[Spridgets] Toyota Gas Pedal Stuck Situation. . Question

[Ron Soave]

I gave a keynote address last week to an aerospace supplier's excellence alliance group (http://www.rockfordil.com/news-from-the-region/latest/p/item/457). To emphasize the point that what you do today has a profound and sometimes indelible influence on a company, I asked everyone to clear their minds, close their eyes and rewind to, say, October 2009. I asked the audience to shout out one word, free-associated with the word I was going to say. I said the word "Toyota". The crowd shouted back "quality". I asked them to fast forward to today, and asked what word they would shout out. I got "defects, lawsuits, crap...", etc. 

It takes decades to build a reputation, and seconds to destroy it. Like it or not, perception is reality. I also asked the open ended question as to whether the group thought the the problem was caused by a lack of lean manufacturing, or an excess of it. Tough answer.

Ron