"Detroit needs a turnaround, not a check" ~ Mitt Romney

Hat Tip Hans Mast

Let Detroit Go Bankrupt By MITT ROMNEY

IF General Motors, Ford and Chrysler get the bailout that their chief executives asked for yesterday, you can kiss the American automotive industry goodbye. It won’t go overnight, but its demise will be virtually guaranteed.

Without that bailout, Detroit will need to drastically restructure itself. With it, the automakers will stay the course — the suicidal course of declining market shares, insurmountable labor and retiree burdens, technology atrophy, product inferiority and never-ending job losses. Detroit needs a turnaround, not a check. Read it all.

Mitt lays it down in his op-ed. Detroit ignored one Dr Edwards Deming...Japan did not.

1900 - 1994

W Edwards Deming was an American statistician, considered the father of the modern quality movement. Edwards Deming strongly influenced Japanese industry post WWII with Statistical Process Control (SPC) and Total Quality Management (TQM), similar to Joseph Juran.

In 1982 Edwards Deming published “Out of the Crisis” identifying 14 points for management which if applied would enable Japanese manufacturing efficiencies to be realized.

Demings 14 Points Summarized

1. Create constancy of purpose and continual improvement – long term planning must replace short term reaction
2. Adopt the new (Japanese) philosophy – by management and workers alike.
3. Do not depend on (quality) inspection – build quality into the product and process
4. Choose quality suppliers over low cost suppliers – to minimize variation in raw materials and supply.
5. Improve constantly – to reduce variation in all aspects e.g. planning, production, and service.
6. Training on the job – for workers and management, to reduce variation in how job is done.
7. Leadership not supervision – to get people to do a better job, not just meet targets.
8. Eliminate fear – encourage two-way communication, encourage employees to work in the organisation’s interest.
9. Break down internal barriers – department’s in an organization are “internal customers” to each other and must work together.
10. Eliminate slogans (exhortations) – processes make mistakes not people. Management harassment of workers will create bad relations if no effort made to improve processes.
11. Eliminate numerical targets – management by objectives (targets) encourages low quality.
12. Remover barriers to worker satisfaction – including annual appraisals
13. Encourage self improvement and education for all
14. Everyone is responsible for continual improvement in quality and productivity – particularly top management

Website: www.deming.org

Japan adopted this as the standard. Detroit adopted the United Auto Workers and all that entails. Detroit needs to look in the mirror and blame that person. People will always pay for quality and the Japanese understood that.

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