Good Monday to all on the list,
In response to Dutch's 3 questions:
In the automotive industry, Customer requirements are changing
rapidly. As little as ten years ago we had the following
standards for Quality, Cost and Delivery:
Good quality; a few mistakes here and there were no big deal.
After all we are all human.
Moderate Cost increase: Every spring you could expect some price
increase, due to cost of living adjustments and material cost
increases.
Delivery:just make sure it is here before we need it..as soon as
it is done.
Today, the standards for Quality, Cost and Delivery are:
Quality = Zero Defects: no excuses
Cost: price decrease from 1 - 2 % to 5 % a year, every year
Delivery Just-in-time at 10 o'clock within a 45 minute window...no
later, no sooner.
With standards like these it is slow going to Manage people to
change. What is required is everyone understanding the demands of
the Customer. In todays market the one who does something first
is often the winner.
Take Chrysler and Ford for example. Chrysler has fewer layers of
management in order to bring about changes...hence they beat Ford
in the driver side mini-van sliding door. Calculate the loss to
Ford by not knowing what the Customer wants and implementing
changes at a rapid pace.
For quick response, corporations are becoming smaller. I don't
mean right-sizing or down-sizing...I mean that they are becoming
small plants within plants. Instead of a Management Staff group
managing an entire assembly plant, the plant is broken down into
natural work cells...many of which are Customer specific. For a
Supplier who supplies say to Ford, GM, Chrysler and Honda..it
makes more sense to break the plant into small work teams that
service one customer, than to have the whole plant operation serve
all customers. These natural work teams are microcosms of the
whole plant and are cross-functioal.
They are a team because (our definition) they share the same
vision, share the same goals and are interdependant. A group is
often functional in nature with hidden agenda's, multiple goals,
and an internal vision. Although in reality they are
interconnected they seldom behave as though they are, often
implementing changes that affect the whole rest of the
organization without much concern for the difficulties others are
having adapting to the changes.
Teams are valuable to a corporation because they enable change,
bring focus and provide better service to the customer. The
perception on the part of the Customer is that specific people and
not specific departments work for them and understand their needs.
Relationship is one of the strongest bond between the Customer and
Supplier. A Customer who is a friend to the Supplier is a much
forgiving soul....communications are better. It is hard to love
four walls and a roof, but not Mary who always seems to understand
my frustrating day. Also, I know my company is her priority.
Additional value to this concept is that teams share resources,
seek buyin at the design or concept phase instead at the point of
implementation, and as individuals they feel more valuable.
Thanks for listening (reading),
Rick Corcoran
Mark 1
Excel Industries, Inc.
Continuous Improvement Mgr.
Employee Empowerment/ Kaizen