Going back to the winner’s school
It is always good to follow your own instincts and believe in yourself. Each company has its own beliefs, its own corporate culture. But from time to time it is good to see what our competition does and learn from it, even when it is not about the software industry.
The year was 1982 when the “Harley-Davison executives visited the factory in Marysville, Ohio, a plant that belongs to one of its strongest competitors, Honda Motors.” In those years Honda had a high penetration of the American market (as much as 44%) being the undisputed leader in the motorcycle segment.
The purpose of the visit by the Harley-Davison executives was to learn the sophisticated techniques and technologies that Honda used to make its bikes cheaper. To the surprise of this entourage of well-dressed executives, there were no robots in the plant, there were no computers, there was no type of high-tech device, or anything that at first glance attributed a substantial advantage over what they already knew. What they found in its place was a staff of 470 highly qualified, neat, orderly workers, following testing and assembly protocols for all the machinery. Another detail was that his workers were very satisfied with the work they carried out inside the plant.
A few years later Harley-Davidson began to grow from 23% to 46% in the American market. Profits of 17.7 million were recorded, and the motorcycle became the symbol of the American male because of a good job in marketing and communications. The company focused on improving production processes, hiring more qualified personnel, and improving quality tests, among other things. Not only it did learn from its competitor, but it went a step further by acknowledging the problems it had in assembling and designing its motorcycles.
The Japanese were still in the lead for multiple reasons. One of them was knowing where they were failing and quickly fixing the error. How did they do it? They listened to their clients. One of those problems during the 80s was spare parts. Every time a motorcycle was assembled, small batches were made for the spare parts that allowed them to be stored in the factory while giving a quick response to its customers.
What they finally did at Harley-Davidson was copy or borrow Honda Motors’ Management model. The adoption of this model contributed to the high quality controls, qualified people (mechanical engineers) in the production chain, and a strong and forceful communication plan that reached the entire United States, establishing Harley-Davidson as the motorcycle per excellence of the American people. At Harley-Davidson, that was called the productivity triad, and this is the management model that we referred to with three fundamental pillars:
✔ Employee participation
✔ Just-in-time inventory practices
✔ Statistical Process Control (SPC)
Personally, I would highlight that this was facilitated by a strong injection of money by the group owning Harley-Davidson and a massive communication plan.
If you found this story interesting, you will surely find it interesting to also read the book The Customer Driven Company by Richard C. Whiteley which inspired me to write these lines.
