Why should we bail out the big three?

[Christ]

Originally Posted by trebuchet03

But, Lean manufacturing, production leveling, etc. etc. does not address the issue that 61 vehicles rather than 400 were sold I'm willing to bet it wasn't Ford's choice of using a specific brand of spot welder robot that made the customer move to another brand

No, but it does increase/lower the price of the goods/services provided. Cost/quality IS a consideration in what you buy, and when the cost is higher than the quality, you'll move to something else, which DOES explain why only 61/400 were sold.

I think an example of this is: Why would I pay $5 for 2 rolls of toilet paper with quilting from Wal-Mart, when I could get the same brand in larger quantity for the same price from Dollar General?

That example obviously cuts out the LEAN aspect, since manufacturing isn't the issue, but it does show example of value/cost comparison, and gives reason to why consumers might have gone for something that cost less for the same value, or paid the same for more value.

It's like saying "You just bought a Cadillac... and got a Pontiac."

[DifferentPointofView]

^
Thats something I've been smacking my head for for a while, GM pretty much just uses the same design for different brands, and you get the same car with different badges like, 4 or 5 times. that pontiac van, and chevy van, and saturn van, and Buick Van all use the same engine, have the same looking bodies, have the same amount of cup holders and the dash and trim all look the same, and the only differences are things like what the seats are made of, what the grille looks like, how much sound deadening are used, and more options.

All 4 of those vans are nearly identical, except for options, and the price.

One van may cost 10 grand more than the other, even 20 and essentially, your buying the same thing.

[Christ]

Yep! Makes it awesome for backyard modders who want upgraded features though... take your cheap used van and put more cupholders in it!!!!

[cfg83]

Christ -

After noticing you reference "lean", I googled "nummi lean" and found this article (again) :

LEAN AT NUMMI | Manufacturing Engineering | Find Articles at BNET

To compete effectively, the lean manufacturing tools of TPS help the 5.3 million sqft (492,000 sqm) NUMMI plant manufacture cars for Toyota and GM that include the Toyota Corolla and Pontiac Vibe subcompact cars, which are built on the same manufacturing line, and Toyota's Tacoma pickup trucks. Created 21 years ago, the 50:50 joint venture gave Toyota its first experience operating a North American manufacturing plant, while offering GM managers a chance to see first-hand the famed Toyota Production System upon which most modern lean-manufacturing concepts are built. NUMMI's current annual production capacity reaches 245,000 cars and 165,000 trucks, and the facility includes plastics, stamping, body and weld, paint, and assembly operations.

It agrees with your position that GM isn't absorbing the lesson.

As you arleady must know, one of the fathers of the Japanese Quality Miracle is W.E. Deming :

W. Edwards Deming - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

William Edwards Deming (October 14, 1900 – December 20, 1993) was an American statistician, professor, author, lecturer, and consultant. Deming is widely credited with improving production in the United States during World War II, although he is perhaps best known for his work in Japan. There, from 1950 onward he taught top management how to improve design (and thus service), product quality, testing and sales (the last through global markets)[1] through various methods, including the application of statistical methods.

CarloSW2