Focus on Teamwork-Changing the Face of Manufacturing

You can’t make a mistake when building airplane engines. The jet engines produced by the General Electric Aircraft Engines plant in Durham, North Carolina, have over 10,000 parts. When completely assembled, they weight more than eight tons. Yet a bolt not tightened, a tool left inside the engine, or a safety procedure not followed can cost hundreds of lives.

Approximately 200 people assemble the huge engines. But there is only one boss, the plant manager, and one instruction to guide the work of the plant-the date each engine needs to be finished. Beyond that instruction, employees make every decision about how the work will be completed. They hold a record for delivering every engine ordered on schedule for over three years. During that time, they were able to reduce the cost of producing the engine by nearly one-third.

How does this GE plant achieve its amazing record with only one manager? Here are some unique characteristics of the organization:

  • Employees are organized into nine teams that make almost all decisions. Everyone is on a team, and team meetings are scheduled when all employees are available.
  • There are three pay levels for employees, based on skill levels. As employees increase their skills, they can advance into a higher pay level.
  • There is NO time clock. If someone has a doctor’s appointment or needs to go to their children’s school activities, they work with team members to be able to leave.
  • Everyone learns how to do many of the assembly tasks so they can help each other.
  • Teams are responsible for hiring new team members. They do the interviewing, and they have to agree on the right person.
  • Teams solve problems and often come up with unique but simple solutions.

The team environment in Durham works. The plant has the lowest turnover rate and lowest production costs of any of GE’s engine assembly plants. Its unique organization demonstrates that when employees are given the chance to work together to manage their work, they do better than anyone could have ever imagined.

Questions:

  1. How do you believe the pay plan affects employee motivation? What are the advantages and disadvantages of that plan?
  2. Discuss reasons why the team problem-solving process seems to result in unique but effective solutions. Are there a reason a solution developed by employees is likely to be more successful than if the same solution was developed by a manager without the input of employees?

Business ManagementSpring 2013