[AT] Big Truck Pickups

James Peck jamesgpeck at hotmail.com
Sat Nov 30 09:32:03 PST 2019


The UAW made concessions in order to get the UAW represented NUMMI to open.  GM rejected Lean. NUMMI taught Toyota that they prefer to operate without the UAW. The UAW was not rewarded for their efforts.

The UAW also negotiated the PQI (Product Quality Improvement) system into Chrysler. I was a member of a wonderful PQI team and one that was total Muda.

Medical Lean serves to deprive patients of the only part of the medical system they like.

The former NUMMI plant is now Tesla.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NUMMI

Steve Offiler AT List member Mechanical Engineer (soffiler at gmail.com); Absolutely. The Toyota Production System (TPS) is studied around the world and applied in every imaginable industry as "Lean Manufacturing" and in service industries like hospitals as simply "Lean".

I have a couple decades of experience with Lean Mfg. and I would count myself as a proponent although I've also seen some of the Achilles' Heels.  It is a very collaborative system at its core, and won't work well unless the entire workforce is engaged.  In short what I'm saying is that I cannot imagine a UAW shop embracing Lean.

James AT List Member (jamesgpeck at hotmail.com); Toyota does a really good job at controlling the manufacturing process. Not so good at the attractive design process.  Toyota refused an offer to take GM for free in the 2008 GM bankruptcy. That was an extremely wise decision. Everything necessary to make GM work well would have been politically unpopular.

Remember, Toyota can manufacture cars and trucks in the US using Americans and make money. There may be more.


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