(9 of 9)
If Saturn succeeds, then the message to the rest of American industry will be unambiguous. The American work force, often and unfairly maligned as the cause of U.S. competitive woes over the past two decades, can compete with anyone if managed intelligently. GM's smaller U.S. rivals have already adopted some of the progressive techniques employed at Saturn. Ford, which is using Japanese-style team systems at many of its plants, has already improved so much that its efficiency matches that of the average Japanese plant in Japan. Chrysler's best factory, in Sterling Heights, Mich., is nearly as efficient as the newest Japanese plants and matches the average Japanese facility in quality.
The commitment to changes as bold as Saturn's represents a major turnaround in the thinking of corporate America. A report issued last year by the Council on Competitiveness, a group of scholars and industrialists, concluded that U.S. industry had declined in the past two decades because "top U.S. managers , began to focus on marketing and finance at the expense of manufacturing and, as a result, failed to manage the investments in worker skills, plant and equipment necessary for a strong manufacturing capability." The council noted that Japanese manufacturers "spend two-thirds of their R. and D. budgets on process innovations, while U.S. manufacturers spend only one-third."
In other words, corporate America seems to be recognizing that making the product right is as important as dreaming it up and selling it. "People should look at Saturn as a potential watershed," says the University of Michigan's Cole. "This is not just a bunch of guys using some new machinery on the plant floor. It's really an entirely new vision of the system." If the vision is clear and true, the 1990s could bring a vigorous comeback for American industry.
CHART: NOT AVAILABLE
CREDIT: TIME Chart by Steve Hart
CAPTION: DETROIT'S BIGGEST FAMILY