The Japanese Foundation of Quality

Jim Wynne

Leader
Admin
The americans would still run around in their gas guzzlers giving a d**n about the environment. They wont even mind suffering their smogs. Thats only one example of energy wastage. They will splurge it in every sphere of life. They have ample resources. they dont need to conserve.

And they will bother about the greenhouse effect. Invest huge amounts in research about it. Bother about deforestation in the Amazon basin. Preach the benefits of energy conservation to the whole world. The rest of the world is supposed to save on non renewable resources. I'll buy the carbon credits.

Yes, but many of us do have lovely singing voices.
 

SteelMaiden

Super Moderator
Trusted Information Resource
Potdar, lest we forget, there are some pretty graphic pictures out there of smog in Japan too. Let's face it, industrialized nations produce more pollutants, that is because they are industrialized. :rolleyes: It doesn't make it right, but then again, neither does political finger pointing.

Another thing that you need to remember is that Canadians, Mexicans, Peruvians, Brazilians et. al. are all from the Americas. Was your rant in reference to the Chileans, or the United States?

If there was a point to your post, it was lost amid a political rant, and that is something best left to some other political forum, not here.
 
C

chergh - 2008

My major issue with the the American car industry is that they don't produce any cars I would want to buy. Wether I'm looking at comfort, economy, quality, environmental, performance, aesthetics, handling etc. there is not an American car I would want to buy.

If I want comfort I ould buy BMW or a Mercedes, if I want economy I would buy a VW or a Nissan, if I want quality I will buy Toyota or Honda, if I want an eco friendly car I will buy a Toyota Prius (even though they are one of the ugliest cars I have ever seen), for performance I would buy a Nissan, aestethics is amtter of personal taste but I would go for an Alfa Romeo, for handling Porsche. There are a multitude of cars availble for me to buy for a plethora of reasons and the American automakers dont seem to do any of them particularly well.

American cars, in the uk, have the reputation of being unreliable, fuel guzzling monstrosities that have all the cornering abilities of an elephant. Currently I drive a Honda and my girlfriend drives a Toyota. My next car will be a Honda S2000 or a Nissan 350Z.

Witht the exception of Ford it's also quite rare to see American cars in the UK and I don't imagine it is a particularly different across the rest of europe.

Even if the American auto giants do get quality sorted they still have to design and build a car that appeals outside of the Americas.
 
C

Craig H.

Even if the American auto giants do get quality sorted they still have to design and build a car that appeals outside of the Americas.

While they are at it, one that appeals to the Americas too. Not all of us here want SUVs. Personally, I tend to crack the corners on something that big.
 

RoxaneB

Change Agent and Data Storyteller
Super Moderator
Sometimes, one has to hit rock-bottom before being willing to change how s/he currently does things.

As for the whole "culture' issue, I used to put a lot of stock in that answer - okay, I'm still guilty of it within my own company. But not with cars anymore. I drive a Toyota now...and it is made just up the road from my plant here in Cambridge. Not buying the whole Japanese-North American culture debate anymore.

Of course, how do we explain SONY (a Japanese company) performance of late with their American CEO? :notme:
 

Wes Bucey

Prophet of Profit
Sometimes, one has to hit rock-bottom before being willing to change how s/he currently does things.

As for the whole "culture' issue, I used to put a lot of stock in that answer - okay, I'm still guilty of it within my own company. But not with cars anymore. I drive a Toyota now...and it is made just up the road from my plant here in Cambridge. Not buying the whole Japanese-North American culture debate anymore.

Of course, how do we explain SONY (a Japanese company) performance of late with their American CEO? :notme:
Lithium ion battery, anyone? I note some European and Asian airlines are including a check of laptop battery serial numbers before allowing them in passenger compartment of planes because some of them have caught fire which produces large volumes of noxious smoke. Sony, a Japanese corporation, has admitted the root cause is a quality problem of stray metal within the battery which causes short circuits, sparks, and hot, smoky fire from Lithium which also consumes the plastic within the laptop, causing noxious fumes.
 
R

ralphsulser

The last time I visited the L.A. area, I noticed a large part of the non-oriental people driving Japanese cars. But, when I saw people of oriental decent, they were driving BMWs.
 

BradM

Leader
Admin
cars anymore. I drive a Toyota now...and it is made just up the road from my plant here in Cambridge. Not buying the whole Japanese-North American culture debate anymore.

Good point. But there is still something different between Japan and America to create a distinct difference, or am I just imagining that?

Could I go to XYZ America car plant in smalltown USA, and get them to make a car that could match the quality of that Toyota made in Cambridge? Could they do it in a week? A year? Ten years? Ever? What is having to be developed to achieve that?
 

RoxaneB

Change Agent and Data Storyteller
Super Moderator
Good point. But there is still something different between Japan and America to create a distinct difference, or am I just imagining that?

Could I go to XYZ America car plant in smalltown USA, and get them to make a car that could match the quality of that Toyota made in Cambridge? Could they do it in a week? A year? Ten years? Ever? What is having to be developed to achieve that?


More than likely not, but if the "Japanese way" can be adopted by their North American workers, I see no reason why North American companies should not be able to adopt similar foundations. But as long they're making money - or believe they're making money - or that this is just a "phase - they won't change. They haven't hit rock-bottom yet.
 
F

fuzzy

Good point. But there is still something different between Japan and America to create a distinct difference, or am I just imagining that?

Could I go to XYZ America car plant in smalltown USA, and get them to make a car that could match the quality of that Toyota made in Cambridge? Could they do it in a week? A year? Ten years? Ever? What is having to be developed to achieve that?

While a QE at a Tier 1 supplier to both GM and Toyota (Georgetown) in the late 90's I saw firsthand the differences from start to finish. TMM built new cars in smaller batches with generations of product design on a faster cycle than GM and the PPAP / pilot system. Toyota watertested every vehicle it built everyday; if our trunkseal leaked and could be traced to our workmanship I would hear about it. GM watertested at a much reduced frequency. Georgetown had much less inventory at lineside and less workers but the workers they had were engaged, and working.:lol: GM guys were reading the newspaper in between vehicles rolling into their stations. GM had an electronic PRR system for complaints and CA, while Toyota was analog with the QPR; sketch the part and show the defect, indicate how you will countermeasure and how you will determine your correction has worked.

I could go on and on, but memories fade now :( and I am out of the automotive game.;)
 
Top Bottom