7/25/2019 Engstrom Auto Mirror Plant

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Engstrom Auto Mirror Plant:

Motivating in Good Times and Bad

There had been several rough quarters at the Engstrom Auto Mirror plant in

Richmond, Indiana, a privatel o!ned business that manu"actured mirrors "or

truc#s and automobiles and emploed $%& people' (or more than a ear, plantmanager Ron Bent and his assistant, )oe *ale, had "ocused their (rida

meetings on the troubling numbers, but the tenor o" their Ma +, $%%-, meeting

!as di""erent' Both men sensed that the no! "aced a crisis at the plant' Bent

!as tal#ing animatedl to *ale: .This is the third productivit problem in, !hat,

t!o !ee#s/ 0e can1t climb out o" this do!nturn !ith per"ormance li#e that'2 *e

sco!led as he signed the authori3ation to air4"reight a large order to the Toota

plant !here 5am Martine3 managed the assembl line' The di""erence in cost

!as astronomical, and it had been necessitated b the slo! pace o" productivit

at Engstrom, !hich meant in this case that a 6ob due "or completion on Monda!asn1t completed until Thursda' But Bent couldn1t a""ord to ma#e a late deliver

to Martine37 he !as a pri3ed but demanding customer !ho had designated

Engstrom as a certi"ied supplier one ear earlier' 8nl one other supplier "or

Martine31s plant had achieved certi"ied supplier status9a recognition o" both

etraordinar reliabilit and qualit' The !orr lines on Bent1s "ace deepened'

;erti"ied status meant that Martine3 had personall authori3ed Engstrom

products to be used on the auto lines !ithout a qualit inspection' Along !ith

productivit problems, product4qualit issues had also been creeping into the

!or# done at Engstrom' Bent hoped that he !as not paing to air4epeditede"ective mirrors to Martine3' *ale said, .Ron, !e both #no! the emploees

have been complaining "or months, but esterda and toda the tal# has been

prett hostile' I1m not saing there1s a de"inite connection bet!een nearl late

deliver and the grumbling I heard, but ou1ve got to !onder'2 Bent #ne! that

*ale, in 6ust "our months at the plant, had developed good relationships !ith

several !or#ers and could pic# up use"ul in"ormation about the mood' *ale said,

.The1ve had it !ith the 5canlon Plan'