Boot Industry’s Trials

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 807, 30 October 1929, Page 8

Boot Industry’s Trials

Inquiry Shows Need of Overhaul TIIE SUN'S Parliamentary Reporter PARLIAMENT BLDGS., Today. REVOLUTIONARY changes were today suggested by a Parliamentary Committee of Inquiry as a wears ot' establishing the boot industry in New Zealand upon a sound and more workable basis than at present. Reduced costs, a comprehensive inquiry by experts, and alterations in wage payment, as well as the amalgamation of certain interests, are advocated, but the recommendations, it is made clear, cannot be effected successfully without' an additional Customs tariff of 5 per cent, over five years.

The committee, which comprised Messrs. A. Trenwith, E. T. Arnott, H. Duckworth, J. R. Luff (manufacturers’ representatives), C. A. Watts, J. W. Moore, F. M. Robson, F. Jones (employees’ representatives), J. W. Collins, Geo. Craig, E. Marsden and E. T. Spidy (official Government representatives), first summarised as follows the causes of depression in the industry: (a) Unsatisfactory quantity output of factories as related to machinery and facilities; (b) multiplicity of designs of footwear manufactured in individual factories and manufacturers’ present inability to specialise; (c) competition from overseas in footwear, which could readily and economically be manufactured in the Dominion; (d) vagaries in taste and changes of fashion of women’s footwear, a world problem; (e) apparent lack of cohesion and initiative among manufacturers and failure on their part to discuss frankly and freely the problems and difficulties surrounding the production and marketing of footwear; (f) lack of co-operation in dealing with marketing problems; (g) high cost of distribution from factory to consumer; (h) non-flexibility of present labour conditions; (i) lack of sustained national propaganda to assist sales and create goodwill toward local industry; (j) unsatisfactory layouts of plant and equipment and general planning of factories; (k) lack of a satisfactory costing system; (1) inadequate control by the management over factory operations. FACTORY ORGANISATION Speaking in general terms, the members of the committee thought there was in the industry more to commend than to condemn, and that those engaged in it deserved praise for their past and present endeavours to develop the industry in face of extraordinary and frequently changing conditions. The same inquiry as had been conducted in New Zealand would probably reveal similar conditions in other manufacturing countries. Suggesting improvements, the committee recommended: (a) That “payment by results” systems be installed in factories to reduce uuit labour costs. (b) That factory layouts he analytically studied and machinery and equipment rearranged to reduce lost motions between operations to a minimum. (c) That routing of orders by a

planning clerk be established in factories in order to deliver work in correct sequence at least cost. (d) That the method of settling local differences between employers and employees should be improved as suggested. (e) That accurate detail costing of work is essential for manufacturing purposes and that such methods should be installed. (f) That an experienced consulting manager-engineer be made available to those in the industry and other industries as recommended. (g) That on account of the small size of New Zealand factories as compared with their overseas competitors the question of amalgamation in respect of the small order question and multiplicity of design be considered. CO-OPERATION URGED (h) That certain manufacturers having been able to operate on a satisfactory paying basis by disposing of their products through retail shops which they control or mainly supply, it is suggested that the question of co-operative action between manufacturers be considered with a view to the reduction of marketing and distribution expenses. (i) Co-operative action between New Zealand manufacturers in the establishment of a purchasing centre for materials would reduce stocks of materials, particularly foreign leathers, that now frequently become dead stock. (j) That the question of manufacturers retailing their own products is indicated as a means of meeting competition from overseas products. In addition to the recommendations, the members of the committee other than the official members submitted the following resolution:—“That the recommendations made above in this report cannot be effective without the safeguard of an additional customs tariff of 5 per cent, for a period of five years. The granting of this increased tariff would, it is felt, enable the manufacturers to adopt the recommendations by giving them the necessary increased output, and, furthermore, would enable footwear made in New Zealand to be sold without an increase in prices ” The official members, while declining to give an opinion upon this policy question, expressed the belief that the recommendations as a whole should be accepted by employers and workers as an attempt to better the industry.