Chilean Industries

Today was the exact reason why this is not just a vacation but an academic course. In a few hours at three factories, I learned more about industry than I ever could have this summer otherwise. Additionally, I also learned how the Chilean culture and economic status affect their industry. So first, we started the morning at the production facilities of Hela, a paintbrush and tool factory. The guide was a Spanish speaker, so our Chilean students translated for us. It was evident that each worker was specialized to each position that they worked each day. They would perform their task before passing their completed part of the tool to the next part in line to add to. Note that each step of the production is done with a human interacting with machinery. After we finished at Hela, next on the list was Centauros. Centauros is the largest canning company in Chile, who expanded from just tomato sauce and products to many fruits, vegetables, and canned meals. The company again is largely operated by people. A worker was  in charge of putting each pepper through the slicing machine or filling each bag of ketchup, something that would almost be unheard of in the States. Our final stop of the day was at Bosques del Mauco, a mushroom factory. Oh the smell! I will spare you the details. However, through the stench, much was to be learned. Workers had a hand in each step of mushroom growing, from base production to packaging. Many jobs could be done with a unmanned machine in the United States, however in Chile things were different. Our guide, who has done much business with mushroom factories in the States, provided an insightful comment as to why. It was that they could use people to do steps because of how cheap labor was in Chile. Suddenly, everything I saw today made so much more sense. It is cheaper for all these companies to employee more people than invest in expensive machinery that must be maintained. The workers of Bosques displayed exactly what you would expect from Chilean labor workers:  hard work for cheaper pay. This was expansive to my understanding of Chilean industry and culture, giving me more of a respect for international production. At the end of long day of learning I was worn out and appreciated the chance to wind down. Especially with tomorrow being a nice day a relaxing camp, I will recharge much better.