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SME North Bay is Coming!
SME North Bay continues to move forward, with some exciting news to share.
Two weeks ago, Bruce MacKender, the SME West Coast Member & Industry Relations Manager, introduced SME North Bay to the SME Member Council. This is the SME group that needs to formally approve the chapter formation. This was the first time this group had heard about SME North Bay, and from what Bruce told me, there were lots of “oohs and ahhs” and quite a bit of excitement created with the prospect of the first new SME chapter being formed in 10 years!
That being said, their agenda was jam packed and they weren’t able to spend a lot of time on it since they’re trying to put the finishing touches on the SME Annual Conference, which is now less than 2 weeks away and will take place in Nashville, June 6-8.
However, the SME Member Council will vote on formal approval of SME North Bay at the annual conference. There was discussion that because of the level of excitement and support created through the wildly successful dinner meeting held on 4/29 and others who have interest, there’s a good chance that SME North Bay will be able to move directly past the “Forming Chapter” stage and go right to being a “Full Senior Chapter.” This is HUGE, and I believe unprecedented!
Stay tuned for news on SME North Bay and the upcoming vote at the SME Annual Conference. SME North Bay will soon be a reality!
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Support Formation of an SME North Bay Chapter
Help support the mission of making the North Bay 101 Corridor “California’s Next Great Manufacturing Center” by coming out to support formation of an SME North Bay Chapter. If you’re in manufacturing, your support is needed by attending a dinner meeting on April 29th.
Bruce MacKender, SME Western Regional Manager, will be in town to see for himself how much support exists for a local SME chapter and to answer questions on how a local chapter can benefit you and your company. Please plan on attending this important event by registering at:
http://smenorthbay.eventbrite.com
Please share this link with anyone you think might have an interest in SME or seeing an SME North Bay chapter formed.
What is SME?
- SME is the world’s leading professional society supporting manufacturing, with over 25,000 members.
- SME is recognized as the premier source for manufacturing knowledge, education and networking.
- SME is an active advocate for manufacturing in the U.S.
Why should I support an SME local chapter and what’s in it for me and my company?
- The nearest chapter is currently in Silicon Valley. The North Bay needs its own chapter.
- Support of SME provides direct support for the North Bay 101 corridor’s goal of becoming “California’s Next Great Manufacturing Center.”
- SME provides a tremendous breadth of opportunities for members in:
- Networking (plant tours, professional networking events, conferences)
- Education (technical training, webinars, publications)
- Personal Development (certification, scholarships, awards, giving back)
- SME provides educational support and gives back to the community through various channels, such as the SME Educational Foundation.
What’s the next step in forming an SME North Bay chapter?
- A great turnout at this event will kick start formation of a new chapter and get it off the ground, so your attendance is needed.
It Doesn’t Take a Rocket Scientist, or Does It?
Apparently it DOES when it comes to Toyota’s still unsolved “sudden unintended acceleration” problem. NASA and the National Academy of Sciences are now teaming up with the government in an attempt to once and for all determine the root cause of the problem.
Since Akio Toyoda appeared on Capitol Hill, there have been several additional incidents, some of which have shown up in the national news, keeping this front and center in the public’s eye. This can’t be good news for Toyota, who mostly was hoping that the news would begin to subside after Mr. Toyoda’s appearance.
The initiative to bring NASA into the picture is being driven by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s nagging suspicion that the problem is tied somehow to vehicle electronics, and not car mats or stuck gas pedals, and was announced by U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray Lahood. In a separate study, the National Academy of Sciences will study the role of electronic vehicle controls in unintended acceleration across all brands in the entire automotive industry.
Just the fact that that the root cause hasn’t yet been tied down assures that the adverse publicity that’s now plaguing Toyota isn’t going away anytime soon. In light of the disasters that have come Toyota’s way since the onset of this problem, one has to wonder what the discussion must be like around the conference room table Toyota reviews their COQ (Total Cost of Quality). My bet is that it won’t be a pleasant conversation.
Toyota – Risk Management Gone Bad
Akio Toyoda - AP Photo
The whole world now knows about Toyota’s problems surrounding “sudden unintended acceleration” in its cars. Not only is there an issue about the loss of life and other serious injuries, there’s also the tremendous damage to Toyota’s legendary reputation for quality. In areas ranging from Toyota trying to sweep the problem under the carpet until it was too big to contain, the appearance of Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda on Capitol Hill, to basic questions about whether the recall fix that Toyota is installing at this point is even an effective solution, Toyota has undeniably been in a 100% damage control mode.
Of course hindsight is 20/20, but in retrospect, it seems rather obvious, at least to me, that Toyota did a poor job in risk management in weighing the risks associated with saving money vs. recalling cars in a much earlier time frame. There have been news and accusations about this being an issue long before Toyota came clean and took the action associated with its current recall(s). There was even an internal Toyota presentation uncovered, dated 7/6/09, that touted as a “Win,” “Favorable recall outcomes.” To say that this is not good news for Toyota could arguably be called the understatement of the year.
A couple of weeks back, I read a technical article about Toyota’s gas pedal assembly, the alleged root cause of the problem, and the solution that the postage stamp size piece of metal installed during the recall provided. I was going to write an article about the engineering solution, but then as I was looking at reader comments, many claimed this the problem was electronic or that the solution didn’t address or fix the root cause of the problem.
Regardless, I think it’s safe to say that the final chapter on Toyota’s “sudden unintended acceleration” problem hasn’t yet been written, and further, it’s not clear that the current recall really fixes the problem(s). By trying to save money, Toyota not only will incur much higher costs than it ever could have imagined, the biggest blow has been to its stellar brand and impeccable reputation for quality. Whether the damage is irreparable remains to be seen, but it’s certainly much more severe than Toyota’s management ever could have foreseen. There are many case studies that will no doubt surface at Toyota’s expense as how to NOT manage risks or manage a brand.