Tough Economy
I am writing this post with the just released news about GM and Chrysler dealership closings. What a blow. The Auto Industry has taken it on the chin lately as sales have been very weak and a few of the car companies even weaker. The good news is that the industry is finally taking steps to right itself, pretty late though.
My biggest fear is that while this is necessary, the industry as awhole as well as others that are feeling the strain are putting an extra strain on their quality and improvement processes. It seems we may have been lured back into the mentality that quality happens “sort of like the bumper sticker” but without difinative planning or drive. Lets face it folks, Quality is Hard….. Very Hard…. When we add people and tools to the equation without effective planning and delivery, all you get is check in the box forms with no impact on the product or for that matter customer perception.
Kudos to Ford for having some measure of importance to the quality journey. Keep an eye on the performance of Ford. Good things are happening.
