MAN AND MACHINE
PRODUCER: ADOLF FORTER GLORIAFILM AG
SCRIPT: ADOLF FORTER
CAMERA: ERNST BOLLIGER
MUSIC: HANS MOECKEL EDITING: RENÉ MARTINET
LABORATORY: TURICOP SOUND SYSTEM: TOBIS-KLANGFILM
FILMED ON EASTMANCOLOR
Switzerland is a landlocked country,
far from seaports and lacking primary resources,
even though they are the basis of all industrial development.
And yet it has a strong industry.
How can this be?
The Alps and the Jura limit Switzerland's living space.
It cannot solely rely on its agriculture.
Population growth required a new economic solution.
It is this struggle for life that paved the way for industry.
But what makes Swiss industry special?
We won't find it here.
In foreign foundries,
the work is the same as here, but the impact there
is still much stronger.
How did the Swiss industry succeed in carving out
such a place for itself in foreign markets?
What are the reasons behind it?
Here is something remarkable:
a 25-tonne steel Pelton turbine expertly cast in a single step,
a testament to the art of casting.
This huge toothed wheel is worked using a machine tool.
However, an operator controls the machine,
and thereby participates in producing the highest quality.
Whether it be a large or tiny object,
mere fractions of a millimetre
are critical in machining.
Seconds determine whether or not
a part meets the highest expectations.
Based on his calculations,
the master blacksmith decides
when the piece has been worked enough.
Is the uniqueness of Swiss industrial development,
which favours export,
beyond visible?
Admittedly,
two thirds of the Swiss engineering industry's production
is sold abroad.
At the factory, people are always crammed together.
The same crowd is leaving the factory at the end of the work day.
Look how nice the lawn is in front of the factory.
In the quest for open space,
nothing is built there.
The crowd is dispersing and boarding the factory buses,
which quickly take the workers home.
Silence reigns in the machine room.
Where is the worker now?
How does he live?
In close quarters?
He longs for an open living space.
He finds it far from the factory.
He is free here.
Together, employer and worker
seek to preserve private life from constraints linked to overcrowding,
and to leave room for initiative.
To that end, the employer largely participates
in various solutions to the issue of housing.
One lives on a farm he inherited,
and takes care of animals in his free time.
Even if he's a worker, he remains faithful to his farming roots.
Another is building his own house.
Where the Swiss worker lives,
determines how he uses his free time.
He lives close to the land where his roots lie.
The staff common room has remarkable features.
The small tables in the canteen separate the crowd,
and make it possible to be among friends.
The factory library satisfies intellectual appetites.
Here we find the best food
for the soul.
The worker is more than a simple pawn, he is a key player.
The house organ addresses the everyday business of the company,
as well as local news,
the ups and downs of the factory family,
various events:
here, a superb concert offered to staff.
Well-being is at the core of the factory's workings.
Lawns and sports fields on the factory premises
provide for relaxation in the open air during the break.
The body can therefore compensate for spending time indoors.
This company residence offers low-cost holidays
in a beautiful place.
Again, this financial commitment shows
that the entrepreneur cares about the worker's well-being.
Let's go back to the machine room and memorise the faces of the workers.
Look, here they are again,
leisurely playing cards outside, in front of the residence.
Fear of growing old? Fear of becoming disabled?
Not any more.
Both are covered by insurance.
Furthermore, the company
has provided a residence for old hands.
Old people rest.
The youth are maturing,
and the boys are already practising hands-on work.
In the apprentice workshop, manual training continues.
A lot has changed since Grandfather's time,
but the company links the three generations.
In parallel with initiation to manual work,
minds are also shaped.
Technical drawing
is introduced to the apprentice.
When a vocational school complements the apprentice centre,
all boys from the village can learn a trade.
The necessary financial means
are largely provided by the industry.
Apart from quality, export requires something else:
custom-made products.
This requires employing many designers.
But contrary to anonymous mass production,
this type of fabrication
fosters direct contact with customers from Switzerland and abroad.
Special products sometimes need considerable investment.
In return, the industry can continue to export.
How fascinating it is to watch a product being loaded onto a train,
bound for its country of destination.
A portion of goods are shipped via the Rhine.
Following land and water, air transport is also used.
Swiss exports are also delivered by plane.
Where do all these products go?
Commercial networks extend across the globe.
As only the major routes are indicated here,
we will simply show a few representative examples
of the variety of products exported, and their destinations.
Austria,
Australia,
Italy,
Ethiopia,
Portugal,
Czechoslovakia,
Turkey,
Poland,
Brazil,
England,
Indochina,
Germany,
Egypt,
New Zealand,
Canada,
Sweden,
lndia,
Venezuela,
China,
Amazonia.
Quality and customised work
are two explanations for the success of exports.
There is a third one that is gaining importance:
the ongoing development of new ideas.
This is the only way to breathe new life into exports.
This is what creates a bridge between the industry
and the Federal Institute of Technology,
a place of high-level education and research.
Research grants provided by the industry
support the link between the free economy and the public school system.
The engineer,
in search of new ideas in the Research Department,
is a former student of the Federal Institute of Technology.
He happily boards the mobile electric power station,
a magnificent creation to which he greatly contributed.
It generates 7,500 horsepower.
It is bound for Mexico where it will quickly be put to use,
to compensate for power cuts
or immediately meet an urgent need for electricity.
The worker also has ideas.
He draws them from his work and knows that management
also counts on his contribution.
His ideas
will be carefully examined.
Pleased and confident,
he leaves his proposal
in the suggestion box made available for that purpose.
The bonds within the company are strengthened
by equal rights in public life.
Landsgemeinde, where citizens gather,
deliberate and vote,
still exist in certain cantons.
There is no finer token of democratic unity in freedom.
In all the country, entrepreneurs and workers meet
in municipal departments and councils.
They sit at the same table during worker commissions.
Discussing topics related to company life
makes it possible to maintain close ties
between management and workers.
Here, the topic being discussed is work schedules:
should they be changed?
...work in order to finish a bit later.
What do you think?
Gentlemen, we've thought about it.
The majority prefer starting and ending work early.
Many have their own house, a farm,
a garden or a hobby,
and enjoy ending work early.
I propose that the work schedules do not change.
I support this request.
What I enjoy is fishing. I wouldn't want to have to give it up.
Especially now that we have a nice pond.
I'm happy to see that we agree.
We're therefore all in agreement
to not change the work schedules.
If no one has anything to add,
the meeting is adjourned.
Thank you for your collaboration.
Sir?
I spoke about fishing.
The pond is lovely in the spring.
We would be delighted if you came to see it.
Thanks, I'd love to.
Transforming swampy land into a small lake
was the workers' idea.
Management provided the necessary machines.
Initiative
and improvisation testify to a free life,
which isn't determined by the group,
and thus quintessentially Swiss.
The young and not-so-young in the area
enjoy this pond.
The casual relationship between entrepreneur and villager
that we see on screen is more than a one-off shot.
It's the core of Switzerland,
which unites free people in a free country.
THE END PRODUCTION: ADOLF FORTER
Subtitles: Chloé Bourgogne & Sherry Stanbury