VitalAccurateThinking

Ford to Slash Production

As I wrote here, it appears that the decline of the American auto industry continues. It is a shame really as American can be competitive in almost any manufacturing venue given the right management style. Honda and Toyota plants are as productive using American workers as they are in Japan. It is a matter of top-down bureaucracy being trimmed back so that the common man is empowered to do his best on the manufacturing floor. Here is how AP describes the latest Ford information:

Ford Motor Co. said Friday it would temporarily halt production at 10 assembly plants between now and the end of the year, blaming high gas prices for pushing many consumers away from its pickups and SUVs and toward higher-mileage models.

I wonder what was their first clue. Could it be history repeating itself from 30 years ago? If I was a Ford employee or stockholder, I would fire each and every manager above front level supervisor and bring in a couple of consultants like, say, Eli Goldratt and Bill Creech (who unfortunately passed away in 2003), partner with Toyota or Honda and turn Ford into a lean, mean, manufacturing machine dedicated to high mileage, hybrid manufacturing. Sink cash into manufacturing technology like Toyota does, and return American manufacturing back into the post-WWII powerhouse it once was.

But, *sigh*, it won't happen and Ford, like GM, will fade from the American landscape, subjected to either bankruptcy or takeover. Americans will have to adapt, despite being given a break by Toyota.

posted by Jim VAT @ 9:20 AM