| Show o know the craftsmen as the workers are now called and to listen to them ‘Thompson’s not afraid of hard work" says one craftsman4Td like to see the rest of them management turkeys come down here and work for a day Half of them probably would quit” When I had asked Thompson for a chance to work on the assembly line he said I could if the union agreed Then ie added “Just remember you have to cars that we build the same do” I kept hearing the word “quality” over and over I went next to Shop Committee Chairman Stan Pewoski with the same request Pewoski 42 has been a union officer for 17 years 1 told him that I had worked as an auto mechanic sold car parts edited a car magazine and that I write about cars for a living He told me “Okay so long as you don’t screw up Quality is the tiling” “We want to succeed” he says “'V''hen a plant closes you lose more than jobs You lose your families your homes your style of living And what other work would we find out there?" 1 also asked for — and got-free access to the plant I can explore on my high-quali- ty own It’s a whisker before 7 on a warm morning in Lansing I’m given a ftnyl cover to keep the belt buckle on my jeans from scratching the paint on the new Reattas Stan turns me over to his brother Larry Pewoski a craftsman in the section “Watch me build a car then you build one” says Larry He’s 39 with 20 years experience In front of us is the shell of a car parked on four stanchions The body has been welded sanded and painted Now teams of workers will add more than 2000 components including the engine transmission and interior before a Reatta is driven away This team approach differs vastly from the assembly line Henry Ford made famous Under the old process still used by many factories every 50 seconds hour after hour workers attach the same one or two pieces to a constantly moving line of cars Miss a piece? Too late The resultant problem — if detected by an inspector — will be fixed in a special repair area That’s a big if “You sort of plan to fail when you put nut 30 people in a row with one-wa- y drivers ’’ says Bemie Ballesteros a manarea “Say ager in the that a screw goes crooked — ZZZZT! Well the gun’s got no reverse What’s the guy gonna do — take it out with his teeth?” Here most aspects of the old assembly line are gone Each car sits for 2£ minutes as teams install a variety of pieces The variety reduces boredom The worker’s personal involvement in final-assemb- ly No other syrup has as rich a heritage The year was 1887 Grover Cleveland was in the White House The Statue of Liberty was the nation’s newest citizen And families first began enjoying the rich maple taste of Log Cabin" syrup on their pancakes More than one hundred years later 0 continued PARADE MAGAZINE SEPTEMBER 4 1988 PAGE 23 Log Cabin remains the country’s favorite syrup And it’s easy to see why Log Cabin is the only leading brand made with pure maple syrup (2) even say that real maple You might taste runs in the family GENERAL FOODS USA |
