Life and death twice car factory (7)

In the article "Past Life of Tesla Super Factory", Zhang Xiaowei said: Unfortunately, NUMMI's model of producing good cars has not spread rapidly in the general system. Gm has sent 16 potential candidates to participate in the preparation of NUMI, hoping that they can help transform factories around the world after completion, but after the work of NUMI is on the right track, GM seems to have forgotten this plan.

There used to be factories within the general system determined to try to learn the production management methods of NUMMI, but the workers in fremont factory were unemployed once, suffered for more than a year, and then had the opportunity to return to their precious jobs, so they all worked harder, while the workers in other factories had no such motivation at all.

In addition, NUMMI's auto parts are all from Japan, but other factories need suppliers to repair parts or redesign their headquarters. These suppliers have no incentive to innovate at all, and many demands cannot be met. The deep-rooted system is unshakable by individuals.

At that time, GM was not in a hurry to reform. Even though GM's market share in the United States dropped from 47% in the mid-1970s to 35% after 10, and dropped sharply in the late 1980s, GM was still immersed in its former glory and did not think that the competition from Japan, especially from Toyota, was terrible.

NUMMI's production model has not been well promoted, but a new market opportunity has saved GM. In the late 1990s, millions of American families began to choose SUVs as a means of transportation, and GM made huge profits in this wave, so it is not so urgent to solve the problem of declining market share.

During this period, there was only one factory that realized the NUMMI model, but it was in Brazil, which was far away from the general bureaucracy and difficult trade union organizations, so it was easier to implement the Toyota production model. From 1994 to 1997, GM Brazil has become one of the most profitable entities in the general system.

In 2000, GM finally began a wide range of changes, and managers from all over the world kept coming to NUMMI for training, and the changes really took place.

Ironically, when GM was getting better and better, even better than all historical periods, it went bankrupt.

Some people have reflected on the bankruptcy of GM: if GM changed earlier, instead of waking up in 65,438+05 and implementing it slowly in 65,438+00, would it be possible to avoid bankruptcy?

In the 20 10 program "American life", it seems that you can get the answer:

Frank Longfield: From the beginning, GM executives sent 16 new people to help build NUMMI. The reporter called them NUMMI pioneers (or commandos). /kloc-One of the 6 people is Mark Hogan (later vice president of General Motors). He said that if GM can implement the Toyota production system, each of these small changes will increase GM's profits by billions of dollars.

Another pioneer, Steve Bella, said that once NUMMI was up and running, he and other 65,438+05 people were waiting to be deployed to other places for the next phase of the mission. But the company doesn't seem to know how to deal with it.

Steve Bella: No one talks to us and asks us what tricks we have and how to turn these methods into our advantages. No one has asked us this question.

Frank Longfield: Why don't they do this?

Steve Bella: It wasn't planned at all, if there was a plan. At least we didn't see any plans.

This has never been part of the master plan. If there is a master plan, we don't see anyone.

Frank Longfield: After only two years at NUMMI, Steve Bella left General Motors in frustration. Without a high-level master plan, the first factory manager who really wanted to try NUMMI production method came from an ordinary factory in Van Nuys, 600 kilometers away from fremont. This factory is in danger of closing down.

The name of the factory manager is Ernie Schaefer. He visited NUMMI. I want to adopt the Japanese production system, thinking that maybe I can save his factory. However, unlike the factory in fremont, Toyota will not participate in the renovation of his factory this time. It depends on its own renovation. Ernie Schaefer knows that things are not easy.

Frank Longfield: Van Nuys produces firebird and Camaro, and its reputation is not better than that of fremont factory. Therefore, Ernie Schaefer hired Bruce Lee, the leader of NUMMI UAW, to help train workers.

They closed the factory for two weeks and trained everyone in team concept and quality control. However, this time I didn't go to Japan for training, and I didn't eat sushi rice with tears in my eyes. From the beginning, the employees were skeptical.

Larry Spigel is another pioneer of NUMMI. He also went to Van Nuys to help start the Toyota system there.

Frank Longfield: Didn't GM threaten to close the factory?

Larry Spigel: They don't believe it.

Frank Longfield: This is the biggest difference between fremont and Van Nuys. Van Nuys has never been shut down. If you give workers another chance after they have lost their jobs for a year or two, they will change more easily. Having never experienced the pain of unemployment, many trade union members will only regard the Toyota system as a threat of unemployment. This makes sense, because after the initial introduction of the Toyota system, Van Nuys laid off a quarter of its workers. The higher the efficiency, the less manpower is needed.

seventeen

Masaaki Sato said in "Toyota Leader": "In fact, there are no secrets in the management of Toyota. I have witnessed half of Toyota's development history with my own eyes, so this book is a summary of everything I have seen. Throughout the book, I tried to keep pointing out to you that there is no secret in Toyota's management. Toyota's success comes down to one sentence, that is, continuous efforts. "

"Take Word of Mouth Toyota Production System (TPS) for example. All overseas automobile manufacturers try their best to completely copy this system. In Japan and the United States, countless books have been published to analyze this system. However, these books, to put it bluntly, are mostly technical instruction manuals. In fact, TPS is not as beautiful and simple as it sounds. Just read these books and you can master them. Those competitors who spend all their energy on visiting Toyota factories and follow the Toyota manual step by step have encountered many difficulties in implementing this system without exception. The root cause is that they don't understand how this TPS was born. "

The core of Toyota's production mode is on-site management, and on-site problems can't be found sitting in the office. Some technicians or managers wander around the workshop almost every day, but they may not find any problems. Taiichi Ono and his men often have to read a post for several days or even ten days before they can find the problem.

Toyota's mode of production started very early. The early factory management was lack of standardization, especially the production could not be carried out in a balanced way, which resulted in tight at the beginning of the month or at the end of the month, idle personnel and equipment, wasted production capacity and lax labor discipline; Overtime and surprise production are easy to ignore quality, workers are tired, and safety accidents are easy to occur. Equipment can't be maintained normally after long-term continuous work, which is prone to equipment failure. There are many accidents, many shutdowns, and it is difficult to complete the task, which requires overtime. Too much sudden overtime, production will be abnormal, accidents will increase, often forming a vicious circle. Only by realizing balanced production and establishing normal production order can we make full use of production capacity and ensure stable product quality.

At present, the rhythm of many automobile production lines is about 60 seconds. The ideal balanced production state is in accordance with the design rhythm, without interruption or change.

However, "the weather is unpredictable." There are 20,000-30,000 auto parts on the assembly line, with 1000 stations. Anything wrong with any link will disrupt the beat.

In order to ensure balanced production, equipment and tooling should always be in good condition, materials and blanks should be supplied on time, and workers' skills and attendance should be good and stable, so as to ensure balanced production in all links, especially in the case of compressing work-in-process products, it is more difficult and arduous to organize balanced production. In order to achieve balanced production, enterprises should make monthly loading plans according to sales plans, and make timely adjustments according to market demand, so that unsalable products can be stopped quickly, and the best-selling products in the market can be arranged as soon as possible, so as to initially realize mixed-flow assembly of multi-variety vehicles and continuously improve the level of balanced production.

Therefore, the basic idea of Toyota JIT production mode is to "produce the required products only when needed and according to the required quantity", that is, to pursue the production system of no inventory or minimum inventory. The basic idea of JIT is the planning and control of production and the management of inventory.

The Japanese made some achievements after decades of hard work, but the brilliant roger smith soon understood this.

Sato Masaaki said: "1In the spring of 984, I had the opportunity to visit Roger, the chairman of General Motors, who came to Japan. This is Smith. At that time, Roger insisted,' We think TPS has some secret methods that are difficult to capture, but now I find it is nothing magical. With the help of computers, we can make products with better quality than Toyota. "

Roger? Smith is regarded as an expert in strategic planning and cost analysis by the industry. For roger smith, NUMMI is regarded as the first step of Saturn's plan. He thinks that to defeat Japan, we must join them: "Let's go out of this narrow circle and discover what others know. The cooperation with Toyota can at least give GM first-hand information on the latest automotive technology and management methods in Japan. " .

The second step of Saturn's plan is to spend 30? A billion dollars to build a factory dedicated to Saturn, production equipment? Is the most advanced collection, from the production of parts to the assembly of cars, all take a beat operation, do not have to waste time for the delay of foreign parts.

The third is to reconstruct the labor-capital structure. Smith believes that if we want to compete with Japan and don't reduce labor costs, everything will become empty talk. Therefore, Saturn Company recruits people with team spirit, provided that Qi Xin, both employers and employees work together, make consistent decisions and share profits and losses. The employing unit shall not dismiss the workers at will, and the workers shall not threaten to strike at any time.

Saturn's mission is to reshape the American automobile industry, turn things around and create a new life. After eight years of hard work, Saturn finally appeared in the public eye. It is said that this car uses an advanced four-cylinder aluminum engine, which is extremely explosive and accelerates to? 60? A mile only takes eight seconds. Can you drive a car with a gallon of gas? 35~40? Mileage, the price is11000 ~12000? Dollars.

Saturn, the first car, 199 1 production put on the market. 1993 in JD? Power ranked third in the new car quality survey, second only to Lexus and finidi, superior to Toyota, and tied for first place with Lexus with 1997.

It is one of the few highlights of GM in the 1990s, and it is also the most powerful counterattack of American cars against Japanese cars invading the American market. No matter the brand, product, production technology, company organizational structure or dealer system, it is brand-new. The Wall Street Journal commented that it is not easy to innovate in one place. Saturn is actually innovative in all directions.

Saturn has become a powerful weapon for GM to challenge Honda, Toyota and Nissan, and has achieved unprecedented success. The survey results show that more than 70% Saturn users did not intend to buy GM, and more than half of Saturn users were originally imported car users. In the long-term development, the strength established by Saturn can be maintained through proper management and investment.

However, for GM, this choice is not easy. Saturn's own profit pace is also quite slow-on the one hand, because the profit of the automobile industry itself is not high, on the other hand, because the automobile production is still insufficient. Although Saturn made a profit as early as 1993, the return on all its investments was far from satisfactory. Due to the lack of relative profitability, it is difficult for Saturn to compete with other brands in general resources and new products. In fact, in 1993, GM drastically cut its advertising budget, cut its plan to increase the number of dealers, and delayed its plan to provide renovation services and increase passenger airbags. Saturn's sales have been greatly tested.

Saturn's biggest tragedy is GM's wrong brand expansion strategy. There is a voice inside GM that Saturn has not boycotted Toyota, Honda and Nissan, but absorbed users of Chevrolet and other brands to Saturn. The increase in Saturn's sales did not bring about an increase in GM's overall profit.

GM must also consider the positioning of Chevrolet. For a long time, Chevrolet has been positioned as an entry-level car of General Motors. In the early 1990s, Chevrolet's sales dropped sharply, and it was in urgent need of new products, so it was very dissatisfied with GM's massive investment in Saturn at this time. Although more objective onlookers agree that Saturn's sales miracle will never be realized in this mode, Chevrolet has cast a great shadow on Saturn's brand-because it must survive healthily, especially in the mid-size car market.

Another strategy of GM should be to apply Saturn's pioneering practices to other departments of GM, which is consistent with its mission of "transferring knowledge, technology and experience within GM". In fact, Oldsmobile's strategy is to achieve "Saturn"-through the brand image center, to Oldsmobile employees and their 3? 000 dealers, mainly composed of Saturn employees, will receive a week-long training. This training course includes team building and customer interaction courses, which (Aurora) dealers must attend before the car is sold. "Oldsmobile simple pricing method" means that retailers are not allowed to bargain or take kickbacks. This pricing method is limited to the most popular models, which have absorbed Saturn's best design.

However, it is not easy to transplant Saturn's successful model to Oldsmobile and other departments of GM, and it is very difficult to change in the face of long-standing inherent system, tough confrontation group, established dealer structure and culture, and internal resentment against Saturn's successful performance.

Researchers believe that GM, as an endorsement brand, may cause damage to Saturn brand and hinder it from establishing the perceived quality and brand image needed for successful operation. For this reason, it is wise to avoid linking Saturn with GM from the beginning. However, sooner or later, Saturn will lend its brand assets to General Motors, which will become a powerful weapon to help parent brand reborn. However, this requires two prerequisites. First of all, Saturn, as a unique brand and enterprise, must stand firm on its own, so as to minimize the negative impact of GM as a brand spokesperson on Saturn; Secondly, other departments need to reach Saturn's quality level and customer relationship level.

But these are difficult.

In 2009, Saturn, Pontiac and Hummer were announced to cancel their brands after reorganization. Saturn died at 20 10 without waiting for GM's resurrection.

eighteen

Roger smith also built a factory in the east of Detroit. This is GM's prototype factory with "robots" as workers. Or in Roger's own words: "Huntelack is the most advanced automation equipment factory, and GM will rely on automation to win in the market competition."

What's the equipment like in the factory of Hantranke? 260? A shiny robot, fully automatic from welding and assembly to painting. High-performance cameras and computers supervise, inspect and control the whole production process.

Roger used his model factory to produce two latest models of cars. He was extremely proud to show Toyota Yingzhi around the factory in Hantranke and asked him how he felt.

Toyota Hideki was silent. Afterwards, he said with a wry smile, "Sorry to criticize."

The robot story of the factory in Hantranke is enough to write a legend: I don't know which instruction is wrong. A dry painting robot paints everything that passes by, but doesn't spray cars; There is also a robot with a windshield dedicated to breaking glass. The confusion caused by robots on the assembly line is even more troublesome. They often put parts into different models. Some robots are not durable enough to withstand repeated assembly work. When they are damaged, they stop acting-in other words, they often "strike" without even saying hello.

Later, Roger had to send a group of workers to monitor the robot from the side. Once the robot is "crazy", it will quickly stop the production line and continue after correction. A supervisor described the production process of the factory in Hantranke as follows: "It's like watching a slow-motion movie, and it often stops."

At this point, Roger still didn't realize that people are irreplaceable. He analyzed in a logical way: "The reason for the mistake is that the robot is not perfect." And invested a lot of money to develop a new generation of robots. Even his deputy sighed, "Roger always uses it?" 100? Is 10 thousand yuan worth it? 1? The dollar problem. "

Hahn of Volkswagen has done a similar 54? Is the first factory an investment? 2 1? "The world's most advanced highly automated factory" built by one billion marks? Yes 1200? A robot is assembling a new golf cart. The factory looks very spectacular, and it covers dozens of kilometers of rails, which is equivalent to the area of Monaco. Hahn once proudly declared: "Volkswagen's robots are extremely accurate, almost like real people."

But what do tourists see?

In front of a robot work station where the front bumper is welded, the voice from the monitor repeats "replace the screw" and? "Relock", but the robot seems to have never heard of it.

The worker in charge of "assistance" invented a good way, simply walked to the area needing maintenance, pressed a button and moved the unfinished car to the next workstation.

Visitors asked the workers why they did this. The worker calmly replied, "It's always like this. It is better to let our craftsmen solve the problem. "

Short? 20? Within a few minutes, visitors saw it. 3? Do you have a golf club? 2? The car has not finished welding.

At the end of the production line, "artisans" are so busy that they can solve all kinds of problems left by robots with their hands.

Mike Du Fei thinks that among all the failures in Detroit-failure to control small cars, failure to cut costs, failure to take a tough attitude towards the United Auto Workers' Union, failure to improve fuel efficiency-the biggest mistake may be failure to learn lessons.

1924, Akio Toyoda successfully developed the Toyota automatic loom, which can exchange weft shuttles at high speed and accurately, which is the first in the world. This automatic loom can run continuously, and a worker can look after more than 30 sets at the same time, which greatly improves the production efficiency.

In the weaving process of the previous loom, if a warp yarn is broken, or the weft yarn is used up, it must be found by people's patrol inspection, and then stop processing, otherwise a large number of unqualified products will appear. Taiichi Ono believes that "all problems are attributed to machines" is something that needs high vigilance. Because the machine has no ability to distinguish right from wrong, it is even more impossible to find problems and solve them. So Xiao Ye put forward his own concept of "self-immolation" in the era of "self-immolation": let the machine have human wisdom-when the machine produces unqualified products, it will "automatically" stop.

"Stop the machine as soon as there is an abnormality, and never produce defective products" and "People don't be the guardians of the machine", which are the basis for Akio Toyoda to concentrate on inventing "self-destruction".

nineteen

In fact, Toyota's mode of production comes from the United States: Ford's mode of production, Taylor's scientific management and Deming's total quality management.

1898, in a survey, Taylor found that porters can lift 3.5 pounds (about 1.6 kg) of coal particles at a time, while iron ore can lift 38 pounds (about 17 kg). In order to get the maximum throughput in one day, Taylor began to study the most reasonable shovel amount per shovel. Taylor found two excellent porters to experiment with shovels of different sizes, and recorded the time with a stopwatch every time. It is found that when the shovel capacity is 2 1.5 pounds (about 10 kg), the material handling capacity in one day is the largest. When handling iron ore and coal particles, it is best to use different shovels. On this basis, Taylor set a standard workload for one day. Give subsidies other than wages to employees who exceed the standard. Require employees who fail to meet the standards to conduct job analysis, guide working methods and make them meet the standards. In this way, after three years, only 140 employees can complete the homework that originally required 500 or 600 employees, and the waste of materials is greatly reduced. In another pig iron handling experiment, Taylor adopted piecework wage system, and the daily handling capacity of workers increased from 12- 13 tons to 47 tons. Because of the scientific operation, the workers did not feel tired, and the daily wage increased from1.65,438+05 (the standard wage at that time) to 1.85.

Drucker once praised in New Reality: Taylor showed that the real potential of increasing production lies in working "smarter". He not only greatly increased the output, but also raised the wages of workers, making it possible to lower the price of products and raise the requirements for products (in fact, Taylor asked the factory owner to raise the wages significantly, sometimes even as high as three times, otherwise he refused to help). Thanks to Taylor, the more blue-collar workers are employed, the "middle class" with corresponding income and living standards? The greater the number of the bourgeoisie. Drucker explained from one side that Taylor system played a positive role in improving production efficiency and promoting economic and social development.

Drucker believed that most American workers in the early 20th century were uneducated, not good at expressing themselves and not used to the factory system. For them, strictly defined work steps are practical and useful. It is precisely because the United States systematically applied Taylor's method to workers' training that it could carry out wartime production and finally defeat Japan and Germany.

After World War II, Taylor-style labor training spread from the United States to other developed countries and became a truly effective means of economic development in all countries. "All the early economic powers in modern history? —? Britain, the United States and Germany all rose by leading in the field of new technologies. The postwar economic powers, first Japanese, then Korean, Taiwan Province, Hongkong and Singapore, all owe their rise to Taylor's training. Labor training enables them to quickly make the low-wage labor force, which is basically before industrialization, have world-class labor productivity. In the post-war period, Taylor's labor training became the only truly effective means of economic development. "

People who don't understand seem to think that Taylor system is an evil system to extract workers' blood and sweat.

In fact, Taylor attaches great importance to the role of people. In workshop management, he emphasized: "No system can be without real people. People who need institutions and honesty and reliability, after implementing the best system, their achievements will be consistent with management ability, consistency of words and deeds and respected authority level in management. " Therefore, Taylor system not only pays attention to the pursuit of efficiency, but also establishes personnel departments in various factories for the first time. In Taylor-based enterprises, the personnel department is responsible for the career analysis, selection, training and guidance of employees, meeting employees regularly, listening to their opinions, and taking care of those employees who are unable to work due to accidents or diseases. This department plays an important role in improving labor relations and winning the respect and trust of workers. In a sense, it can be said that there is no Taylor system without caring for workers and mobilizing their enthusiasm.

However, in the United States at that time, Taylor was not recognized by the workers. They called him a "scab" and threatened to "fuck him". His close workmates advised him not to walk home because he might be attacked by workers in the back alley. Luckily, Taylor escaped the robbery.

In his later years, Taylor was forced to attend the hearing on Taylor system held by the US Congress and accept questions. This is really sad enough. An intellectual has spent a lot of energy to study the improvement of work efficiency, and it is groundbreaking, but it cannot be recognized by workers and society.

William. Edwards Deming graduated from Yale University and taught at new york University for 46 years. Deming's main contribution is to put forward total quality management, continuous improvement, employee participation and team spirit. He improved shewhart's pdsa cycle into PDCA cycle, which was regarded as PDSA, became the most basic quality management tool, and later became one of the core methods of Toyota's production mode.

In the 1940s, Deming repeatedly emphasized the importance of quality control, and kept training in quality management, trying to apply statistics to industrial production. However, his appeal received little response in the United States, and few people were really interested in his suggestions and courses.

1947, Deming accepted the call of the Allied Supreme Command and went to Japan to help Japan rebuild after the war. Deming's original intention to go to Japan was to guide the Japanese to conduct a census and teach statistics and quality management. During 1950, Deming was invited by Japan Science and Technology Union to give lectures in four major cities in Japan, probably because of his experience and lessons in the United States. Deming's lectures in Japan no longer focus on statistics, but on quality management.

When teaching in Tokyo, facing the most powerful 2 1 entrepreneur who controls 80% of Japan's capital, Deming stressed: "Most quality problems are the responsibility of managers, not workers, because the whole stupid production procedure is formulated by managers and workers are excluded." At the same time, he pointed out: "If we can do things well at one time without causing waste, we can reduce costs without increasing investment."

The Japanese asked Deming: How long will it take for Japan to change from a country that produces inferior and low-grade products to a country that can produce high-quality products and have a competitive advantage in the international market? Deming predicted: "As long as statistical analysis is used and a quality management mechanism is established, the quality of Japanese products will surpass that of the United States in five years."

195 1 year, the Japanese government established the deming prize to reward the companies that won the strict quality management competition.

Deming is called the godfather of quality management in Japan. In the following 30 years, Deming held quality management training lectures all over Japan to teach his management ideas. It is said that four out of every five top leaders in Japan had attended his lectures at that time.

The Japanese business community is grateful to Deming. In the lobby of Toyota's Tokyo headquarters, there are three photos bigger than real people, one is the founder of Toyota, the other is the current president of Toyota, and the third is bigger than the first two, namely Deming.

1980 Ms. Mei Sen, a TV producer, produced the documentary "A trip to Japan, why can't we", which was broadcast by ABC in the United States. This TV series praises Japan's manufacturing industry, but the protagonist is Deming. Overnight, Deming became the star of American quality management.

Since then, Deming has become a busy man, inviting his enterprises to include Ford, General Motors, Motorola and other famous companies. He helped American enterprises to start long-term production quality improvement and management system reform.

From 198 1, Deming held a unique "four-day seminar" all over the United States, with more than 20 times a year and more than 20,000 listeners. Later, it was edited into "Deming Management Four Days Talk", which had a great influence in American management circles. Some media even called Deming the father of American business management, while others called him the father of the third industrial revolution.

1983, Deming was elected as an academician of the National Academy of Engineering. 1986, elected to the Dayton Science and Technology Hall of Fame; 1987, then US President Ronald Reagan awarded Deming the National Science and Technology Award; 1988, the National Academy of Sciences awarded him the Outstanding Scientific Career Award. 199 1 year entered the automobile hall of fame.

Therefore, Toyota really has no secrets.

This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.