Two major questions emerge from the above outline of
the development of the Swedish textile industry in
recent years. First, how could the Swedish industry
manage to develop so strongly in the face of the
exceptionally keen price competition offered by the
majority of the textile producing nations? Second, why
should it be that an industry that has enjoyed such
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a demonstrably good export performance in all
sectors in recent years i.c. semi-manufactured
-
goods, piece-goods and ready-made clothes
is unable
to enjoy a similar measure of success in the domestic
market? The superficial questioning of ten people in
the textile trade produces a similar number of
different answers, and only an objective investigation
in depth by unbiased experts can provide the complete
answer. An investigation of this sort is already in
hand and should result in a full report at the end
of this year.
Rationalisation
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The answer to the first question probably lies
for the most part in rationalisation. From being
originally an industry that called for more manpower
than capital, theposition is now exactly the reverse.
Fifteen to twenty years ago, one operator could
attend to 3 or 4 looms producing 150 cm wide weaves,
and with a capacity of 100 shots a minute; today
a person with less skill as a weaver, but perhaps
slightly more as a mechanic,
can mind 10 or 12
machines producing 300 cm wide weaves at almost 21
times the speed of the old looms.
Rationalisation
measures of this kind have affected spinners and
weaverS as well
as clothing manufacturers and must
have resulted not only in the laying-off of a
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