Bjørn Lundgård Production worker, warp making Gudbrandsdalens Uldvarefabrik September 2013

I started here on June 7, 1977, so I'm vintage, you might say. Before that I worked as a chef. But I got tired of kitchen work. It was hard and poorly paid, and it was not any fun any more. I looked for something else. And it was here I got a job. That was just the way it was. At the time I applied it was easy, you just travelled around and asked for work, and most often you could start the next day, or even the same day if you wanted to. It is very different now. I worked night shifts for more than seventeen years in the spinning department until I got daytime work. Then I started making sample books and leaflets to present the products we make to our customers. I had several different tasks before I was transferred to the warp making, where I am today.

Knowledge comes with experience. There are not many I know of who started here with experience in textile production from before. But there have been competent people here over the years, willing to share their knowledge. This is the way it has been passed down to us, you might say. This is how we have learned what we know.

The first thing you do when you are creating a warp is to enter all necessary data into the computer to find the yarn we need. Then you have to fetch the yarn, place it in the beaming frame, tie it in, pull it through, thread the reed, do the calculation and set the machine for the quality you are running. Then you have to run as many sections as you need to get the correct width, transfer the yarn to the warp beam and place the beam in the beam elevator. When finished, you enter the data into the computer and then the weavers can collect the beam in the elevator down in the weaving department. There the warp is tied into the looms, and then, in the end, it becomes a woven finished fabric.

The lengths of warp vary a lot. The shortest we make are about 57 metres, which is one piece, or maybe even a little shorter, if that's what the customer wants. The longest are 1840 metres. We don't produce for stock any more, because it does not pay. There are taxes on stored goods, so it costs extra to have a lot lying around not being sold. Preferably we produce to order. So the short warps we make are for qualities that don't sell much. For our bestselling products we make many long warps.

The quality of what we produce in the mill has been high all the time. This is probably the reason why we are still in business. Not everyone buys low quality just to buy low quality, so to speak. It doesn't always pay in the long run. And then the mill has always been managed well. It is important that a family runs it, and that it is a question of heritage. It is their livelihood, and this is an important factor, I think. Without their deep interest I don't think that the factory would be here today, actually. All businesses have their ups and downs, naturally. Sometimes it is hard and other times it's easy. It is important to constantly keep up with development, because it is important that you are up to date at all times. The factory has a professional sales department who promotes what we make. That is also important. And a staff that knows what they are doing.

This will soon be the only manufacturing company left at Lillehammer. No, there are not many others still operating. Everyone in the district knows where GU is and what it stands for. I have never experienced anything negative when telling people that this is where I work. Everyone needs a job. This has been quite a safe place to work through the years, some ups and downs, yes, but all in all a secure income. And you depend on that.