I can remember going to that plant as a part of a “quality” study we were doing ... trying to emulate how well they did things. I can remember sitting in on some meetings and watching the process ... it was amazing. And now this ... how can something so exciting and efficient finally just fall off the table. Breaks my heart ... makes me wonder if that is the pattern for America today.
If American auto manufacturers had just listened to Deming in the first place, they would have been the front-runners. Instead, we had to learn the same lessons secondhand from our Japanese competitors, to the degree they were learned at all.
I suspect that the UAW is a major reason for his decision. Unfortunately, everything that a union touches eventually dies unless some rat politician intervenes.