Comments on: GM’s Singularity http://theleanthinker.com/2009/06/03/gms-singularity/ Thoughts and insights from the shop floor. Fri, 03 Sep 2010 18:11:14 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: Mark http://theleanthinker.com/2009/06/03/gms-singularity/comment-page-1/#comment-27294 Mark Wed, 03 Jun 2009 21:11:25 +0000 http://theleanthinker.com/?p=654#comment-27294 Norm - Good point. Clearly Ford is at the bottom of a very deep hole. I guess my question is "Have they recognized that fact and stopped digging?" Only time will tell. And it is really the entire U.S. automobile industry, not just Ford, that is at a "singularity" moment. I will add, in all honesty, that part of my bias is simply that GM played the role of victim for all it was worth, and Ford has at least stepped up to the point of saying "We'll handle it," whatever their motivations for doing it themselves. But, again, I fully agree that they (Ford) have a long way to go before their survival is certain, much less their future prosperity. Norm -
Good point. Clearly Ford is at the bottom of a very deep hole. I guess my question is “Have they recognized that fact and stopped digging?”

Only time will tell. And it is really the entire U.S. automobile industry, not just Ford, that is at a “singularity” moment.

I will add, in all honesty, that part of my bias is simply that GM played the role of victim for all it was worth, and Ford has at least stepped up to the point of saying “We’ll handle it,” whatever their motivations for doing it themselves. But, again, I fully agree that they (Ford) have a long way to go before their survival is certain, much less their future prosperity.

]]> By: Norm Weber http://theleanthinker.com/2009/06/03/gms-singularity/comment-page-1/#comment-27292 Norm Weber Wed, 03 Jun 2009 20:48:03 +0000 http://theleanthinker.com/?p=654#comment-27292 There is certainly is more than enough blame to go around for the mistakes that led GM to this point including GM Management, the UAW and the Government who now feels the need to bail them out. However, the continual praise of Ford as a different company who is doing all the right things needs closer examination. I'm not convinced Ford got off the denial track as much as took a fortunate last ditch effort to stay afloat. Ford is the company that completely mortgaged everything they own right down to the blue oval trademark and they did it out of necessity before everyone else tanked. That bit of good timing fortune allowed them to have cash on hand and seeing the onerous rules the government plays by, they are avoiding their help any way possible. However, Ford continues to burn cash and in this case, it is also borrowed cash. What happens when that well runs dry or the banker comes calling? There is certainly is more than enough blame to go around for the mistakes that led GM to this point including GM Management, the UAW and the Government who now feels the need to bail them out. However, the continual praise of Ford as a different company who is doing all the right things needs closer examination. I’m not convinced Ford got off the denial track as much as took a fortunate last ditch effort to stay afloat. Ford is the company that completely mortgaged everything they own right down to the blue oval trademark and they did it out of necessity before everyone else tanked. That bit of good timing fortune allowed them to have cash on hand and seeing the onerous rules the government plays by, they are avoiding their help any way possible. However, Ford continues to burn cash and in this case, it is also borrowed cash. What happens when that well runs dry or the banker comes calling?

]]> By: Jim Fernandez http://theleanthinker.com/2009/06/03/gms-singularity/comment-page-1/#comment-27283 Jim Fernandez Wed, 03 Jun 2009 14:26:49 +0000 http://theleanthinker.com/?p=654#comment-27283 When I was in the Navy I was on a diesel driven destroyer escort. We were sent out whenever they needed a ship that could get underway quickly (2 hours) and a ship that was nimble and able to maneuver easily. Larger steam driven destroyers took 24 to 36 hours to get underway. I'm wondering, can a company be too big to change. Can a large company (Toyota, Ford or GM) change quick enough to respond to a consumer marketplace. Can there be too many things that can't be changed quick enough to make a difference. i.e. union contracts, government regulations, many different models of cars using some of the same parts, etc. I’m thinking that the current situation is a wake-up call to large companies. I’m thinking they had better break up and run several smaller more nimble companies that can respond to changes. Right now where I work we are doing a Kaizen event. It’s supposed to take one week. It will make a big change in our shipping process. What effect would a one week Kaizen event have on a company the size of GM? When I was in the Navy I was on a diesel driven destroyer escort. We were sent out whenever they needed a ship that could get underway quickly (2 hours) and a ship that was nimble and able to maneuver easily. Larger steam driven destroyers took 24 to 36 hours to get underway.

I’m wondering, can a company be too big to change. Can a large company (Toyota, Ford or GM) change quick enough to respond to a consumer marketplace. Can there be too many things that can’t be changed quick enough to make a difference. i.e. union contracts, government regulations, many different models of cars using some of the same parts, etc.

I’m thinking that the current situation is a wake-up call to large companies. I’m thinking they had better break up and run several smaller more nimble companies that can respond to changes.

Right now where I work we are doing a Kaizen event. It’s supposed to take one week. It will make a big change in our shipping process. What effect would a one week Kaizen event have on a company the size of GM?

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