Your thoughts? Part Trois

+1 to lostagain.

Originally posted by lostagain Having worked with a major international manufacturer in high level management, I can say with certainty that it's the management that sets...  They follow the leadership of management.

David, that is a very good question. In manufacturing, there are several aspects to this. Here is a little background from a web tutorial. 

Next comment –

Comparisons to the automotive industry….well…..kind of/sort of. Quality was an issue. Those of us that lived through those times may remember the American product quality was absolutely awful. Cars were rusting on the dealer lots, while waiting to be sold and if you got 50K miles out of one, that was good. However, I don’t think that was the only force acting upon that industry.

Not only were new cars crappy, their ever increasing price tag was making them ever more “out of reach” for many of us with modest wages. About the longest one could finance a car “back in the day” was 3 years. The payments were just too much to handle. Gone were the days when we bought a new car every 2-3 years. The practice of “planned obsolescence” would not work in this environment.

This is just speculation on my part but, there may have been discussions between the banking and automotive industries. Automotive to banks – “If you would extend the lengths of loans, thus lowering the monthly payments, more people could buy our cars.” Banks to automotive – “If you would make vehicles that still have some value, at 4-5 years old, we might consider."   Today, I think one can get a 6-7 year vehicle loan.

With the oil shortage of the 70’s fresh in our minds, there were government and societal pressures to increase the fuel economy of vehicles. Consumers were demanding something way different than, say, a 59 Cadillac.

Then came the Chrysler bailout.   Though unthinkable before, one of the “Big 3” was down for the count. All the while, the imports (Honda, Toyota, Datsun, etc.) were supplying what we wanted – a smaller, more efficient car of reasonable quality and price.

I’ve gotten wordy so, I’ll sum up and say that I believe that change came about, not just due to (even very bad) quality. I believe there were several “forces” at work to cause the American automotive industry to change or become extinct. I don’t see the entire mass RV industry making this sort of dramatic shift due to some sawdust, an occasional broken pipe hanger, or broken converter.   

The auto industry was only the first. Most manufacturing industries have now adopted Tps (Toyota production system), lean and six sigma, or are at least attempting to. Winnebago is as well. The processes, procedures, and business culture are transferable and beneficial to across pretty much any manufacturing business. This is generally accepted in manufacturing nowadays, RV manufacturing seems to be a holdout.