NUMMI Case Study

The factory which NUMMI (New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc.) took over was built by GM and operated by them from 1962 to 1982. At the time of its closure (1982), the Fremont employees were "considered the worst workforce in the automobile industry in the United States. Employees drank alcohol on the job, were frequently absent (enough so that the production line couldn't be started), and even committed petty acts of sabotage such as putting "Coke bottles inside the door panels, so they'd rattle and annoy the customer.

NUMMI was the first joint venture in the U.S. automobile industry, formed between GM and Toyota in 1984. The idea of reopening the plant emerged out of the need that GM had to build high-quality and profitable small cars and the need Toyota had to start building cars in the United States.

In spite of the history and reputation, when NUMMI reopened the factory for production in 1984, most of the troublesome GM workforce was rehired, with some sent to Japan to learn the Toyota Production System. By December 1984, the first car, a yellow Chevrolet Nova rolled off the assembly line. And almost right away, the NUMMI factory was producing cars with as few defects per 100 vehicles as those produced in Japan.

Please, share your opinion concerning these changes. What do you think about the main factors/reasons which changed employees' behavior under Toyota's management?