Minimum wage hikes kill jobs - study
This goes without saying to anyone who follows logic, but it's always good to get it out in the public sphere as well.
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My grandparents had a dairy farm in central MN when I was growing up. It was a great innovation when they installed a pipeline system, so that my granddad didn't have to carry the milk tank every 2 cows to the bulk tank and dump it in. He was limited in how many cows he could milk in such a fashion (at the time, he was probably in his early '50's, about how old I am now, I know I wouldn't want to be hauling those cans back and forth twice a day). By installing that system, he was able to double the number of cows they milked and do it in a shorter time. Now, even that level of productivity is antiquated with milking parlors where the cows saunter in, stand on a rotating platform, are washed and milked and by the time they get to the opposite side are ready to walk out. And now these milking houses are doing hundreds of cows at a time, where my grandparents had about 35.
All true. Still, there was something satisfying about employing more people. The cost to repair my old manual machines was minimal compared to the cost of CNC repair. It used to be that I could drive a few miles pick up $50 worth of bearings or a drive belt for $20 and have a machine up and running again in an hour or two. Now the machines cost ten times as much, are obsoleted faster, and I have to call in a specialist who charges me $100 per hour to work on them. He charges me the same for his drive time to and fro (he is into me for $200 before turning a screw) and I seldom find the bad part costs me less than $1500. It takes two two way trips for the machine repairman; one to diagnose the problem and another to come back out and replace the bad component (now it is $400 just for driving). The labor time to do the repair is never less than 6-8 hrs and the down time waiting for parts for the machine is several days at a cost of at least $1500... on and on it goes...
When I first started buying CNC machines back in the early 80s I had an advantage over my competitors. Now those that remain all have them and much of the tool and die work has been sent overseas. I have to service more accounts to keep things going and that adds more overhead. Many middle class jobs have been lost in my plant and replaced with fewer jobs at Machine manufacturers and repair crews.
Now I am much more productive but my standard of living has not increased proportionately. I cannot blame mechanization for this. Economic policies, military spending cuts, regulations, trade agreements and exchange rates all play more negative parts. A side effect is we are also losing old school knowledge of how to make precision tools and dies without computers and designers are designing overly complicated parts that cost more to manufacture because the computers make it so easy and the designers have no shop experience.
The market has not allowed me to raise my rates to match my increased expenses and productivity gains have not made up the difference. This is why many of the tool and die trades are suffering in this country. If I ran a production house things might be different.
Regards,
O.A.
I wish that I would have been able to give my kids the experience of working on a family dairy farm. There are lessons learned in such an environment that you just don't get otherwise. The cows don't wait, and mechanical breakdowns and weather require planning and adaptability. But, alas, that lifestyle is gone (mostly), and certainly was for my family. My grandfather was the last farmer in my family, with his kids heading to the city.
The fact that you still exist is testament to your adaptability and resilience. That is laudable in its own right.
As one who has been practicing continuous improvement for 20 yrs now, I'm partially responsible for the adoption of increased mechanization. The fact that it exists necessitates its adoption, otherwise, like your former competition, you no longer are competitive. That is a result of "progress", competition, and capitalism. For the most part, I think it is beneficial, but you are correct, the human connection element suffers.
Right?
Maybe?