"How It's Made" (Science Channel show) oddness.

Cafe Society
21

[QUOTE=An Arky]
Is it just me, or does the show How It’s Made give you the impression that manufacturing is done by middle-aged white people with very high tech machinery and a very clean, very safe working environment, even cheap stuff?

ISTM that this show is not at all representative of how many, if not most of consumer goods are made. Why don’t they show the noxious, low-paying child labor sweat shops cranking out Nikes or something? Yeah, I know; it’s a Manufacturers’ kiss-ass puff piece and everything, but do they really think we’re supposed to believe that all our stuff comes from clean, high-tech, good-paying marvels of the future or something? Sheesh! :rolleyes:

OK, maybe they’re showing low-paid Eastern European middle-aged white people or something. And I don’t intend to imply that being middle-aged and white makes one highly paid, just that I’m always seeing how manufacturing in the US is getting shipped overseas because it’s cheaper labor and perhaps looser regulations and everything, and what I see on that show doesn’t square with that.
[/QUOTE]

ONe thing I have noticed is that the show tends to shy away from clothing products, one for the reason you list above and another is that most of us have a pretty good idea of how a shirt is put together and there’s not many cool machines to show in action.

Despite what you might think, there are still many factories in the US and Canada. Relocating is not always labor saving as you might think, and some industries that is just not worth it when you factor in shipping costs. Some industries stay in the US because automation has reduced the number of workers to 2-3 guys.

Sometimes I have been surprised with how much labor some products need. The show showing how American Footballs, for example, surprised me with how much hand labor was needed.

22

Oh, I do actually like the show, I just find some aspects of it a little weird.

And yeah, Mr. Miskatonic, I noticed on the show I saw last night, there was some factory making light bulbs, and it looked like they were doing way more of the work by hand than could possibly be feasible for making something that cheap. Especially if it’s done by what appears to be very experienced (read white, middle-aged) workers.*

Of course, I’m sure there’s some Hawthorne Effect happening, as well. The factory management agrees to let *How It’s Made * film their plant (hey, free product placement!), then makes sure the plant is far more clean and orderly and that their most senior, skilled workers are seen doing the work than in real life for the benefit of the cameras.

*I want to point out that I’m aware that white, middle-aged people do indeed have factory jobs and not every white, middle-aged person is highly experienced and highly paid and not every non-middle-aged white person is some unskilled, low-paid schlub. I also realize I’m kind of treading on shaky ground mentioning this, and I don’t want anyone to take this the wrong way. I’m simply pointing out the cognitive dissonance I’m experiencing possibly due to my own lack of understanding.

23

[QUOTE=Otto]
I come away from that show every time with the overwhelming feeling that working in any sort of manufacturing sucks major ass. Watching the machines go is pretty cool but then the human workers show up for their part. The idea that someone’s job is to stand at a conveyer belt eight hours a day to make sure there are eight crayons in a box depresses me.
[/QUOTE]

God yes. You see, “Then the worker” and a pair of arms appears, does some lifting and folding and tucking, and then disappears, on to the rest of the machinery. And you realize that for that lucky worker, that’s what they do all day, every day. That has to suck.

24

[QUOTE=Liberal]
I have no idea how that notion even entered your mind, and so I’m gonna say “just you”. :slight_smile: I’m thankful that I don’t have that mindset. There’s plenty enough actual offense going around without sifting it from obscure sources.
[/QUOTE]

And I’m a gonna say “not just you” and leave it at that. Further discussion may be had on Great Debates or something.

25

[QUOTE=Mr. Miskatonic]
ONe thing I have noticed is that the show tends to shy away from clothing products, one for the reason you list above and another is that most of us have a pretty good idea of how a shirt is put together and there’s not many cool machines to show in action.
[/QUOTE]

The show the other night was about making jeans. Since they are put together inside out, there’s this tube thing with 100 lbs of suction that’s used to flip them right side out at the end. That was pretty cool, and I’m sure it was the cause of at least one perverted industrial accident the likes of which Woody Boyd’s family haven’t even imagined.

26

Is it just me, or does anyone else see that the “videos” are produced by the manufactuer, and if a trade secect is involved, you do not actually find out “how its made”? Raw wood goes in, and tennis rackects come out…ie…

all the show does is stictch together the videos… our CDN tax dollars at work… sigh

fml

27

I was so happy to see this show, but I still miss Mr. Rogers and Picture-Picture. “How People Make Toilets” is supreme.

http://pbskids.org/rogers/R_house/picpic.htm

28

[QUOTE=melvin coznowski]
It’s interesting as hell to find out how things are made, but to me, they don’t seem very specific. F’rinstance, the announcer (could they get someone more bland?) says, “The worker takes the material from the machine, and puts it on another machine. Then it’s finished.” Okay…

Is the show actually aimed at schoolchildren? I ask that because since it doesn’t go into much detail (IMO), it seems perfect for a school presentation (although in my day, we had film strips with a record turntable…oy…).
[/QUOTE]

Take the “Helicopter” episode.

“Mount the engine on the frame, then mount the body. Next, mount the rotor onto the shaft and test fly.”

OK, not quite that bad, but a show about actually building a helicopter would probably take the entire 30 minutes. Maybe longer :wink:

29

[QUOTE=Duke of Rat]
Take the “Helicopter” episode.

“Mount the engine on the frame, then mount the body. Next, mount the rotor onto the shaft and test fly.”

OK, not quite that bad, but a show about actually building a helicopter would probably take the entire 30 minutes. Maybe longer :wink:
[/QUOTE]
Definitely longer for the computer.

30

[QUOTE=An Arky]
Of course, I’m sure there’s some Hawthorne Effect happening, as well. The factory management agrees to let *How It’s Made * film their plant (hey, free product placement!), then makes sure the plant is far more clean and orderly and that their most senior, skilled workers are seen doing the work than in real life for the benefit of the cameras.

[/QUOTE]

Indeed. One of my old companies once produced a brochure, with lots of pictures. In the pictures, the warehouse and labs were spic and span clean. I had never seen it so clean. I thought they moved our shelves to another warehouse for the photography. In the lab pics everyone was neatly kitted out in white lab coats…I had never, ever seen anyone in the lab wear a lab coat.

31

[QUOTE=Evil Captor]
And I’m a gonna say “not just you” and leave it at that. Further discussion may be had on Great Debates or something.
[/QUOTE]
Why? He asked the question. Why do we have to run over to GD to answer it?

32

[QUOTE=Full Metal Lotus]
Is it just me, or does anyone else see that the “videos” are produced by the manufactuer, and if a trade secect is involved, you do not actually find out “how its made”? Raw wood goes in, and tennis rackects come out…
[/QUOTE]
One particular example of the tree goes in, tennis racket comes out effect was on making gypsum wallboard. It was like rocks and rolls of paper are fed into one end of a secret machine and finished panels emerge from the other end. It wasn’t quite that simplified, but the process of assembling plaster slurry and paper was glossed over as a secret.

The production values and quality are too consistent to be a collection of in-house productions nailed together, so I’m pretty sure the HIM crew does all of the shooting.

33

[QUOTE=Evil Captor]
God yes. You see, “Then the worker” and a pair of arms appears, does some lifting and folding and tucking, and then disappears, on to the rest of the machinery. And you realize that for that lucky worker, that’s what they do all day, every day. That has to suck.
[/QUOTE]

Not necessarily…before I moved on to my current profession, I worked in a few factories, and I never spent the entire shift working at the same task.

At the oatmeal packaging plant, I would rotate between:

-Putting packets of instant oatmeal in slots in the machine that puts them in boxes.
-Placing packets of instant oatmeal in different, larger boxes and sealing them with a hot glue gun.
-Placing the sealed boxes of instant oatmeal in larger boxes and sealing the boxes with tape.
-Putting plastic lids on those cylindrical packages of regular oatmeal.
-Putting those packages of oatmeal in boxes.
-Stacking the boxes on pallets.
-Taking full pallets to the warehouse with a hand jack.
-Manually mixing varieties of instant oatmeal that couldn’t be mixed mechanically.
-Cleanup.

At the pork processing plant, I would rotate between:

-Retrieving pork loins from a rack, trimming off excess fat, and slicing them with a band saw.
-Placing sliced pork chops onto styrofoam trays and onto the conveyor belt.
-Putting stickers on the shrink wrapped pork.
-Putting packages of pork in boxes.
-Stacking boxes on pallets.
-Running pieces of meat through a tenderizing machine.
-Cutting pieces of meat into small pieces, weighing them, and putting them in styrofoam trays.
-Cleanup.

Some nights, if there wasn’t enough to do in the pork chop line, I’d also perform other miscellanous duties in other areas of the plant.

At the horse trailer factory, I usually did perform the same task all day, or at least half the day, but there were several different steps involved in the tasks, so it didn’t really feel terribly repetitive. Typical duties were:

-Drilling holes for rivets in the aluminum walls of the trailers.
-Various forms of riveting.
-Caulking.
-Painting.
-Cleanup.

So yeah, working in factories does suck, and I’m really happy that I don’t do it anymore, but it wasn’t quite as repetitive as one might assume.

34

If it was called “How It Oppresses” then I’d expect it to look different, but I don’t watch to learn about working conditions in 3rd world countries. That machine that shaves a tree down into veneer sheets was cool, regardless of how many fingers the operator lost.

It does occasionally remind me of Monty Python’s How to Play the Flute - “Blow in this hole here, move your fingers on these things to make notes”, but it crams several things into a half hour show, so you gotta expect they skip over some stuff.

35

Best show on TV.

No plot or characters. Topic -> Tech -> Product. Refreshingly sterile.

As a companion to ‘How It’s Made’, may I suggest a season pass for

John Ratzenberger’s Made in America

‘Made in America’ is about the people and towns as much as it is about the manufacturing end.

Ratzenberger tries too hard to be funny, but it’s got some of the same draw as How it’s made.

36

I love this show. If they had a 24-hour How it’s Made channel, I would never change it.

37

Same here. I use it to practice guitar to. No thinking required. Mute it, put on closed captioning, and play. But now I never seem to find it on anymore. I wonder if Discovery is still showing it?

38

[QUOTE=Liberal]
I have no idea how that notion even entered your mind, and so I’m gonna say “just you”. :slight_smile: I’m thankful that I don’t have that mindset. There’s plenty enough actual offense going around without sifting it from obscure sources.
[/QUOTE]

  1. What notion - that I don’t believe that middle aged white people in immaculate lab coats and surroundings comprise the bulk of consumer goods manufacturing? Lets see, I can think of a whole bunch of ways that could have entered my mind, like observing that the packaging of many, if not the majority of the consumer goods one sees in stores most certainly does not say “Made in America by middle aged white people in immaculate surroundings”. Of course, I would be most appreciative of a cite that disabuses me of this “notion”. I’m all ears.

  2. Nowhere did I express any form of offense at this likely unrealistic representation of the manufacturing of a good portion of what our fine nation voraciously consumes. If anything, I find it quaint, that’s all.

So please humor me and tell me what exactly your getting at, other than unctiousness.

39

They speed up much of the production. They were showing sealing bags and said the operation takes 10 seconds. The ones they showed were less than one. But it is interesting.

40

I like it. I did not know that large-scale fireworks were handmade in plastic tubes and wrapped in craft paper until I saw it on How It’s Made.

Anyone else catch the Medieval Armor episode? That one was cool.

I suspect the reason that you mostly see white people is because most of the people working in manufacturing in Canada are white. I could be wrong, though – there could be some hidden agenda to convince me of that fact.