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manufacturing

Education & Information

1960s interview with factory workers proves the 'good old days' had the same problems we do

Work-life balance? What's that?

Photo Credit: That Hartford Guy from Hartford|Wikimedia

1960s interview with factory workers debunks today's nostalgia

There has been a lot of emphasis on manufacturing work, whether it's where a product is manufactured or ways to bring manufacturing back to America. It seems that the topic continues to be brought up as a means to bring more jobs to America and lower prices. However, nearly all mentions of manufacturing jobs appear to be heavily coated with the rose colored tint of nostalgia, with some seemingly longing for the days of this glorious factory work.

Except, some of those longing for the opportunities that manufacturing plants bring have never actually worked in one. When harkening back to days past, it's hard to imagine the reality if you don't have a proper frame of reference. In an interview first aired in 1964, an automobile assembly line worker, Herbert Slater, shares the reality of working in a manufacturing plant. His interview is candid, showing just how challenging factory work can be and not for the reasons some may think.

One of Slater's biggest gripes is how monotonous and boring his job is. Early in the interview he laments that there's no real thought that goes into working on the assembly line feeling. It's as if someone just flips a switch on his back so he can do his work.

assembly line, work, working, factory, manufacturing, workers assembly line vintage GIF by US National ArchivesGiphy

"Most of the men working in this plant, like myself, are forced into the job in the first place. Mainly because once a man gets in there, if he's got a family, he's stuck there. He hasn't got the education to get a better job," Slater says before further explaining that the work on the line is so busy that he has no idea who the people are around him are. "The few men I have working around me, I don't know because we don't have time to actually meet each other, can't get a chance to talk so I don't know their names and I don't know if they know mine."

At the time, it was obvious that automated machinery would be taking over the jobs done by Slater and his coworkers, much like Artificial Intelligence threatens the previously secure jobs of today. While the young father in the interview doesn't particularly care for his job and sounds quite depressed, he also fears he does not have the skill or education for anything else.

The level of dissatisfaction along with the threat of automation had managers looking for alternatives for their employees in hopes to stay ahead of what was to come. It wasn't an easy time for the supervisors or the factory workers needing to be retrained in order to maintain stable employment in the future.

"One problem we talked about is, ya know, can you help people, can you direct them, can you guide them, can you counsel them, can you befriend them, can you be concerned about their welfare and at the same time, you know, get the product out and make money for the company," one manager shares during a meeting with other managers. "And what happens when you try to guide, and educate and counsel 3,000 people?"

assembly line, factory work, manufacturing, workers, factory Plants Growing GIF by Archives of Ontario | Archives publiques de l'OntarioGiphy

It seems while some romanticize days long gone, the reality of those well-paying factory jobs is much different than expected. The truth is that many of the jobs back then were being phased out for automation and the people working on the assembly line were much less happy than the manufacturing propaganda videos of the past let on. In this interview it appears that everyone from the workers on the line all the way up to the CEO were stressed about the happiness of the employees and stability of the job market without a clear path forward.

While the thought of manufacturing jobs coming back to America is nostalgic, the dose of reality from the past may make some reconsider.

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manufacturing

Pop Culture

Videos showing how everyday things are made in less than 30 seconds are so satisfying

So. Satisfying.

@fastworkers6/Twitter

People love watching videos of things being made.

Do you ever pick up an everyday object like a fork or a phone charger or a box of cereal and think about how that object came into being? It's amazing that we have gone from primitive tools to complex manufacturing plants in a relatively short span of time.

In the scope of human history, it wasn't that long ago that if we wanted something we had to figure out how to make it ourselves by hand. Innovation and industry have completely altered the way humans live, and though there are certainly some downsides to industrialization and mass manufacturing, the fact that we've figured out how to make machines reliably and consistently do precise work for us is incredible.

So incredible, in fact, that videos showing machines at work have become popular entertainment. The Canadian TV series "How It's Made" took something that has often been thought of as basic and bland—factory production—and turned it into fun family viewing. I can't count how many times I've found my kids watching YouTube videos of machines making something, calling them "so satisfying."

"Satisfying" is exactly the right word. Not sure why or how, but seeing the repetitive precision of things being made is mesmerizing and calming at the same time.

The Twitter account How Things Are Manufactured has been sharing brief videos of everyday things being made, and people are loving it. Most of them are shorter than a minute, so a nice, quick manufacturing fix.

Check out how these different shaped pastas are made as one example:

\u201cHow pasta is made\u201d
— How Things Are Manufactured (@How Things Are Manufactured) 1659781300

Why is that so fun to watch? (And do people really eat black pasta?)

How about how cookie cutters are made? This one is is hard to look away from:

\u201cHow cookie cutters are made\u201d
— How Things Are Manufactured (@How Things Are Manufactured) 1659865505

So. Satisfying.

Ever look at a chain link fence and wonder how it came about? Here you go:

\u201cThis is how hexagonal wiremesh is made\u201d
— How Things Are Manufactured (@How Things Are Manufactured) 1659606473

It's not just manufacturing that wows, though. Machines that make other things easier, like farming, are also fun to see. For instance, check out this carrot harvester:

\u201cThis is how a carrot harvester works\u201d
— H0W_THlNGS_W0RK (@H0W_THlNGS_W0RK) 1659855923

Again, so very satisfying.

Sometimes it's also fun to see how things used to be made, though. This traditional method of making noodles in China is so simple, yet brilliant:

\u201cTraditional way of making noodles in Chongqing, China \ud83e\udd24\u201d
— How Things Are Manufactured (@How Things Are Manufactured) 1659087599

And for those of us who grew up in classrooms with a globe from the 1950s, watch how they were made by hand. Who knew so many people were part of the process?

\u201cThis is how handmade globes were made in the 1950s\u201d
— How Things Are Manufactured (@How Things Are Manufactured) 1659931508

Humans are so fascinating, aren't we? We love the wild beauty of nature and yet we are also drawn to the purposeful precision of human ingenuity. We like to marvel at the magnificence of mountains and gaze at the gargantuan night sky, yet we find wonder in our own creativity and innovation as well.

Now if we can just find the balance between the usefulness of innovation and industry and the protection of our planet and people, that would be truly satisfying.

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Heroes

Before you buy a new T-shirt, here are 8 things to know.

They're totally comfortable, always fashionable ... and not super-sustainable.

True

It's one of the most famous — and ubiquitous — articles of clothing in modern history. So much so that you're probably wearing one right now.

It's the mighty T-shirt, and though it may seem simple and unassuming, there's quite the story in its humble threads. So, in honor of T-shirt weather, here are nine important things — good and bad — that you might want to know about this beloved article of clothing.

1. F. Scott Fitzgerald — you know, the author of "The Great Gatsby" — is credited with naming the T-shirt.

Sometimes the simplest product names are the best. Image via Ilan Sharif/Flickr.

Hold up a T-shirt, and it's easy to see the letter shape it forms. Fitzgerald thought so, too — he's credited with the first written appearance of the word "T-shirt." In his 1920 novel "This Side of Paradise," F. Scott Fitzgerald described a character's wardrobe as "provided with 'six suits summer underwear, six suits winter underwear, one sweater or T shirt, one jersey, one overcoat, winter, etc.'"

2. There's a Guinness World Record for the most T-shirts worn at once, because of course there is.

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, yes, Joey, you could. GIF from "Friends."

When there are world records for the largest hockey stick (big ups to Duncan, B.C., Canada) and most eggs crushed with the head in 30 seconds, there absolutely has to be one for wearing the most T-shirts at the same time.

The holder of this very specific title as of this writing is Sri Lanka's Sanath Bandara, who wore 257 T-shirts at once to win it in 2011. Altogether, the shirts weighed more than 200(!) pounds.

3. 9 out of 10 Americans are probably wearing a T-shirt right now.

There's a matching T-shirt for every one of those hoodies. Image via iStock.

According to a 2013 survey by CustomInk, 95% of Americans wear T-shirts with 89% of them wearing one at least once a week.

4. James Dean and Marlon Brando looked so good in T-shirts that it basically defined their early careers — and started the T-shirt craze.

Marlon Brando in "A Streetcar Named Desire." Image via Wikimedia Commons.

If you've seen the 1951 version of "A Streetcar Named Desire," there's probably one moment you remember most: Marlon Brando, standing in the rain in his ripped T-shirt, yelling for Stella. Ditto for "Rebel Without a Cause": James Dean, effortlessly cool, wearing a T-shirt and blue jeans lounging against a muscle car.

These visuals are iconic, and they helped make Brando and Dean into heartthrobs and superstars. Brando's T-shirt-wearing was particularly shocking because T-shirts were not meant to be worn on their own (they were called bachelor undershirts, meant to be worn under another shirt). But instead of hurting shirt sales, he boosted them big time.

5. Cotton — the most common ingredient in t-shirts — is a huge business.

Image by iStock.

In the United States alone, there are 35,000 cotton farms, employing about 170,000 people.

6. T-shirts take a lot of cotton to make. And even more water.

Making T-shirts is thirsty work. Image by iStock.

Most T-shirts are made completely or partly from cotton. America is the third-largest cotton producer in the world, harvesting almost 13 million bales, or 6.2 billion pounds, in 2015-16. For every acre of cotton harvested, fabric companies can make 1,200 T-shirts.

That's not a bad ratio — until you consider water use. It takes about 700 gallons of water to grow enough cotton for just one T-shirt. That's enough to fill an eight-person hot tub.

7. New shirts made from recycled cotton can make a big difference.

Image by iStock.

T-shirts made with recycled cotton look and feel identical to their non-recycled counterparts. There's one big difference: Their sale keeps tons of textile waste out of landfills every year.

8. Millions of T-shirts are donated at thrift shops every year. But even more end up in places like this.

Behold, the final eternal resting place of so many ironic T-shirts. Image by iStock.

Landfills are a depressing place for any object — let alone a favorite T-shirt that's a little past its prime. Many shirts will find their way to a new friend, but for those that don't, there's still a chance for a second life when you donate rather than throwing away ... just ask Macklemore.

Looks like Oscar's ready to pop some tags, too. GIF from "Sesame Street."

All in all, there's a lot more that goes into making and selling T-shirts than might meet the eye.

It could be said that the only thing Americans love more than cars is making robots to build them.

The American auto industry was the largest in the world until the 1980s, when it was overtaken by Japan. America now has the second-largest automobile industry by volume.

For the most part, we should be thanking car-building robots for that.

Thanks, robots! Photo by STR/AFP/Getty Images.

According to the International Federation of Robotics (which is a real thing and not an evil globe-dominating corporation from a Philip K. Dick novel), the automotive industry is the largest user of industrial robots. Nearly 100,000 robotic car assembly units shipped in 2014, say IFR statistics.

Unfortunately, a lot of that innovative robotic automation came at the cost of human jobs.

With the increased use of automation in the 1980s, car manufacturers realized that they could maximize efficiency and productivity by filling their assembly lines with robots instead of people. Not to mention that people require things like salaries, sick leave, vacation days, and health care that robots do not.

Over half a million automotive jobs in North America were lost from 2000 to 2012, partly due to increased automation at manufacturing plants.

One car maker in Germany, however, is starting to reverse that trend.

They're actually hiring salary-earning human workers instead of robots. Yes, that's right! Flesh-and-blood people! Aka nature's original meat-robots.

Luxury car company Mercedes-Benz has been hiring human beings over robots at its 101-year-old plant in Sindelfingen.

But before you feel too bad for the unemployed robots, remember that they don't actually need money. Or a home. Or clothes. They don't even need to be told that they're doing a good job. They're just dumb robots. (You should still be nice to them, though, so they spare your life during the inevitable robot uprising.)

They've never even seen "The English Patient."Stupid robots. Photo by Junko Kimura/Getty Images.

Why look to human workers instead of relying on automation?

With increased demand for more customization in cars, there's been an increased need for human hands at car factories.

While robots are good at everything from playing pool to shaving your head, they don't quite have the nimble motor skills and on-the-fly problem-solving abilities needed to do some of the custom jobs Mercedes-Benz requires.

Yay! Humans! Photo by Bill Pugliano/Getty Images.

For instance, if a customer wanted heated cupholders on the driver's side but not the rear passenger side and chrome tire valves on the front wheels but matte black valves on the back wheels, it'd be much harder to program various robots to remember all that for one specific job than it would be to tell a human worker, "Hey just a heads up, this customer is the f**king worst."

In short, smart, capable workers with heartbeats and brains are what the company needs to run efficiently. Which is good news for people who like employment — and stealing jobs back from robots.

Humans are a damn good investment, too.

“Robots can’t deal with the degree of individualization and the many variants that we have today," Markus Schaefer, head of production at Mercedes-Benz, told Bloomberg. "We’re saving money and safeguarding our future by employing more people.”

Since the plant processes 1,500 tons of steel a day and produces more than 400,000 vehicles a year, automation and streamlining of systems is of the utmost importance.

Photo by Thomas Niedermueller/Getty Images.

On top of that, Schaefer has said he wants to reduce the amount of hours needed to produce a car from 61 to 30 — and humans are the way to do that.

“The variety is too much to take on for the machines. They can’t work with all the different options and keep pace with changes.”

If car manufacturers in Germany can bring back autoworker jobs, so can we.

Americans like luxury cars too! No one is more demanding of unnecessary customization than Americans! We even like to customize our toilet paper!

Maybe our unflinching need to get exactly what we want will do some good for once and lead to a surge in human employment.

In Detroit, for example, where the American auto industry was essentially invented, thousands of jobs have been lost to automation. And all over the country, the number of American workers in manufacturing jobs has declined from 40% to 10% since World War II, in part because of robots.

So here's to you, human beings.

I haven't met all of you. But I've met enough to know that sometimes you can be pretty cool, and also that you're really good at building things.

One day, when I can afford a Mercedes-Benz with heated cupholders, red carbon-fiber trim, chrome door handle inserts, and five-spoke wheel caps, I'll know who to actually thank.

Mostly this guy. Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images.

Heroes

The sea is filling fast with garbage, but there are 3 things the world can do to stop it.

Some very smart people have some very smart plans to fix this.

As the saying goes, there are plenty of fish in the sea.

This is a sea bream (Diplodus Vulgaris) fish. Photo by Emily Irving-Swift/AFP/Getty Images.

But it might be just as true — if not quite as applicable — to say, "There's plenty of plastic in the sea, as well."

In fact, a new report from the World Economic Forum and Ellen MacArthur Foundation predicts that by 2050, our oceans will be filled with more plastic than they are fish. Currently, the ratio of fish to plastic (in weight) is 5:1, but that's changing quickly.

A plastic bottle is seen coated in oil on Pensacola Beach. Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images.

This is likely happening because we love plastic but hate recycling.

As it turns out, only 14% of plastic ever gets recycled. Of the 78 tonnes (around 86 U.S. tons) of plastic produced each year, 40% of it winds up in landfills, and 32% leaks into the soil and oceans.

That's not great. This behavior hurts the world economically: Because most plastic packaging is used just once, somewhere between $80 billion and $120 billion worth of plastic gets discarded each year. It also hurts us environmentally: In addition to the dumping in the ocean, producing plastic has a negative impact on climate change.

So, what's there to do? Well, some very smart people have some very good ideas.

Those ideas are actually the crux of the New Plastics Economy report. It's an achievable three-step plan to change our relationship with plastics, hopefully helping the world both environmentally and economically.

Here's what they recommend:

1. Recycle!

We really need to start recycling. That might mean creating new incentives for consumers to recycle, and it probably involves making the process of recycling more efficient as well as looking into bio-degradable plastic alternatives.

2. Reduce the amount of plastic that ends up in the ocean by encouraging multi-use packaging.

It would be smart to shift to multi-use plastic packaging that has some after-use value. Making it economically advantageous to keep using the same piece of plastic over and over (even if it's for different issues) could save us.

3. Move away from traditional, fossil-fuel-based manufacturing.

Instead of making plastic through traditional methods, we need to put an emphasis on creating technology that allows us to more efficiently manufacture plastic via "bio-based" materials like plants or captured greenhouse gasses.

Photo by Indranil Mukherjee/AFP/Getty Images.

While steps 2 and 3 are mostly about manufacturing, there are some important things we can do as consumers.

Namely, we can stop throwing plastic away! When you toss it, it winds up either in a landfill (not good) or in the ocean (even worse). And while, sure, it may take a little more effort to recycle, you really are helping the environment in the long-run.

I mean, if we want our oceans filled with this...

Photo by Boris Horvat/AFP/Getty Images.

...instead of this...

That's a LOT of plastic. Photo by China Photos/Getty Images.

...we need to step up our recycling game. You in?

There's an elephant in the room of American manufacturing.

And its name is Chinese labor.

According to The Economist, China produces 80% of the worlds air conditioners, 70% of its mobile phones and 60% of its shoes. And countless other manufactured products have made the "Made in China" sticker that's completely ubiquitous in America.

Workers at a toy factory in Zhejiang, China. Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images.

Most companies don't address the use of cheap Chinese labor. Unless something goes wrong.

Despite the long list of American corporations employing Chinese workers, most don't talk about it. It usually takes a watchdog investigation shining a light on working conditions or the use of child labor for a company to even begin discussing it — let alone doing something about it.

For one example:

In 2014, China Labor Watch accused Samsung of employing underage workers. Samsung then launched an investigation into their factory and found evidence of child labor as well as an "illegal hiring process." In July 2014, they announced they would "permanently halt" their relationship with that supplier. Which ... according to another investigation in December 2014, they hadn't.

A glass workshop in Liuyang used by Samsung. Photo by STR/AFP/Getty Images.

It's refreshing when a company takes a second to talk frankly about their labor practices.

As was the case last week with with Cards Against Humanity, the "party game for horrible people" that became famous for its ice-breaking inappropriateness and Black Friday pranks (one of which recently convinced over 11,000 people to pay $5 for nothing).

Also known as "Apples to Apples but funny." Photo by Daniel Christopher/Upworthy.

In a recent blog post, Cards Against Humanity announced that it had paid for a weeklong vacation for the workers at its printer in China.

Noting that the use of Chinese labor is something "a lot of companies don't like to draw attention to," the company stated that the way their products are made is "a part of who we are."

Along with the blog post were several pictures of the factory staff taking vacation time with friends and family and messages from the staff saying what they used their vacation time for.

While a positive gesture, it certainly doesn't solve the problem.

And Cards Against Humanity knows that. "This doesn’t undo the ways that all of us profit from unfair working conditions around the world," the blog post read, "but it’s a step in the right direction."

A step that very few companies have been willing to take.

Apple has also made efforts to improve their infamous manufacturing process.

The tech giant has come under fire several times for labor practice issues but particularly in 2010, after over a dozen people committed suicide at the Foxconn Technology plant in Shenzhen, China. Apple has since successfully reduced the workweek there to comply with the Fair Labor Association's standard of 60 hours per week.

A Foxconn recruitment center in south China's Guangdong province. Photo by STR/AFP/Getty Images.

Apple's Supplier Responsibility Progress Report also highlights the fact that they have trained 2.3 million workers on their rights in 2014 and over 6.2 million since 2007.

"In our supply chain, we train everybody on their rights," said Apple CEO Tim Cook in a recent interview on "The Late Show." "That's their rights as we see them, and we have a really high bar."

While most companies stay silent, happy to rake in the overwhelming profits that come with cheap and oftentimes questionable labor practices, some know their responsibility as companies who employ humans to stand up for human rights.

How a company's products are made is undoubtedly a part of that company's identity. Cards Against Humanity at least wants it to be a good part.

We have a small favor to ask of you

manufacturing

Work-life balance? What's that?

So. Satisfying.

They're totally comfortable, always fashionable ... and not super-sustainable.

It's one of the most famous — and ubiquitous — articles of clothing in modern history. So much so that you're probably wearing one right now.

1. F. Scott Fitzgerald — you know, the author of "The Great Gatsby" — is credited with naming the T-shirt.

2. There's a Guinness World Record for the most T-shirts worn at once, because of course there is.

3. 9 out of 10 Americans are probably wearing a T-shirt right now.

4. James Dean and Marlon Brando looked so good in T-shirts that it basically defined their early careers — and started the T-shirt craze.

5. Cotton — the most common ingredient in t-shirts — is a huge business.

6. T-shirts take a lot of cotton to make. And even more water.

7. New shirts made from recycled cotton can make a big difference.

8. Millions of T-shirts are donated at thrift shops every year. But even more end up in places like this.

It could be said that the only thing Americans love more than cars is making robots to build them.

Unfortunately, a lot of that innovative robotic automation came at the cost of human jobs.

One car maker in Germany, however, is starting to reverse that trend.

Why look to human workers instead of relying on automation?

Humans are a damn good investment, too.

If car manufacturers in Germany can bring back autoworker jobs, so can we.

So here's to you, human beings.

Some very smart people have some very smart plans to fix this.

As the saying goes, there are plenty of fish in the sea.

But it might be just as true — if not quite as applicable — to say, "There's plenty of plastic in the sea, as well."

This is likely happening because we love plastic but hate recycling.

So, what's there to do? Well, some very smart people have some very good ideas.

While steps 2 and 3 are mostly about manufacturing, there are some important things we can do as consumers.

There's an elephant in the room of American manufacturing.

Most companies don't address the use of cheap Chinese labor. Unless something goes wrong.

It's refreshing when a company takes a second to talk frankly about their labor practices.

While a positive gesture, it certainly doesn't solve the problem.