NOYB,
I'll have been there this February 15 years. I was the first skilled
trades person hired from the street. Before this plant became an engine
plant it was a tractor plant. The tractor manufacturing was sold to New
Holland, so a lot of the older employees know what it's like to shut down a
plant. I had previously spent 19 years with TRW's steering and suspension
plant before quitting and going to Ford.

The company's policy at the engine plant has always been quality from
day one. They give us an "800" number (that reaches Dearborn) we can call
if quality is being ignored at the plant. This isn't to say we've haven't
ever had problems related to an hourly employee slacking off and not doing
their quality checks which resulted in a customer having to replace an
engine, but I can say that by far most all the employees salaried or hourly
understand that putting a flawless product is tantamount to our survival and
reputation.

In so far as an assembly line worker changing a fuse, that'll never
happen. Two reasons, first the union would be against this for their
position is a skilled trade is a skilled trade, in other words it takes a
fair amount of training. Secondly, the company safety office would have a
fit. NOYB I'll tell you, if I have one frustration or complaint it's the
company's safety office. They're trying to make every job idiot proof, they
just don't understand that they just build better idiots. Darwin's law
never gets a chance to cull the utterly stupid. Okay rant off. Where as
years ago you could climb on panels and machinery or walk the ceiling beams
today that a thing of the past, if they catch you it's a week off with the
unions blessing. This is the same mentality that dictates you can't have
monkey bars at play grounds any more. If some one gets hurt they try to
make rules so that can never happen again in their book there is no such
thing as an accident. When I used to be a car mechanic I was asked how I
skinned my hand, heck I didn't even remember, getting hand bruises while
wrenching on an engine was just a part of the job.
I guess I'm just old school. I'm 56 an have been doing this a while so
it's kind of hard to welcome some of these liability rules that seem made by
lawyers trying to stop a potential lawsuit. Last year I was wearing a short
sleeve shirt as part of my work uniform, this wear I have a fire retardant
thick long sleeve shirt and matching pants that I now have to wear to open
an electrical panel. So where before I wore the short sleeve shirt, now I
wear a tee shirt to stay cool and than have to put on the long sleeve shirt
if I have to open the panel, even if all I want to do is get a print out.
Rules!!!! If it is determined the arc flash potential is of a greater level
I have to don a nomex head baklava with a hard hat and a full face shield
plus 1000 volt rubber gloves with leather gloves on top of these. Can you
say sweat? If I have to go up to one of the primary penthouses, where the
13,200 volts comes in and gets transformed down to 460 volts, I have to wear
what we call the moon suit, this looks like something out of an old space
movie. They've issued me a complete 1000 volt insulated tool kit to work on
live wires, yet we never work on live systems, nor would I. I have great
respect for lineman who do, they literally attach them selves to the wire
and I'm talking 13,200 and up. So in summation, in an effort to keep all of
us safe, the company has spent a ton of money an made my job a lot harder
and time consuming. So the chances of letting a production employee change a
fuse is remote. There is usually a reason a fuse blows and when one does I
make certain checks such as ohming out the motor or wire it blew out on,
just replacing it wouldn't be a good idea. Actually if something stalls a
motor, an overload should pop, not a fuse blow. It's not to say that a
production worker couldn't be trained, but do you want to make an
electrician or a machine repairperson out of all the assemblers?

For example at TRW we had several trades that no longer exist, tin smith
and welder were folded into the millwright trade. At Ford its the same way,
our millwrights are the jack of all trades, welders, riggers, tin smiths. I
have to wonder if the transplants (Honda, Toyoda ect.) will continue this
policy after one of their assemblers while changing a fuse get seriously
hurt and a lawsuit results. Lawsuits are one of my pet peeves, but that's a
whole different subject.

Take care,
Paul
P.S. To keep it somewhat on topic, boat safe. :-)

"NOYB" wrote in message
link.net...
Excellent news Paul. I guess that's why the domestics have closed the gap
(and sometimes surpassed) the imports in initial quality. How long have
you
been there? Was there a time when that policy wasn't the norm?

How about the other issues mentioned in the Time magazine article?
(ie-line
workers with broader job classifications and training to do preventive
maintenance). Can an assembly worker change a fuse, for instance...or
does
this require a "skilled tradesman"? If Ford, GM, and Chrysler's unions
are
allowing these things now, then kudos to them.


Here's an excerpt:

"But job classifications at transplant factories are broader. Line workers
are trained in a variety of tasks - say, spot welding as well as interior
assembly - and they rotate jobs frequently. They're less susceptible to
boredom and repetitive-stress injuries. They're also trained to do
preventive maintenance. At Toyota plants, every assembly-line worker has
the
authority to stop the line if he or she spots, say, a flaw in a
windshield.
More important, workers are encouraged by management to do so.
The long and often bitter relationship between the Big Three and the UAW
means that their work practices are rooted not in mutual trust but in a
system of sometimes picky rules. A "skilled tradesman" may be required to
change a fuse in an assembly-line machine, a task that an assembly worker
could easily be trained to perform. Work rules differ from plant to plant
because agreements are negotiated with local union leaders. If a tradesman
notices a line worker fiddling with equipment, he may file a grievance,
claiming that his job is being undercut by a lower-paid employee."



"Paul Schilter" paulschilter@comcast,dot,net wrote in message
...

"NOYB" wrote in message
link.net...

I attribute the quality differences to several things. If you read
the
article, you saw where it said Cadillac is #2 in initial
quality...second
only to Lexus (toyota). They attribute it to Cadillac's recent
adoption
of
"flexible assembly"...things like the ability of any line-worker to
stop
the
line dead if he/she sees any quality issue or defect. Unions have so
far
prevented this in most of the factories they have a presence in.
That's
the
main thing I attribute the quality differences to. It costs $300 to
500
more per vehicle to make a Chrysler, Ford, or GM car. Obviously, that
difference has to be made up somewhere...and it probably is coming off
of
the quality of the parts/materials.

NOYB,
At Ford's Romeo Engine Plant, any worker who sees a defect is
"expected"
to stop the line. I work there, and the last thing we want to produce
is
a
faulty product. It comes down to job pride and job security. I'm an
electrician there and I can tell you that quality is job one.
Paul