Saving the US Auto Industry

[Clodfobble]

Then whoever is in charge of ordering the right parts should be fired. Or the vendor who consistently doesn't deliver on time should be replaced. It's a symptom of a larger problem, but it's still a problem.

[tw]

Originally Posted by Shawnee123

And I'll bet you a LOT of money that no one who works at Honda has ever sat around on the clock playing card.

It’s called just in time delivery. That means parts are always provided.

Toyota had a problem where the only manufacturer of Camry brake cylinders had a factory wide fire. So Toyota management did their job. They got a manufacturer of sewing machines to immediately shift to production of brake cylinders. If I remember correctly, Toyota employees were only idle for a few days.

JIT can only work when management comes from where the work gets done. Rick Wagoner has been a bean counter his entire life. GM's CFO before running GM North America into massive losses and all of GM into the ground today. JIT cannot work where the most ignorant are top executives. Therefore employees get paid to be unproductive.

That, BTW, was also the point of William Edward Deming's famous bean experiment. I understand his beads are now in the Smithsonian. Deming routinely proved that employees are only as productive as the bosses permit. Ironic that he used beans to demonstrate reality.

[Pico and ME]

I think the down times are partially due to just-in-time manufacturing process and its not possible to prevent every contingency that would delay parts getting to a line. Management would rather pay idle employess than keep an over stock of parts.


eta: damn you tw, if only I was a faster typist. :P

[Clodfobble]

Originally Posted by Pico and ME

Management would rather pay idle employess than keep an over stock of parts.

Why?

[Pico and ME]

:shrug:

good question

It must have something to do with accounting....whereas labor is different from inventory. (??)

[elSicomoro]

Some of what I might do If I were in charge of this entire mess:

--GM cuts down to Chevy, Pontiac and Cadillac. Maybe keep the Buick name in China or change it to Cadillac or Opel. Sell Saab & Hummer. Get rid of Buick and GMC. GM makes all their dealers Chevy, Pontiac & Cadillac while paring down a bunch of dealers.

--Ford gets rid of Mercury and makes all their dealers Ford and Lincoln dealers, while paring down a bunch of dealers. Sell Volvo.

--GM buys Chrysler with an assist from the Feds. Goodbye Dodge and Chrysler brands...integrate any viable products into what GM currently has. Jeep stays.

--Wagoner and the guy that run Chrysler have to go. Mulally seems to know what the fuck he's doing at Ford...he stays.

--$$$ from the Feds to the auto industry. An initial lump sum with stringent conditions attached. More money may be obtained if certain benchmarks are reached.

Based on what I've seen and read, I think the Big 3 will get help. The Republicans don't want to become completely insignificant, and the effects of either GM or Ford tanking could hurt the entire auto industry around the world and possibly send the US into a depression. They make good cars...now we just need to convince people to start buying them once we pull out of this economic mess.

[elSicomoro]

Interesting...this is an e-mail that I just got from GM (as I own an '07 Chevy Cobalt...which I love):

Dear (Mrs. Sycamore),

You made the right choice when you put your confidence in General Motors, and we appreciate your past support. I want to assure you that we are making our best vehicles ever, and we have exciting plans for the future. But we need your help now. Simply put, we need you to join us to let Congress know that a bridge loan to help U.S. automakers also helps strengthen the U.S. economy and preserve millions of American jobs.

Despite what you may be hearing, we are not asking Congress for a bailout but rather a loan that will be repaid.

The U.S. economy is at a crossroads due to the worldwide credit crisis, and all Americans are feeling the effects of the worst economic downturn in 75 years. Despite our successful efforts to restructure, reduce costs and enhance liquidity, U.S. auto sales rely on access to credit, which is all but frozen through traditional channels.

The consequences of the domestic auto industry collapsing would far exceed the $25 billion loan needed to bridge the current crisis. According to a recent study by the Center for Automotive Research:

• One in 10 American jobs depends on U.S. automakers
• Nearly 3 million jobs are at immediate risk
• U.S. personal income could be reduced by $150 billion
• The tax revenue lost over 3 years would be more than $156 billion

Discussions are now underway in Washington, D.C., concerning loans to support U.S. carmakers. I am asking for your support in this vital effort by contacting your state representatives.

Please take a few minutes to go to www.gmfactsandfiction.com, where we have made it easy for you to contact your U.S. senators and representatives. Just click on the "I'm a Concerned American" link under the "Mobilize Now" section, and enter your name and ZIP code to send a personalized e-mail stating your support for the U.S. automotive industry.

Let me assure you that General Motors has made dramatic improvements over the last 10 years. In fact, we are leading the industry with award-winning vehicles like the Chevrolet Malibu, Cadillac CTS, Buick Enclave, Pontiac G8, GMC Acadia, Chevy Tahoe Hybrid, Saturn AURA and more. We offer 18 models with an EPA estimated 30 MPG highway or better — more than Toyota or Honda. GM has 6 hybrids in market and 3 more by mid-2009. GM has closed the quality gap with the imports, and today we are putting our best quality vehicles on the road.

Please share this information with friends and family using the link on the site.

Thank you for helping keep our economy viable.

Sincerely,



Troy Clarke

[DanaC]

sidebar: History does not repeat itself.

[TheMercenary]

The best thing that could happen to GM is a frigging Chapter 11. Close all their plants, regroup, figure it out, reopen, and try to make the best of it. I promise you this, if they can't stay in operation till 20 Jan, they are hosed.

[Griff]

Originally Posted by DanaC

sidebar: History does not repeat itself.

... but it does rhyme. /U2

[tw]

Originally Posted by Pico and ME

good question

It must have something to do with accounting....whereas labor is different from inventory.

The logic is so true. In MBA run operations, there is almost no limit the Capital dollars. But money for daily operations is rationed like it was Venusian Kolars. It makes no sense. But that is another problem obvious in GM plants where MBAs - not car guys - make decisions.

But that logic does not explain why JIT means parts are always available - and why stocking parts even causes parts shortages. Again, return to the company who demonstrates how to be destructive, anti-innovative, and therefore anti-American - GM.

GM had decided that parts cost too much when handled from the shipping dock to assembly line. So GM spent massive capital money and even rewired floors. Robots would carry parts from stock rooms to the assembly line. As a result, assembly lines were constantly short of parts. By stocking parts, GM assembly lines periodically had part shortages.

Because GM management is business school graduates, they could not address reasons for higher costs and part shortages. Instead we look at what an American (an enemy of the business schools) taught Japan.

Deming taught 1950s Japan concepts where parts arrive JIT. IOW suppliers delivered parts directly to the assembly line as assembly line workers used those parts. As each bin emptied, an assembly line worker would send the card (attached to that bin) into a system that immediately notified the parts supplier. No more stock rooms and shipping docks. Instead, the supplier delivered his parts directly to the assembly line with another card attached to the bin.

MBAs cringe. No paper work to verify parts are delivered and accounted for. But then quality also means eliminating that paper work. At the end of the assembly line are X cars requiring two parts per car. At the end of the week, the supplier's bill better match the number of cars produced. Guess what. Parts always available on the supply line. No stock rooms. No Receiving department. No massive MBA paperwork. Therefore the Toyota or Honda costs far less than a GM car.

But again, quality means eliminating useless overhead such as accountants, empowering the workers (who order more parts by sending out that card), eliminating a purchasing department, eliminating a receiving department, no wasted labor (or silly robots) taking parts from stock room to assembly line ... get the idea? And I have still not listed all the saving when everyone acknowledges that bean counters only increase costs.

Of course when your CEO was also the CFO, such innovations are not possible. Bean counters cut costs rather than innovate - which is why Deming was the enemy of business schools and why the Toyota way was legendary even in 1964.

How destructive are bean counters? Ford engineers developed the stratified charge engine in 1960. When did Americans finally see it? Another American innovation stifled by a bean counter named Henry Ford and rescued by patriots. The American innovation was called CVCC; found on 1980s Honda Accords and Civics. Therefore Honda had two best selling cars in America.

The CVCC story is not unique. It is exactly by GM products are all crap today. It is what Rick Wagoner and his predecessors did to GM.

What did the assholes do? Rather than learn from 1950s Deming; rather than use JIT - they installed robots to deliver parts to the assembly line.

Notice that nobody contradicts these stories. And yet still some remain so much in denial as to not demand removing GM's only problem - Rick Wagoner. Patriots save GM by not buying GM products AND mocking any anti-American so dumb as to buy those products over the last 20 years.

Not buying crap saved 1979 Chrysler and 1981 Ford before 'Townsend and Richardo' and before Henry Ford could do irreparable damage. Only a scumbag would ignore quality and instead install robots. But then capital money and daily expenses exist on separate spread sheets.

And you thought you were making a simple statement? Reality and the reason why GM needs Chapter 11 are never explained by sound bytes.

[TheMercenary]

Kill it off while there is time. Obama will fix everything. He is our saviour...

[Shawnee123]

Originally Posted by Pico and ME

Shawnee...down time happens a lot because they dont have parts. What are they going to do while they are waiting? Does Honda insist that employees clock out?

If you got time to lean
You got time to clean. :p


Just a little tongue in cheek. My guess is if it's that dire then yes, they would go home. But as tw pointed out, running out of parts does not happen there as you say it does at GM (a lot) so running out of parts a lot is part of the bigger problem as well.

[Trilby]

why does tw hate MBA's?

[classicman]

Get it right Bri - they are Bean Counters - every one of them - dontcha know.