The John Deere Company faced challenging business conditions in 1984. The farm economy in the United States sagged so severely that few farmers could contemplate large capital investments in new equipment.
The challenge facing the company was to do what they do better. Provide more value per dollar of purchase price. This Manufactured-Based Perspective, where quality is manufactured-based and defines quality as the desirable outcome of engineering and manufacturing practice, confirming to specifications. To achieve this John Deere adopted the most modern design and manufacturing technologies. Robots welding enabled employees to become more effienct while producing parts of higher and more consistent quality. To maintain the reputation of providing
…show more content…
Beginning in the mid-1990’s Deere focus on continuous improvement took a wide variety of forms. Emphasis was placed on a team-based culture. Salaried and hourly employees worked cooperatively toward the common goal of creating ongoing, meaningful gains in productivity. Investment in capital programs and research and development continued for the next decade. In order to reach value for there customers, Deere formulated a company wide total quality program, yielding improved customer responsiveness, shorten cycle times, and a reduction in costs and asset levels. Deere also, introduced the Six Sigma level of performance and customer satisfaction. The Total Quality Principle of teamwork and employee engagement helped the company to achieve 900 projects. All the continuous improvement projects fell into one of the four categories: safety, quality, delivery and efficiency. The companies continuous improvements progressed to developed a new compensation and reward system. The system supported the goals and promoted true alignment of the customer’s interest, employees and the