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GM and Ford parts supplier just blisters the ass off of the automakers CEO's
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Thought you guys might enjoy this little bit of truth...
*******
Greg Knox, President of Knox Machinery wrote this. His company provides supplies for the "Big Three" auto makers.
One day last year, Greg came to work and received this email in his inbox:
Dear Employees & Suppliers,
Congress and the current Administration will soon determine whether to provide immediate support to the domestic auto industry to help
it through one of the most difficult economic times in our nation's
history. Your elected officials must hear from all of us now on why
this support is critical to our continuing the progress we began
prior to the global financial crisis......................As an
employee or supplier, you have a lot at stake and continue to be one of our most effective and passionate voices. I know GM can count on you to have your voice heard.
Thank you for your urgent action and ongoing support.
Troy Clarke
President General Motors North America
So Greg sat down at his computer and started typing out a response to the President of GM. When he was finished, he sent the letter to his mother. Like a good mother, she wanted to share it with others .. and the letter soon became viral on the Internet. Once you read it, I think you will understand why.
Response from:
Gregory Knox, Pres.
Knox Machinery Company
Franklin, Ohio
Gentlemen:
In response to your request to contact legislators and ask for a
bailout for the Big Three automakers please consider the following,
and please pass my thoughts on to Troy Clark, President of General
Motors North America.
Politicians and Management of the Big 3 are both infected with the
same entitlement mentality that has spread like cancerous germs in
UAW halls for the last countless decades, and whose plague is now
sweeping this nation, awaiting our new "messiah", Pres-elect Obama,
to wave his magic wand and make all our problems go away, while at
the same time allowing our once great nation to keep "living the
dream"... Believe me folks, The dream is over!
This dream where we can ignore the consumer for years while
management myopically focuses on its personal rewards packages at
the same time that our factories have been filled with the worlds
most overpaid, arrogant, ignorant and laziest entitlement minded
"laborers" without paying the price for these atrocities...this
dream where you still think the masses will line up to buy our
products for ever and ever.
Don't even think about telling me I'm wrong. Don't accuse me of not
knowing of what I speak. I have called on Ford, GM, Chrysler, TRW,
Delphi, Kelsey Hayes, American Axle and countless other automotive
OEM's throughout the Midwest during the past 30 years and what I've
seen over those years in these union shops can only be described as
disgusting.
Troy Clarke, President of General Motors North America, states:
"There is widespread sentiment throughout this country, and our
government, and especially via the news media, that the current
crisis is completely the result of bad management which it certainly
is not."
You're right Mr. Clarke, it's not JUST management...how about the
electricians who walk around the plants like lords in feudal times,
making people wait on them for countless hours while they drag
ass...so they can come in on the weekend and make double and triple
time...for a job they easily could have done within their normal 40
hour work week. How about the line workers who threaten newbies with
all kinds of scare tactics...for putting out too many parts on a
shift...and for being too productive (We certainly must not expose
those lazy bums who have been getting overpaid for decades for their
horrific underproduction, must we?!?)
Do you folks really not know about this stuff?!? How about this
great sentiment abridged from Mr. Clarke's sad plea: "over the last
few years ...we have closed the quality and efficiency gaps with our
competitors." What the hell has Detroit been doing for the last 40
years?!? Did we really JUST wake up to the gaps in quality and
efficiency between us and them? The K car vs. the Accord? The Pinto
vs. the Civic?!? Do I need to go on? What a joke!
We are living through the inevitable outcome of the actions of the
United States auto industry for decades. It's time to pay for your
sins, Detroit.
I attended an economic summit last week where brilliant economist,
Alan Beaulieu, from the Institute of Trend Research, surprised the
crowd when he said he would not have given the banks a penny of
"bailout money".
"Yes, he said, this would cause short term problems," but despite
what people like politicians and corporate magnates would have us
believe, the sun would in fact rise the next day... and the
following very important thing would happen...where there had been
greedy and sloppy banks, new efficient ones would pop up...that is
how a free market system works...it does work...if we would only let
it work..."
But for some nondescript reason we are now deciding that the rest of
the world is right and that capitalism doesn't work - that we need
the government to step in and "save us"...Save us my ass, Hell -
we're nationalizing...and unfortunately too many of our once fine
nation's citizens don't even have a clue that this is what is really
happening...But, they sure can tell you the stats on their favorite
sports teams...yeah - THAT'S really important, isn't it...
Does it ever occur to ANYONE that the "competition" has been
producing vehicles, EXTREMELY PROFITABLY, for decades in this
country?... How can that be??? Let's see... Fuel efficient...
Listening to customers... Investing in the proper tooling and
automation for the long haul...
Not being too complacent or arrogant to listen to Dr. W. Edwards
Deming four decades ago when he taught that by adopting appropriate
principles of management, organizations could increase quality and
simultaneously reduce costs. Ever increased productivity through
quality and intelligent planning... Treating vendors like strategic
partners, rather than like "the enemy"... Efficient front and back
offices... Non union environment...
Again, I could go on and on, but I really wouldn't be telling anyone
anything they really don't already know down deep in their hearts.
I have six children, so I am not unfamiliar with the concept of
wanting someone to bail you out of a mess that you have gotten
yourself into - my children do this on a weekly, if not daily basis,
as I did when I was their age. I do for them what my parents did for
me (one of their greatest gifts, by the way) - I make them stand on
their own two feet and accept the consequences of their actions and
work through it. Radical concept, huh... Am I there for them in the
wings? Of course - but only until such time as they need to be fully
on their own as adults..
I don't want to oversimplify a complex situation, but there
certainly are unmistakable parallels here between the proper role of
parenting and government. Detroit and the United States need to pay
for their sins. Bad news people - it's coming whether we like it or
not. The newly elected Messiah really doesn't have a magic wand big
enough to "make it all go away." I laughed as I heard Obama "reeling
it back in" almost immediately after the final vote count was
tallied..."we really might not do it in a year...or in four..."
Where the Hell was that kind of talk when he was RUNNING for office.
Stop trying to put off the inevitable folks ... That house in
Florida really isn't worth $750,000... People who jump across a
border really don't deserve free health care benefits... That job
driving that forklift for the Big 3 really isn't worth $85,000 a
year... We really shouldn't allow Wal-Mart to stock their shelves
with products acquired from a country that unfairly manipulates
their currency and has the most atrocious human rights infractions
on the face of the globe...
That couple whose combined income is less than $50,000 really
shouldn't be living in that $485,000 home... Let the market correct
itself folks - it will. Yes it will be painful, but it's gonna' be
painful either way, and the bright side of my proposal is that on
the other side of it all, is a nation that appreciates what it
has...and doesn't live beyond its means...and gets back to
basics...and redevelops the patriotic work ethic that made it the
greatest nation in the history of the world...and probably turns
back to God.
Sorry - don't cut my head off, I'm just the messenger sharing with
you the "bad news". I hope you take it to heart.
Gregory J. Knox, President
Knox Machinery, Inc.
Franklin, Ohio 45005
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