covered in dirty black lint and would require considerable time to be spent in cleaning not only the machines, but the power transmission, before they could be accepted as being a worthwhile production unit.
Other Factory Visits
On the following day we visited two factories, one of which made men's underwear which was of an extremely high quality, being as high as any under- wear produced anywhere in the world. The fabric was knitted on Loop Wheel machines, five machines to a job, the knitters working three shifts, six days per week, eight hours per shift. They received 400 Hong Kong dollars per month and in addition, they were provided with board and lodging. If they lived out they were provided with food in the factory. The girls on ancillary operations were paid 10/14 Hong Kong dollars per day. The tempo of work in this factory varied from department to department. Since they were verticillately integrated and produced in addition to men's underwear, a small quantity of half hose we saw the best and the worst in productivity. We were surprised to see in this factory and in the first factory we visited a number of people employed who did not appear to have a specific job to do and consequently we considered that there was about a 10/121% surplus of labour in the factory. The quality of the hand finishing and other ancillary work was extremely high but the productivity could have been improved. In the Half Hose section the linkers were working exceptionally well and had a rate of work which any manufacturer would have been proud of. In this factory, as we have said, we were impressed by the quality of the goods and the dynamism of the management and it was felt by the introduction of one or two manual aids, particularly in the finishing section, they could have improved their productivity and still maintained the high quality which they required.
The last factory we visited in Hong Kong was the largest one, employing 1,500 people and occupying an eight storey building. This was the nearest in approach to a modern factory which one would see in the western world. The whole atmosphere was one of thriving prosperity, both in the factory and the administrative section.
The company had 1,000 hand flat machines of which 700 were in use at the time of the visit. A hand flat knitter can earn about 17/20 Hong Kong dollars per day.
The company produced all types of outerwear from coats to jumpers, the garments being linked together and the only sewing on the garments was where it was impossible to link. The linkers and other ancillary operatives earned about 12/14 Hong Kong dollars per day. The linkers and machinists were on piece work and the examiners and hand finishers were on time rate.
The garments made in this company were of an exceptionally high standard, 100% production going to export, principally to the U.S.A. and Western Europe.
We were impressed by the layout in the factory, the flow of the work from the yarn right through to the despatch, where all the operations were done in a logical sequence and the organisation was comparable to any factory in the United Kingdom or other developed countries. The company was managed by
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