quote Originally posted by Tony Kania: Build sheets. Every vehicle came down the line with a build sheet. The only thing that you had to read was this build sheet. So, the issue of different options on a vehicle should not be an issue. Seriously, it says put the round peg in the round hole. Now a days we have bar codes that a computer reads. It has to tell the overpaid line worker what to do for every vehicle. Every single one. Kind of a no brainer there.

Build sheets are or were taped to the front of the cars back then requiring a worker to walk up to the car once just to see what the job needed for parts, that required a few seconds time, then walk back and get the parts, then any additional parts the car may have required, but that wasn't what I was talking about. what I was talking about is this car doesn't have say electric window so all one person has to do is put the door pad and a window regular handle as well as the lock knobs buttons in the old days, tap it on with a rubber hammer. go to the next one. But the next one need the electric window wires run threw the doorpad as well as the buttons plugged in and then the switch put in the door pad, all taking more time.

Now a days everyone gets it right in front of them on a computer screen, but that really only saves what a couple seconds, the real work is the extra options that most new cars come with, when was the last time you saw a stripped model on the dealers lot? jobs are time studied, sure but then they cut those times so close that when 4 or more of those jobs that have all that extra work on them come down the line and believe me they do, sometimes there would be rental fleet come threw and those cars had everything under the sun in them, not to mention when they had a color run of some of the ugliest colors I have ever seen.

Point was that no 2 cars are alike and that extra work puts you in another guys space, hey, you only have one car length to do your job and if you are in the next guys way he can't start his job. All that causes backups and in some cases repairs. So if a guy gets a few seconds ahead that can be a bonus to do what? try and make sure his stock is in order or maybe get another few seconds ahead, unless of course the next few cars are loaded and the cycle just keeps going.
Or if he has the time talk to the guy next to you for a few seconds, and that may be what many see when walking around on a tour.

Then there are people who are not line workers but line support, think fork truck drivers, stockmen, absentees, utility men, who may look like they are doing nothing but are simply making sure things are as they should be, if someone needs a emergency brake to take a dump. There is the Forman in the white shirt and tie of course as well as below him was a step under him who just walked around made sure everything was running smoothly and that no one needed a brake, then the line utility men who would cover a job if some one didn't show up on any said day.

There are a lot of people who are not line workers, they may look like it but they are line substitutes or untilty as we called them, and as stated above so many more.
But no one who would walk threw on a tour would know that so to the untrained eye it might look like a lot of people are just standing around talking, but in most cases they are communicating about the job, parts, problems.

Hell I used to read the paper, in one or 2 sentence parts in between cars, when I had time, sometimes that might take all day to do when I was welding, you can't get ahead, you are in a booth so you can't move even one car length. so what do you do with those couple of seconds in between cars?

Steve

[This message has been edited by 84fiero123 (edited 02-02-2016).]

I have been there. I understand. I blame everybody. Especially the white guy.

quote Originally posted by jaskispyder: (snip) Responsibility starts at the top of any organization.

Perhaps this is more accurate than your tired old cliché....

Responsibility begins on the work floor, with every employee from the moment they hire in.

Responsibility for the mistakes of everyone ends at the top.......... especially true when management is lax in finding problems and solving them.

quote Originally posted by olejoedad: Perhaps this is more accurate than your tired old cliché.... Responsibility begins on the work floor, with every employee from the moment they hire in. Responsibility for the mistakes of everyone ends at the top.......... especially true when management is lax in finding problems and solving them.

And squandering money for personal projects and profits.

Responsibility on the work floor is to do the job as told and do it right. That's a little hard when parts don't fit because management tells everyone what to do and how to do it. There are several examples in the book about how an engineer went to his top boss and told them the way that want to build it can't be done, but like my door pad example, when people and departments don't talk to each other you get parts that don't fit/work. I personally supper glued hundreds of door pads to doors because one carrot hole/button/Christmas tree attaching plastic part was not in the right place to fit in the hole on the door shell. Hey it was cheaper than drilling all those holes in final repair but still not the right way to fix it. Management told us to do that for the repair.

They have no control over what management makes them do, contrary to popular belief the line workers do not tell management what to build.

Steve

[This message has been edited by 84fiero123 (edited 02-02-2016).]

So.... my "tired old cliche" is not so tired and old... leadership is held accountable for every piece of the organization... that is why they are paid as much as they are. Otherwise, min. wage is just fine. Workers are there to do a job how they are told to. If the piece doesn't fit, they still install it.... as an example. Now sure, everyone is supposed to do their job, but leadership/management is supposed to give employees the tools and resources to do their job properly.

quote Originally posted by olejoedad: Responsibility for the mistakes of everyone ends at the top.......... especially true when management is lax in finding problems and solving them.