From: Dehede011@aol.com
Date: Tue Jul 24 2001 - 13:40:05 MDT
In a message dated 7/24/01 12:14:43 PM Pacific Daylight Time,
gonzalia@cs.chalmers.se writes: Well not really a difference. I'm aware of
both forces, it's just that the damage caused by the complete misuse of the
free markets idea by the local establishment overshadows anything else for
now. I don't see my country going anywhere until the establishment actually
lets markets act instead of just pretending they do.
Carlos,
Perhaps there is even less difference between us than we believe. I
see our poor class also being hurt badly and don't expect any improvement our
until so called ruling class accepts truly free markets instead of the psuedo
free market being peddled not. I am skeptical.
I spent twenty years as a management consultant. I estimate the
average productivity in our manufacturing plants at no better than about 50%.
Worse, I see us switching to foreign labor, automation, and foreign plants
-- the first two are being operated at about the same level of productivity
as we had before. I have not seen the foreign plants operate but based on
the manufacturing expertise of the few I have seen sent over there I expect
them to be even worse than our domestic plants.
Let me give you a couple of fast examples. Just before retiring I did
an assignment for a plant owner. He had one shear press that set the
operating speed for his entire plant. After checking I found the press was
actually producing 17% of the time. Sorry my memory boggled -- that was two
presses each at 17% of the time.
I took several months to raise actual output of a welding department
50%. The owner thought I was wonderful. I asked that my assignment be
extended one day as I wanted to see what percentage of the time the welders
had a welding gun in their hands. I found I have gotten the welders up to
34% utilization. Yes, I shared that with my client.
I have also seen expensive automation purchased and operators allowed
to restrict operation to roughly four or five hours per day.
Am I expecting things to get better? No, I retired, that indicates my
expectations.
Ron h.
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