LIFE ON THE LINE

SUBMITTED TO PROF. VIPRA TIWARI PROF. BHAKTI THORAT

PRESENTED BY GROUP NO 1

Executive summary: This case is about the ford motor company at Wixom, Michigan plant. Wixom is clean and well lighted by auto industry. Have adequate rest rooms, plenty of drinking fountains and airconditioned cafeteria. Their workers put the Cars together along the assemble line. Thunderbirds and Lincoln Continentals are assembled. Roger Rapport is a staff reporter in the wall street journal who goes on to work there. Problems faced by the workers in the plant are discussed by the reporter.

Problems are
The work is grueling and frustrating. Workers get tired but dont get appropriate time for rest and food. Dont even get a proper sitting place while eating their food. Workers dont have any social interactions and dont even know the names of each other. They dont get proper training for a specific works. Instead they have to learn from the senior employees. They get low wages and are not satisfied with them. Reporter the saw the continuous mistakes done by him and the other workers which had the overall effect on the quality. The repair area of the company was the size of the football field which had about 500 cars waiting to get repaired. Not all defects were caught before the car left the company and people complained about the poor workmanship in the cars they buy.

Quality control problems were because of the various reasons.

Reasons 1. There were no selection criteria of the company. 2. There was no proper training to workers. 3. The inspectors were inexperienced and were not dedicated to their work. 4. Human aspects were ignored. 5. There were no scheduled breaks for the employees.

Analysis of case
1. Workers had to go through a very hectic schedule. 2. There was violation of plant as well as safety rules. 3. Quality of cars was getting affected. 4. Workers had to face serious health problems. 5. The production of cars was going at a slow pace as compared to other luxury cars producing companies. 6. Unions are getting restless. 7. There is too much pressure on employees and some of them are thinking of quitting.

Recommendations
Proper training workshops for specific work. Proper recruitment policy. Scheduled work breaks. Dining should not be there at one point of time Defects should be repaired then and there in the line. They should not be delayed. Work rotation should be there. Inspectors should also be trained properly so that they do proper supervision.

THANK YOU