It’s not about the people, it’s about the process

As we teach in our Lean Marketing Workshops, lack of results is usually a failure of process not people. Deming reported that fact many years ago.

We have been reading Hard Facts, Dangerous Half-Truths, & Total Nonsense and found the authors have identified additional research that further supports this truth. One example they cite is the old General Motors plant in Fremont, CA.

That plant was closed in 1982 because it was one of the worst GM plants in the country as measured by defects per car built and cost per car built. The plant also suffered from wildcat strikes and “rampant drug and alcohol abuse.” The plant was re-opened in 1985 as a joint venture between GM and Toyota, but it instituted the Toyota Production System (called Lean Manufacturing or Lean Thinking outside of Toyota).

85% of the initial workforce consisted of rehired former GM employees. The first year the plant produced cars, its output was among the highest quality and lowest cost cars produced in any plant in the U.S. Same people, new process, better results.

And least our senior management readers get too smug, the authors also note that Toyota is the ONLY automobile company where changing the CEO has had NO impact on company performance. In other words, the processes the company uses are so robust, there is little noticeable effect on the company due to any single person change … even the CEO.

They just keep relentlessly moving to #1 in revenue and profit.

Mitch

Missed Opportunities

I finally bought a new car. After 11 years of driving my pick-up truck, it was finally time to admit it was time. I had decided on a Pontiac Solstice but had delayed purchase since all the dealers in my area wanted $5K over sticker price for the car, and I just didn’t want it that badly.

 

Fortunately, I met a terrific Pontiac dealer in Detroit during one of my presentations and he told me that selling cars over sticker price just pissed people off, so he did not do that. He also told me he could order the car for me and have it delivered to my local dealer for pick up. 

Sounded great and the local dealer agreed to a usual and customary courtesy delivery fee for their part in the prep and delivery of the vehicle and the opportunity to create a new service department customer. The Detroit dealer did a wonderful job for me and the paperwork process was a pleasure. They stayed in touch with me to let me know when the car would be finished at the factory and on its way. They also coordinated everything with my local dealer for me. 

When I picked the car up, the process was quick and easy and most of the time was spent by the sales manager telling me that I did not need to buy the car from a dealer in Detroit that they would have sold it to me without the $5K mark-up over sticker too. I pointed out that they chose not to do that several months ago, which was how I ended up ordering from the Detroit dealer to begin with. He grudgingly acknowledged that a few months ago, that might have been true. 

Anyway, he removed the window sticker and gave me the keys. I asked him to remove another sticker in the window which he did and posted the operating permit in the front window. I signed the Motor Vehicle Department paperwork and was on my way.  

As I was driving the car home, I noticed that it was a bit difficult to see through the dirty front window and the car did not have the typical new car shine because it was covered with a film of dust. 

No worries, my son is happy to earn some money washing my new car and I now know this dealer is not about quality service, so I will go elsewhere with my service business. 

They did get their modest delivery fee, but they not only did not earn a new customer, they created what JD Powers calls an Assassin. As you can see by this blog post.

Mitch