Harley Davidson 2010 Annual Report Download - page 12

20 Customer-led Manufacturing
What’s an example of that?
Karl Our best-practice circles. They’re a huge part of
bringing the art and science of motorcycle manufacturing
together in a consistent way. These are groups of hourly
and salaried employees from multiple locations, as well
as outside suppliers, sharing specialized knowledge
around a common process. We have many best-practice
circles, in areas like safety, fabrication and machining.
Our best-practice circle in paint, for instance, has delivered
some unique combinations of paint and graphics that
create incredible nishes. In collaboration with suppliers,
they engineered a unique automated washing system that
ensures parts are contaminate free prior to painting.
And they have developed multiple ways to reduce paint
waste by 25 percent.
Matt I’d add continuous improvement. For us, it’s a
cultural movement to get every employee involved in
improving everything about us, from marketing to
product development to working closely with our
dealers. Continuous improvement drives consistency
and efciency in how we do our work. It adds value
to our products and services by making us more exible
and responsive to customers. And it’s real — we’re
teaching it in all of our plants, in exactly the same way,
so that everyone there works to make the operating
oor better.
What differences are customers going to see?
Matt We’re lucky enough to be in the business of
manufacturing dreams. And now, we have much better
insight into those dreams and much better processes to
tie that in to manufacturing. So they’ll see more relevant
innovation, better inventory availability, more
customization of motorcycles — like the factory custom
concept in H-D1 — and more “wow” in styling and
features, because we’re listening in product development
and responding in our manufacturing. Consumers today
want what they want, how they want it, when they want
it. “Customer-led” is about making the right products
—
more-focused products — more responsively.
21
“ Consumers today want what
they want, how they want it,
when they want it.”
Matt Levatich
President & COO
One way in which our manufacturing facilities are implementing common standards
is through Best Practice Circles (far right, bottom). The Paint Best Practice Circle,
comprised of hourly and salaried employees across our facilities, has implemented
continuous improvement solutions that have reduced paint waste by 25 percent.
Harley-Davidson, Inc. 2010 Annual Report