PLM vs the unions — maybe

There is absolutely nothing I can add to the reams of information and speculation published
about the "demise" of the US automobile industry. But an excellent article in the Wall Street
Journal simply cries out for PLMish commentary. The piece, How Detroit Drove Into a Ditch,
includes the following:

…to thrive, instead of just survive, Detroit will have to use the brains of its workers instead of
just their bodies, and the [United Auto Workers] will have to allow it. Two weeks ago some
automation equipment broke down at the Honda factory in Marysville, Ohio, but employees
rushed to the scene and devised a temporary solution. There were no negotiations with shop
stewards, no parsing of job descriptions. Instead of losing an entire shift of production,
Honda lost just 150 cars.

Yes, this was about factory workers coming up with a solution to a production-line problem.
But the point can be extended to all areas of the car company (or any company, for that
matter). Every enterprise relies on the brains (intellect, imagination, creativity, perseverance
and all the rest) of all of its employees. Any tool that improves the employees’ ability to use
their native capabilities for the good of the enterprise should be made available — especially
when times are tough.

Can you imagine how quickly the line workers could have found a solution to their problem if
they had had access to the underlying data on the piece of broken equipment? If they had
been trained in use of a shop-floor version of a CAD model? If they had access to the repair
record for the equipment? All that a PLM system is supposed to keep track of — if only the
worker knows how to access it.

And, yes, the underlying point of the quote about how union(s) may have stifled their
members’ abilities and willingness to improvise a solution is also true. Unions that specify
that a certain task (CAD access, for example) is restricted to a select job category limit the
flexibility of the overall enterprise to adapt to changing conditions.

My first "real" job was a union job. My father-in-law was a union member for his entire
working life; this gave him health insurance and provided for my mother-in-law long after his
death. Unions serve very valuable functions but they need to adapt, too.