Slater Mill

Slater MillJonathan Wojtowicz10-29-13MGT336Dr.Einstein

Slater Mill was founded by Samuel Slater in 1793 in Pawtucket R.I. It was the first the first textile mill in America. Despite the British Prohibiting the sale of manufacturing equipment and the Migration of skilled laborers Sam Slater was able to sneak into America by stating on his immigration papers that he was a farmer.

Along with Slater another textile mill was created in Lowell Massachusetts.Francis Cabot Lowell adopted the Water wheel design to power the looms in his mill as well. This was much more efficient than the traditional hand powered looms. This increased productivity and allowed for expansion with in the mill. Relationship between Slater and Lowell

Relationship between Slater and LowellSlater and Lowel had more in common than the fact they were both textile mills. They also implemented similar management techniques. These mills established some of the first examples of a hierarchy of management in America. Becaue of this they faced many similar challenges from a management perspective. One obstacles they faced was the fact that there were too many workers per manager at the middle management level. What created an even bigger problem was the fact that Britian didnt allow skilled and technical waork to migrate so the employees were inexperienced and had no prior training. Also because the employee selection usually consisted of poorly educated individuals the could not read or write.

The ringing of the bell

This pictures shows how the bell system in Slater worked. This bell was the greatest part of the work day. When the bell rang it meant one of two things, break for lunch, or the end of a shift. Which ever it was it meant you could stop working and that was why all the employees loved the sound of the bell.

Inside the brown house At the slater mill site there are three buildings. The original mill building, the wheel house building, and the brown house. The brown house gave insight Into living conditions at this time and how the performed basic every day tasks. This picture particularly I found was the most interesting aspect inside the Brown House. This picture shows an example of a bed tightening tool. A bed consisted of a series of ropes that ran from the head of the bed to the foot. They performed A similar function to todays box springs. The difference was every night before bed you would have to tighten theses ropes because they would stretch and become loose. This would cause the mattress to sag and the bed to become uncomfortable.

Jonathan WojtowiczBasement of the Brown HouseHow the water wheel workedThey needed to build channels off of the river to control the flow of the waterThe Blackstone river that powered the wheel that powered the mill was too strong.

How the water wheel worked

Water would enter threw this trap.the trap filtered out large debris floating down the river so the wheelwouldnt be damaged

Then the water flows into the channels of the wheel causing it to rotate. This caused the main shaft to turn which traveled threw the floor powering all the machinery upstairs.

Poor working conditionsWorkers conditions were terrible. All the components of the machines were exposed and created a great risk for employee safety. In this particular setting half of the shop was wood work, and the other half was use for metal. Because of all of the sawdust and oil from the machines the floors were extremely slippery. The men working there prefered not to wear shoes so they wouldnt slip and fall. This cased a serious splinter problem because the floor were made of woodSlater Mill OverviewMy experience at slater was both educational, and interesting. I found that the tour related to many course concepts and I found myself engaging in many of the tour guides discussions. The Slater Mill is extremely interesting. It has so much information to offer on early textile industry, major technological advances of the time, and insight on the devolvement of management. Overall I would say the experience was well worth it.