SHIPPING DELAYS

Chronicle (Levin), 5 July 1946, Page 3

SHIPPING DELAYS

-Press Associution

EFFECT ON INDUSTRY

By Tclegraph-

W K I , L I N G TO N . J uJv i. Gitiug iiiadcquatL' tnimqmi't as oue of Ihe greatust sjngU' factoi's niiUtutnig aguinst the ulluiniiiciil of 1'uJl I'llk'ienc y in iiidustry at tlie pn'seiil timi.', the X o w Zealand Mainii'ai'tunu'.s ' Federatiou in a statemeiil ujade to-dav suys " tfuit tin' present idiaotii- i>otiitioix of eoastal ship and raiJvvav transport calJs i'or a tliorough revieu by tlie Gnverninent, and the forniulation of remediai nieasuros niore far-reaeliing tliau to inverary ' niake-over ' servic.es." "Shortages in some lines are to-day aecentuatod by baek pressure against production,'' declares the federatioJi. " Slovvness in lifting goods J'roiu tlie main eentres and poits meaus thal some factories — essentialJy produetive and not storage units — are using needed lioor spacc for w areliousiug to the detriment oi' the highest possible pro- , duetion roquested by the Governtnent. Ti! % "Factories, and partieularly New l ' 4 ' Zedland factories, uere planneil and built to take in rau materials ajid tuni out iinished goods. Tliey were not built for vvarehousing. The vital link bctween production and coiisumptioii — transjiort — is the liuch pin in tlie New Zealaad industrial sel up. It is Ihe inefliciency oi' this vital link whieh loday is nulliiying efforts towards full produetive eilicieiiey in iuany factories' tlirough disproportionate conceiitralion • oil storage and tlirough failure (o gct goods into coiisumptinn as soon as.possible afler production. "While this (lainper o'n dist ribution • re-mauis, New Zealand 's roeovory frotni

funrlinie supply -ondilious vviil be dolayed, ' ' says the lnanufacturers, ' ' while |the cJl'ect ou business is towards intlatiou, extru production to oil'set intlatiou bcing parlly cancelled out tlirough the imniobility oi' goods. " Apart from delays iu dcliveries of Iinished goods, uiauy manufacturing industries are handicappe.d by delivery delays in raw materials," eontinues tlie. slatemeut. "Under modern produetive 1 process split-ups, delay in the delivery of only oue raw niaterial can upset or ; at ieast seriously impair the production of a big plant and stalf. In some extrcmc cases factories liave been out of full production for some days tlirough Jack of essential materials, while others . liave lieen held up by l'uel shortage, ■ pnrtieularly in the north. "With statTs often very short of full i norma! establishment , and witlu inaityj o]ieraiives settling down after several , years in the forees, manufacturers ' j eil'orts to eucourage the highest possible ; volunie of production are uudennined ' when eniployees see cart docks con- i g-esto.il with finished and paelced goods : days, and even weoks, after mamifacture. The effect on staJV psychology is ' similarly ilaniagiqg when hold-ups oc.cur tlirough the non-arrival of essential raw i materials. InsulKcient transport is iueompatible with a drive for full production. ' ' I !_ I