Economics
The principal advantage of the Lancashire loom was that it was semi-automatic, when a warp thread broke the weaver was notified. When the shuttle ran out of thread, the machine stopped. An operative thus could work 4 or more looms whereas previously they could only work a single loom. Indeed the term A Four Loom Weaver was used to describe the operatives. Labour cost was quartered. In some mills an operative would operate 6 or even 8 looms, although that was governed by the thread being used. By 1900, the loom was challenged by the Northrop Loom, which was fully automatic and could be worked in larger numbers. The Northrop was suitable for coarse thread but for fine cotton, the Lancashire loom was still preferred. By 1914, Northop looms made up 40% of looms in American mills, but in the United Kingdom labour costs were not as significant and they only supplied 2% of the British market.
Read more about this topic: Lancashire Loom
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