"The Demise of Skilled Traditional Manufacturing"

Design and Technology Lecture
Craig Whittet
16/01/14


Skilled manufacture is an area of expertise I increasingly admire the more I learn about it. Listening to Craig talk about the demise of the shoemaker and other traditional manufacturing methods was a hard-hitting truth I had not given much thought to in the past. At first I was sceptical as to how much skilled traditional manufacturing had decreased in recent years. By the end of the presentation the future for such skilled trades as shoemaking looks bleak. 




Contrasting two job opportunities for school leavers really brought this to light. With the National Minimum Wage system the way it currently is, apprenticeships into skilled labour do not seem attractive. With the going rate of £2.68 per hour for a physical, labour intensive apprenticeship it is hardly surprising when people opt for a perhaps menial, but better paying job in Tesco. This is especially true nowadays with the all too common short-sighted view of trying to get whatever you can now and leaving future planning for just that, the future.




Contrastingly hearing the value people hold for a pair of handmade shoes is encouraging. There is still a market for finely produced products: such as a pair of Manolo Blahnik shoes for £875, or a pair of Tricker's ranging in price from £275-£6000.

Who has the money for products such as these in today's economy? Well, blatantly someone does. 

With the demise of skilled manufacture such products will become rarer and therefore more valuable as time goes on, which you could take as being a positive or a negative.









A major factor in any design is the perception people have of it. Many people have the view of Chinese produced products as being cheap and therefore of low quality. While for many products this stereotype may be true, it certainly cannot be applied to all. Some manufactured products from the Far East such as the "LSL Titanium Frame" are very high quality and yet come at a price much lower than some "home" equivalents. 

Overall the future of skilled traditional manufacturing has a mixed outlook. Products of high quality are still valued greatly and people are willing to invest in them. However, with the lack of enthusiasm for learning the skills required there is a danger of these methods dying out sometime in the future, which I believe would be a sad day in the history of manufacturing.