Dec 1 2008
Does anyone care about manufacturing? In Factory Man, a new autobiography to be published in February 2009 by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers , James E. Harbour says it doesn’t appear to be the financial community, the White House, or even Congress, but rather Japan, Korea and Europe.
Recognized as a leading automotive industry analyst and founder of The Harbour Report, a study of original equipment manufacturers’ (OEMs) manufacturing performance, Harbour has co-authored this factual, non-technical book with James V. Higgins, an award-winning automotive reporter, columnist and editor who covered the industry for most of his career at The Detroit News. “Factory Man” clearly presents the insights and viewpoints of an automotive “insider” who became an “outsider” and one of the industry’s main critics.
The book is a brutally honest assessment of what was wrong with U.S. automakers from the 1950s into the early 21st century. Harbour states his views very strongly and is a highly opinioned observer of the auto industry. His views are as relevant to the condition of the auto industry today, as they were in 1981 when he issued his first Harbour Report. The jury is still out on how many of this industry’s problems will be resolved. Says Steve Miller, chairman, Delphi Corporation, “Jim Harbour offers a clear and compelling analysis of what has gone wrong with American auto manufacturing, and how it can be put right.
The frequent human interest anecdotes make it an absorbing non-technical read.” Harbour’s work experiences while at Ford Motor Company and at the Chrysler Corporation, mainly in manufacturing, takes readers on a personal trip. The reader is allowed to see how Harbour’s discovery and evaluation of the Toyota Production System—documented in his Harbour Report—gave impetus to his efforts in pushing Chrysler and the other “Big Three” American auto companies to change their production systems to become more competitive with Japanese car companies. Says Harbour, “It’s tragic, this situation, in a large part because of the mismanagement of the U.S. economy by Congress and the White House. Just think: in time, the North American auto market will recover and even resume growth.
But, because of the low priority given to American factory people by their government, the main beneficiaries will be foreign-owned companies.” According to Harbour, it’s not hard to believe that Detroit's "Big Three" automakers could disappear in total leaving the North American market to the Japanese, Korean, European, and potentially the Chinese, where manufacturing is prized. Then all the billions in product development investment would be offshore and the profits would flow to Japan, Korea and Europe. Detroit's "Big Three" auto management has made many bad strategic decisions and a number of good decisions.
The quality of current products is equal to or better than the foreign competition and productivity improvement is over 50 percent improved since 1980. The Detroit "Big Three's" problems are not all caused in Detroit by automotive management. Washington is a major cause:
- The 1970’s energy policy set new fuel economy standards to reduce our reliance on foreign oil. The facts are, we are more dependent on foreign oil today and the huge price spikes to $147.00 a barrel accelerated the crisis.
- The current credit crisis was not created in Detroit but on Wall Street and in Washington.
- We are the only industrial country without a focus on manufacturing.
After World War II, we forced the Japanese and Europeans to develop a manufacturing strategy that would be the foundation of their economies and the U.S.A. did nothing.