I looked into national voices for manufacturing and visited the NAM (National Association of Manufacturers), which has about 14,000 member companies employing around 13 million people. NAM advocates for manufacturers at the government level and has been focused on bringing manufacturing back to the U.S. since 2020.
Outsourcing began due to a lack of skills and the desire to handle tasks internally. To bring manufacturing back, we need to ensure top quality and manufacturing in America. Find out what we need to focus on.
Looking back at my quality career since 1984, I remember contributing to a quality manual of a Motorola Division in 1987-88 for ISO 9001 certification.
In 1984, I joined the wafer quality group at Motorola Semiconductors Sector in Austin, TX. My first quality act was to join the American Society for Quality.
In early stages of industrialization, products were simpler, factories were smaller, most processes were manual, and process flows were shorter. Contact with customers was direct between production and customer.
Everyone believes that process is a simple thing to manage and there is nothing more to learn about it. Our work environment inspires us to do what is needed.
Recently, I had the opportunity to attend the ASQ Automotive Division’s annual conference. There were excellent speakers throughout the day, but one who garnered a lot of attention was Ford Motor Co.’s Bennie Fowler, group vice president, global quality and new model launch. He gave an excellent presentation on the One Ford Program. One Ford is the mission set forth by Ford-One Team, One Plan, One Goal-to deliver profitable growth for all.