I doubt Delphi is the “most lean” company around, but they have made significant progress and have won multiple Shingo Prize awards for lean excellence. That said, I guess this proves, unfortunately, that “doing lean” in and of itself is not a substitute for a more complete and effective business strategy.
Even if Delphi were doing everything right today, they were really hampered by contracts and decisions from the past.
“Delphi pays its U.S. hourly workers wages and benefits that an average of $65 an hour, compared with an average of $24 to $25 at its competitors. Under part of the union contract commonly called the Jobs Bank, Delphi expected to spend $400 million on wages and benefits for 4,000 employees who get paid even when there is no work for them.“
Sitting at home, getting paid, while waiting for work, would certainly qualify as one of the eight forms of waste? Waiting for work, waiting for bankruptcy, waiting for the dissolution of the pension plan?
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And people wonder why union shops are closing all over the country.
It seems every union has been handed a terminal diagnosis, but denial is more than just a river in Egypt!