INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS

For 90 minutes Monday morning, I had the pleasure of touring the Thorngate, Ltd. division of Hartmarx Corporation, one of the greater Cape Girardeau area's largest and most important manufacturing concerns. It was quite a learning experience. I was invited to join several dozen economics teachers from all over Missouri in a Missouriana tour that has them studying business, industry and agriculture in many parts of our state.

Like me, the teachers were overwhelmingly impressed with the awesome productivity and sheer professionalism of the Thorngate team of associates. After the tour, plant manager Frank Adams graciously called on me to make brief remarks to the teachers. Adams is a 38-year veteran of the company and is known as a leader and innovator in the field. For years, Frank has run a tight ship at the plant on Independence Street.

I took the opportunity to remark on the impressive, computerized cutting operation we had seen in operation. Before describing that high-tech, state-of-the-art machinery, however, it's important to realize how far we've come in a few generations. Frank Adams can recall when the cutting of fabric was done by hand, with heavy shears.

The last few years have seen the introduction of computerized cutters of the kind now in use at Thorngate. Depending on the fabric, the new machines can quickly and precisely cut up to 50 pieces of cloth at a time. A skilled associate carefully places the cutter over the stack of fabrics, with patterns superimposed on light plastic that covers the cloth. Then the machine cutter begins cutting, flawlessly, and several dozen coats or trousers are cut simultaneously. It is an incredible demonstration in improved productivity. These computerized cutting machines represent such a major capital outlay that Thorngate has three shifts operating them around the clock.

In remarks to the teachers, I observed that there might have been some who would object to the introduction of such new machinery, because of the "loss" of old jobs from the handcutting that Adams saw early in his career. I argued that there was really no choice but to reject that kind of thinking as needlessly backward. I argued that, properly understood -- far from eliminating jobs -- such far-sighted capital outlays should be understood as being the anchor of future, more highly skilled jobs in an increasingly competitive global economy.

In reflecting on the kind of backward-thinking person who would oppose new, labor-saving technology, I had in mind the Luddites, from the early years of the Industrial Revolution in England. The Luddites, you will recall, were those textile workers who were alarmed by the coming of the new power looms in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. So passionately opposed were the Luddites to the threat they perceived from the new machinery that they took to violence, smashing the looms and trashing factories that installed them.

Fortunately, not much Luddite thinking was around in the late 1980s, when Thorngate management committed to the purchase and installation of the new equipment, and to the necessary training of their work force. I told the teachers that under the leadership of Frank Adams and the management team he assembled, Thorngate had really put Cape Girardeau on the map in the apparel industry. My legislative colleagues frequently approach me to ask that I keep them informed as to exactly when the next Thorngate suit sale will be held.

Frank Adams tells me that everything produced by the Cape Girardeau and Chaffee plants is sold before it leaves the premises here. In response to my question about the future prospects and viability of the local operations, Frank beamed and responded, "Our prospects are as bright as they've ever been."

That bright future is a tribute to a world-class work force, led by highly professional managers who are daily demonstrating their ability to compete with workers anywhere in the world. The hardworking, forward-looking people at Thorngate remind us that one of the few constants in today's world is change, change and more change. Congratulations to everyone at Thorngate!