For the brave: If you REALLY want to know why U.S. cars (and other products) often suck.

[Bonobo]

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/403/nummi

I was so impressed by this week's episode of This American Life.
It does an amazing job, IMHO, of explaining some real key cultural and organizational differences between US and Japan -and it is entertaining as well.

Very informative, very lucid. Great show.
-------------------------------
PROLOGUE.
Host Ira Glass introduces the story of the New United Motor Manufacturing Inc., aka NUMMI. In 1984, General Motors and Toyota opened NUMMI as a joint venture. Toyota showed GM the secrets of its production system: how it made cars of much higher quality and much lower cost than GM achieved. But today, GM cars still don't have the quality of Japanese imports, GM is bankrupt and on March 31, NUMMI will be closed, sending thousands of car workers looking for jobs. In this hour-long story, NPR Automotive Correspondent Frank Langfitt tells the story of NUMMI and why GM – and the rest of the American car business – wasn't able to learn from it more quickly. (4 1/2 minutes)
ACT ONE.
The rise of NUMMI, or how one of the worst auto plants in America started producing some of its best cars, thanks to lessons learned from the Toyota production system. (25 1/2 minutes)

ACT TWO.
Why did it take so many years for GM to begin implementing the lessons of NUMMI across the company? NPR Automotive Correspondent Frank Langfitt continues his story. (26 minutes)

This episode contains interviews with the following individuals: David Champion, Jeffrey Liker, John Shook, Bruce Lee and Joel Smith of United Auto Workers / UAW, Rick Madrid, Billy Haggerty, Richard Aguilar, Earl Ferguson, Ernie Schaefer, Mark Hogan, Steve Bera, Larry Spiegel, Dick Fuller, Geoff Weller and James Womack.

[Sherman A1]

1. I listened to it on the way home from work on Saturday

It was a good piece, I did miss the ending segment and will have to catch up with that.

But, I think it comes down to one word.... "Hubris"

[Kokonoe]

2. So, do they report what the secret is? Oh I forgot its a secret.

Cars are designed with quality built in. You cannot make quality on final assembly.
Just another (Japanese are great/America is bad) news commercial from toyota's massive public relations effort.

[mdmc]

4. I heard this story

sounds like the workers were not allowed to stop the line for any reason at all..

[Bonobo]

5. Contempt for workers is what that represents. nt

[Toucano]

9. "You cannot make quality on final assembly."

LOL! You're funny!

Have you ever been on an assembly line?

Of course you can screw up the assembly - thereby the quality - of the final product.

[Kokonoe]

10. But you cannot make quality out of a bad design.

Anyone can screw it up, but you're assuming they start with quality parts.
The line workers have no control over what their told to build.

And yes, I built literally millions of cars, always been on the line.

[druidity33]

3. transcript? nt.

[Nay]

6. The Toyota way of manufacturing was developed by an American,

W. Edward Deming, who couldn't get any American companies to listen to his theories. He took his ideas to Japan (not just Toyota follows Deming's way) and it is standard there now. It never has become standard here, mostly because managers hate the idea of having to listen to their employees for ways to improve continuously--it seems to gore their oxen somehow, if someone on the line can tell them how to do it better. We see that everywhere in the US; there are some for-show attempts to 'involve' workers and promote 'teamwork,' but it is all for show. Invariably, the managers keep blundering around, don't listen to anyone with any sense, and spend time protecting their turf above all else.

[Toucano]

7. Thank you. n/t

[Codeine]

8. Actually that story makes it abundantly clear

that most of the lessons learned at NUMMI have finally - after far too many years, admittedly - been applied across the American auto manufacturing industry and out cars no longer "suck." They haven't 'sucked' for many years.