About 15 years ago a group I was in was discussing the difference between Manufacturing and Marketing. In specific we were comparing Cottage type industry with mass production type industry.
We were able to visit the "Lee" blue jeans factory in El Paso,TX.
Each morning hundreds of workers crossed the border from Juarez, Mexico to work in the US on non-resident work visas.
They live in Juarez because the cost of living for a family of four is only about $600.00 a month.

I was looking through YouTube this morning and came across this video of a jeans plant.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DzEp...eature=related

There are some things I want you to notice----

The fabric is bought in bolts weighing 3000 lbs each, 50 entire shipping containers at a time from Tawain.

Then notice that each step of the manufacturing uses a single specially designed machine. There are 156 individual steps and each pair of jeans uses 80 or 90 specially made machines. Some of these machine can cost upwards of $150,000.00 each.

Then notice the speed of the machines. The video is not speeded up. Sewing at between 2500 and 6000 stitches a min. you have to see this speed to fully understand it.
A waistband of a pair of jeans is folded pressed and stitched in one operation that takes 2.5 seconds. That's 4,320 feet an hour.

One worker sits or stands at a single machine doing the same step over and over. To serge and sew the outside seam of a single pair is done in 4.25 seconds. Each worker is simply an extension of the machine.
Notice that they call the workers "operators".

Then notice when they say the pocket sewing operation is repeated 75 times every hour. Less than 1 min. per Pocket.
A beltloop is sewn in a single operation lasting 3.5 seconds.

Then notice near the end. They produce 1500 pairs each and every day.
With each pair taking at total time of 12 minutes, 15 seconds.
For 4 hours each day they make jeans of all the same model and all the same size. Then after lunch the move to the next size.

After visiting the plant I went down to the local Mall and priced the same type of jeans I had just watched being made.
Each pair of jeans was made for a total cost per pair of $12.38. And sold for between $46.00 and $68.00 depending on the store.

If you compare this type of manufacturing with Kiltmaking I think you can understand the difference.
I've watched Barb T. sew. She is amazing. She sews at a speed of 30 to 40 stitches a min. It's blazing fast.

My sewing machines sew at about 1500 stitches a min. But very seldom do we sew more than 100 stitches at a time before we move on to the next step.

Each Kiltmaker in my shop has their own station. They contain a 3'X5' layout table with an Olfa grid pad on the top, a 3'X5' Ironing table with an industrial Iron that creates the steam in a separate boiler, and a sewing machine and its table. The only other "machine" is a pair of scissors.
There are a lot of formica jigs, rulers, marking tools and pins.
Each Kiltmaker makes an entire Kilt from start to finish. It takes between 2 1/2 to 3 1/2, 8 hour days to make one Kilt.

As long as I'm not answering emails, the phone, talking to customers, working on special projects, or cruising X Marks we average 4-5 Kilts a week. That makes me the weak link in the operation because I only average 3-4 hours of actual sewing a day.

Now do you want a Kilt that costs what a pair of jeans does?
Are you willing to accept what that Kilt would look like and fit like?
Are you willing to support that type of operation?
Now granted, mass production is incredibly efficient. It can be more "Green" than my sort of operation. It employs far many more people.
And it is the only way to produce products at a low per piece price.
But......




:ootd: