Quality difference between Mexico and USA

Links?

Saw the Instagram video and just was amazed

 

I’m pretty sure my truck was built in California...

 

Yes our 01s are NUMMI products

 

i have worked in Mexico and have started up plants there....the workers I was associated with were hired jointly by the US company and the Mexican maquiladora company....The US company had about 40% input on hiring but 100% quality input and manufacturing processes.....if the Mexican plant you speak of is that bad, you can blame the US company or Japanese parent company for lack of leadership and control......

 

That was my initial thought

That any problems should fall on management issues


But there are people posting on here who have 1st have knowledge of the factories and their examples say it is the employees in Mexico and culture and the Japan or American management can’t solve it

 

not true about “not wanted”....i have been there and done that for many years...from aerospace to commercial laser manufacturing......just not true...we were welcomed and wanted....

 

"Japanese students consistently rank highly among OECD students in terms of quality and performance in reading literacy, math, and sciences. The average student scored 540 in reading literacy, maths and science in the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and the country has one of the world's highest-educated labor forces among OECD countries.[4] Its populace is well educated and its society highly values education as a platform for social mobility and for gaining employment in the country's high-tech economy. The country's large pool of highly educated and skilled individuals is largely responsible for ushering Japan’s post-war economic growth."

Only 47 percent of Mexicans have a college degree. Japan, on the other hand, has a higher achievement which is 69 percent.

 

Are the Japanese factory workers college educated ?

 

I used to work in machine shops all over the country that made aerospace parts until I changed jobs recently. The youngest machinists we had were early 30s with an average plant age of 55ish in most cases. We had to get on people all the damn time for playing grabass games, cruising facebook, etc. The number of employees I had to counsel about just showing up to work on a regular basis was unreal. Most of these machinists were blue-collar retirement-age white guys.

I may take some heat for this, but I think it may generally be more of an industry thing than a country thing.

On the other hand, I got to tour the Porsche manufacturing and engineering centers...holy fudge are they serious about making cars.

 

poorly educated ?

 

I'm probably gonna come across as an entitled dick by saying it, but maybe. Although I think there is a lot of cultural association too. Germany and Japan are both countries that order and conservative behavior are socially enforced pretty rigidly. They don't just not go to work one day for whatever reason.

USA and Mexico are far looser in a lot of cultural values, which I think lends to the differing attitudes of the workers.

 

We are trying to have an honest conversation here, and your opinion is highly valued, given your experience. So don't worry about political correctness.

Culture explains a lot of it. However, Japanese cars have been far less maintenance and more reliable than Germans, no?

 

Ex Porsche owner here. EX for a reason...myriad of problems when used as DD. Great garage showpiece and investment though.

 

Fair enough. Just some of the production guys automatically assume because I have 2 college degrees and am "management" that I am a member of the "stick in ass" club and take my viewpoints in that light.

Regarding your Porsche: like racehorses, track oriented cars don't do daily/routine driving very well.

Still want a rally 911 though.

 

My landscaper came and did my yard yesterday..in the rain, I’m calling horseshit on your opinion of Mexicans cultural values and work ethic.

 

I think he is talking bout Mexican workers living in Mexico and working in those plants, no?

He isn't talking about the Mexican immigrants who pulled themselves up by their bootstraps and busting their butt working abroad....

Also gardening is different than building Tacomas.....

 

Generalizations like this are kind of a bitch . You get really awesome people like your landscaper, or many people I have met in a variety of roles, and I don't mean to diminish them at all. I worked roofing as a HS kid. I know what it means to bust your ass all day long for minimum wage in the VA summer heat and humidity.

To @PROseur 's point, there are those that work hard and those that don't in every country. But places like Japan and Germany have highly technical manufacturing centers for a reason. Some of those reasons extend all the way to feudal/colonialism days and the economic drivers that it created.

But a prime example of what I am talking about is if you have to go through immigration/customs at a Central/South American airport vs going through the screening at Frankfurt am Main. 2 VERY different experiences.

Going back to the OP though, QA standards are universal, so unless your inspectors are slacking, they should be identical products.

 

This was my point exactly..... are the inspectors at a Mexican factory/TX factory different than the inspectors at Tahara? Why are my Tahara products better than TX/Nummi?

I think the airport isn't a good example. I am a very frequent international flyer. Not that long ago, if you flew into KL (Malaysia), it was tin shed airport and chicken coops. Now its a ferrari dealer and starbucks. Go outside of the airport a bit, and it isn't a first world country that the country will have you think.

Same as Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Airports (Abu Dhabi even more recent), are world class, but go outside, and see all the Bangladeshi/Indian labors working in horrid conditions and horrid build quality.


25 years ago what you say about airport is absolutely correct. However, these days airports have become a false advertisement for non 1st world countries.

 

Wasn't really talking about the condition of the facility, but just the "customer experience".

Germany: The line forms here. You stand behind this red line. you fill out this form. If you have family/company they MUST come with and have their respective forms. You come to the agent station and they stamp you out. You proceed through this door to the terminal.

Last flight to SA I had: Customs agent may or may not be at lunch. Wait for customs agent to get back. Politely convince him to get stamped out. Stamps all 5 of your parties' forms even though you are the only one physically there. Get lost on way to terminal because of poor signage and no intuitive flow.

 

Dubai/Malaysia exactly like Germany INSIDE the airport. Go outside the airport, and its like SA


If you think SA is bad, go to Riyadh airport or Mecca airport---- no false advertising there....airport/employees as bad as the rest of the locals...entittled...spoiled....