I’ll admit it: After five decades watching U.S. companies turning to simplistic accounting tricks to remain profitable, I’m discouraged.
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I was a kid when I first discovered the Toyota Production System (TPS). My eyes were opened to the immense amount of waste in our production and business processes. I was so excited at the potential it unleashed in my company that I anticipated a renaissance in U.S. manufacturing. U.S. manufacturing was struggling during the 1980s to remain competitive in an increasingly global marketplace, so the prospect of radically reducing costs and improving service by engaging the workforce to reduce process waste seemed like a no-brainer.
Naïve me.
Based on the damnable formula C = L + M + O, cost decisions were being made in boardrooms across the U.S. to:
a) Reduce labor and material costs by sourcing offshore
b) Purchase large quantities of material (say, a shipload) of material to reduce the piece price.
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Comments
I agree. Let's stop "admiring the problem!"
Even in service industries in the USA, such as healthcare, can benefit from Lean and quality improvement, but we have to stop admiring the problem.
Let's go out and improve something this week, and the next, and the next.
people here in the U.S.
Just need to bring the labor with the production to the USA - problem solved!
Metrics over people
Why bring the jobs back to America if Americian's do not get the job? Sure you increase GDP, but the standard of living drops. Might as well leave the factory overseas.
Process Improvement
Hi Bruce,Good article in QD. Here is another example of the hidden factory from Boeing.For more info see 6Sigma Forum magazine 2/04 available from ASQ.
Enjoy
Tony
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