Ho fabricaràs i ho arreglaràs. Els tallers mecànics del districte paperer de l'Anoia: les arrels històriques d'un sector dinàmic

Abstract

[eng] The industrial district dynamics derive from the territorial concentration of a certain activity. This high productive concentration generates external economies that benefit the firms that are part of the district. The origins of these benefits are a shared qualified labour market, a better technology transfer and a series of common services and suppliers. Among the latter, the mechanical workshops that ensure the supply of components and the repair of machinery are noteworthy. This study focuses on the Capellades paper district, which development in the second half of the 18th century made it the epicentre of the sector on a Spanish scale. During the 19th century, the existing network of mechanical workshops facilitated the strategic move to technological continuity while the Fourdrinier machine spread. As a result of it, the workshops experienced a double cycle of expansion. The first was related to the Hollander (a rag beating mechanism which was an alternative to the traditional stampers) and the second to the picardo machine (a device that mechanized the manufacture of the sheet, leaving the rest of the process unchanged). Precisely, the picardo ensured the persistence of this technological model during the first third of the 20th century and until the changes of the 1950s and 1960s. In this context, the workshops were adapted to the new technological paradigm, ensuring their survival.