RESEARCH ABSTRACT
I chose to dedicate my dissertation research on the changes happening to the carpet manufacturing industry in Britain. I live in a small town which was once a thriving advocate for the trade, however in the present time the industry is slowing disappearing which is why I had such personal connection to this topic.
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Included below is a small abstract of my research and findings. If you would like to read the full text, please get in contact.
Purpose
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Carpet manufacturers in Great Britain have experienced significant changes to the traditional processes of production, with thanks to certain elements. New forms of competition, changes in consumer flooring trends and new technological developments are just a few examples. In order to continue to develop successfully, it is important to understand the history of what influenced change within the carpet industry, how those changes affected manufacturing companies and how far carpets have come to ensure positive progression.
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Approach/Methodology
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Research through examining books, online articles and websites all connected to carpet manufacturing helped to gain a deeper understanding of the subject and give indications on the most successful ways to follow up with primary research methods. To further understand the subject, interviews with relevant professionals working in different areas of the industry were conducted to gain further information on different research topics.
The Museum of Carpet’s archive is greatly insightful into the history of the industry in Kidderminster, showing the volume of factories that dominated the towns surface area at one time and indicates how important the industry really was for the growth of the town itself and its community.
The design archive in Brintons Carpets Ltd was a visual experience through the years of design within the company, illustrating the scale of designs that they produce and showing how designing carpets on a large scale changed throughout the years.
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Findings
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The once traditional craft of creating hand-woven carpets in Britain has been industrialised by its own success along with new worldwide innovations from manufacturing companies. The previously family run organisation has since been altered for the benefit of business rates which has closely affected the surrounding communities in the UK. Long-established traditional expertise and skillful methods that were formerly passed down from one generation to another have now been revolutionised by new technologies to become more profitable. The scale of changes bestowed on the work force from this success deeply affected the community as many lost their jobs due to the movement of departments overseas into countries that employ cheaper labour rates compared to the UK.
Evolutionary inventions have allowed carpets to maintain a strong presence among other flooring alternatives, especially now with the introduction of new machines. Throughout generations, these machines have continued to accelerate carpet production times and improve efficiency from start to finish; encouraging large manufacturing companies to build on their already dominating empires. Constant pressure to keep up with fast changing trends and competition from alternative floorings provoked experimentation for new developments in carpet design; which led to new innovative approaches for the industry.
Globalisation of the carpet manufacturing industry dramatically changed the dynamic of the trade in comparison to what it once represented. Business manufacturers now are focusing more on profit margins due to constant competition, in comparison to when the industry first began when the local community and family values were most important. A sentiment that now seems to be forgotten.
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