Dave Barry Explains Outsourcing

Perhaps a little close to the bone!

Reply to
George
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I have an old book by Henry Ford. His philosophy seemed to be to make everything that went into the Model T. He seemed to have accomplished it, but I think by the time he got to the Model A, he was buying some parts.

Outsourcing seems to have become a bad word, but throughout written history, very few manufactured products were made without some portion being purchased from someone else.

I don't see what the big deal is!

Paul

Reply to
Paul

Over the past 20 years, there have been two "big deals." The first was that domestic outsourcing was the way the car companies broke the grip of the UAW. Whatever your view on that, it was a very big deal.

The more recent big deal is that the outsourcing is going overseas. Many people call it "offshoring," but which word you use tends to be a matter of what position you're trying to defend. If you think sending the work overseas is just fine, it's "outsourcing," which sounds less ominous and which has gained some measure of acceptance. If you don't think it's fine, it's "offshoring."

Ed Huntress

Reply to
Ed Huntress

Inadequate infrastructure to support buying in the marketplace back then.

Besides, Ford was a control freak @hole.

Reply to
Offbreed

Ford actually built precious little of the Model T. It was an "assembled" car - and the engine and transmission were produced by, of all people, the Dodge brothers.

When the Dodges decided to build their own vehicles, old Henry made things very difficult for them. They all died young and under suspicious circumstances - many believe Henry's Henchmen did them in.

Reply to
nospam.clare.nce

My old man worked at a Westinghouse plant for 40 years. He died from lung cancer from smoking and asbestos in his lungs. He wasn't the smartest man alive and never claimed to be, but he went to work everyday, started at

6:00am, left at 3:00pm (when he didn't work overtime) and did it everyday for 40 years. Now that factory is gone, and those jobs are in Mexico. The one opportunity that his generation learned that not everyone gets nowadays is that if you work hard everyday, you can live a nice life. The big deal is that if someone cant bullshit there way through selling something, and cant get a college degree, there's just not much opportunity for that person anymore. That's what sucks about caring more for your stockholders than your employees. walt
Reply to
wallster

I read an interesting bit on old Henry: In the specs he provided to one of his suppliers he demanded that the shipping crate for this particular item (engine, maybe?) be made of certain wood, cut to certain lengths, drilled in certain places, and so on. Very detailed, considering it was only a crate. The vendor eventually discovered that these crates were dismantled at the Ford factory and the boards became the T's floorboards, all precut and predrilled and everything. Pretty shrewd, huh?

Dan

Reply to
Dan Thomas

Take about any large national organization and investigate it's pension plans, health plans, working conditions, etc. Hopefully all would be 'respectable', and not too bad of a place to be employed.

Go to some of vendors whom these same organizations outsource and find: No pension plans, the scantiest of health plans, poor working conditions, minimum wages, etc. Try working in some of these environments to get an idea what it is about.

Reply to
Lurker

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