efficiency of those of "J"
is 26 per cent less than normal with 2.66 times more labour
(direct plus indirect) than necessary. Mill "K" shows excellent efficiency in both processes, due mainly to the fact that its
yarn is supplied by a semi-modern spinning-mill. The excess
labour falls between that of the other two mills.
