Comments on: Daily Podcast: Outsource This

By: RobertSD

RobertSD — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 03:02:54 +0000

daro – Let’s do a little clarification here. And correct me if I’m wrong (although I don’t think I am).

First, TS16949:2002 is a standard developed by many manufacturers around the world to certify potential suppliers. It has little to do with the motor companies’ own manufacturing facilities because it evaluates the ability to integrate with the main purchaser’s supply chain (design, production scheduling, shipping, maintenance, etc). One would hope the parent company could do that with itself.

So, the Big 3 are not just willing these standards onto suppliers to make suppliers’ lives miserable, it is an international standard – with most manufacturers participate – that suppliers meet to win business. The only reason Toyota might not participate is that it is an EU/US standard – not a Japanese-derived standard. However, all EU/US car companies that I can think of participate and back the standards, not just the evil Big 3.

Second:
http://media.ford.com/newsroom/release_display.cfm?release=321

Most Ford facilities were certified ISO 14001 back in 1999, and as far as I know, from their annual report and other sources, their facilities remain ISO 14001 certified. I would say that’s some pretty good work on their part.

By: daro31

daro31 — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 00:27:19 +0000

Many of you may not know about TS16949:2002 but all automotive suppliers are expected to be audited to it yearly or semi-annually. It is very time consuming and expensive. I was lead auditor at a 2nd tier supplier for a number of years. It is a full time job to keep up with quality standards set by the big 3. I had a team of twelve auditors which had to be trained and certified. Having worked for Ford for a number of years I just know that they could never pass an audit to the standards that they required of their suppliers. The costs for the 3rd party audit or our plant alone was around $25,000 per year, and that is just for the 5 day visit by the outside auditing company. It has nothing to do with internal audits and layered audits mandated by the big 3. Now that my plant has closed due to the pressures of cheaper labor in 3rd world countries I wonder if Ford or GM would be interested in hiring me to bring their standards up to that of the suppliers that they beat the crap out of over the last 20 years. I can hardly wait to do a surveillance audit in a Ford plant and make them produce to the standards they have set up for their suppliers. My real world experiance says they would have to shut themselves down.

By: starlightmica (Richard Chen)

starlightmica (Richard Chen) — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 22:57:29 +0000

Judge ruled in favor of Plastech:
http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssConsumerGoodsAndRetailNews/idUSN1930465520080219

By: Ralph SS

Ralph SS — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 21:01:38 +0000

“This. Is. Madness.”

You are, of course, correct. My question would be: is it accidental madness, such as contracting a disease, or intentional, like, oh, I don’t know, suicide?

By: ihatetrees

ihatetrees — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 20:23:24 +0000

Justin,
You are so right. Trees are worse than cars…

By: daro31

daro31 — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 20:20:21 +0000

Insourcing, that should be interesting, wonder if they will make themselves be audited to TS16949:2002 standards, ISO 14001 and all the other things that they have made suppliers pay millions for over the years.

By: Cammy Corrigan

Cammy Corrigan — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 19:02:53 +0000

Mr Farago,

Next time you do the podcast, maybe you could greet Mr Berkowitz like Robin Williams in “Good Morning, Vietnam”?

“Gooooooooood Morrrrrrrnnnnnninnnng, Mr Beeeeerrrkkkooooowiiiiiittzzzzz!”

Just a thought! ;O)

As for Infiniti, I agree. I’m not sure what Nissan hope to gain from Europe. Even Honda hasn’t brought Acura to Europe. Unless Nissan are planning on waging all out war against the Germans (i.e unlimited budget) then it could be a fruitless endeavour.