The Quality Control Farce
Quality, Quality Control, ISO9000, QS9000, Six Sigma, Total Quality Management, Fishbone Diagrams and all the other buzzwords on these topics in American industry are synonyms to placate U.S. employees in the elusive realms of security, competitiveness, and unity.
For what purpose? Competitiveness? Employee security? My former employer in the business of CNC controls kept me occupied in training meetings on these subjects for the entire period of my employment there. On January 1, 2000, this company was bought by the Germans who will, of course, start management there by a high number of layoffs and early retirements. The top managers and stockholders always do whatever is necessary for maximum profit, irrespective of the quality control buzzwords and training programs, that is, regardless of ISO status. In November I began employment for one of the last U.S. companies dedicated building large-scale assembly lines for manufacture of motor vehicles.
In December my employer was purchased by the French. The retirement program was immediately discontinued for all employees, and forced early retirements are many. The repeated statements about being competitive against foreign competition through better quality control are, by the evidence, ludicrous -- especially for employee security.
For example, walk through the entire men's section of Walmart and try to find goods manufactured in the U.S. I could find only one: felt brim hats. All trousers, shirts, sweaters, coats and other items were made or assembled in Mexico, Indonesia, China, Korea and other countries. The same experience will be found in K-Mart, Target, Kohl's, Hudson's and all the other stores. The familiar American brandnames are still used, of course.
My point is that implementation of all the quality control standards and buzzwords has made no difference in the decline of American manufacturing. In the automotive industry, which has championed and is now demanding implementation of QS9000, the foreign vehicles have the fastest growth and the greatest share of the market. The Germans now own and manage from Stuttgart one of the Big Three. Our industries are being sold out to foreign ownership at a frightening pace under the farcical security of the ISO standards which, as a reminder, are headquartered in Switzerland.
Dean Wilson, Project Engineer
Ann Arbor, Michigan
734-769-5606
Quality, Quality Control, ISO9000, QS9000, Six Sigma, Total Quality Management, Fishbone Diagrams and all the other buzzwords on these topics in American industry are synonyms to placate U.S. employees in the elusive realms of security, competitiveness, and unity.
For what purpose? Competitiveness? Employee security? My former employer in the business of CNC controls kept me occupied in training meetings on these subjects for the entire period of my employment there. On January 1, 2000, this company was bought by the Germans who will, of course, start management there by a high number of layoffs and early retirements. The top managers and stockholders always do whatever is necessary for maximum profit, irrespective of the quality control buzzwords and training programs, that is, regardless of ISO status. In November I began employment for one of the last U.S. companies dedicated building large-scale assembly lines for manufacture of motor vehicles.
In December my employer was purchased by the French. The retirement program was immediately discontinued for all employees, and forced early retirements are many. The repeated statements about being competitive against foreign competition through better quality control are, by the evidence, ludicrous -- especially for employee security.
For example, walk through the entire men's section of Walmart and try to find goods manufactured in the U.S. I could find only one: felt brim hats. All trousers, shirts, sweaters, coats and other items were made or assembled in Mexico, Indonesia, China, Korea and other countries. The same experience will be found in K-Mart, Target, Kohl's, Hudson's and all the other stores. The familiar American brandnames are still used, of course.
My point is that implementation of all the quality control standards and buzzwords has made no difference in the decline of American manufacturing. In the automotive industry, which has championed and is now demanding implementation of QS9000, the foreign vehicles have the fastest growth and the greatest share of the market. The Germans now own and manage from Stuttgart one of the Big Three. Our industries are being sold out to foreign ownership at a frightening pace under the farcical security of the ISO standards which, as a reminder, are headquartered in Switzerland.
Dean Wilson, Project Engineer
Ann Arbor, Michigan
734-769-5606