11/6/2023


1.) Shake or No Shake? – After the 4am negotiation session between GM and the UAW, there was discussion about the ratification ceremony. Mary Barra told the UAW, “We won’t don’t need to do the customary handshake, just as you chose to avoid it at the kick-off”.

JG Notes:
Every single person I have asked about the Detroit 3 counter-moves simply says, “Some manufacturing will move to MX and the US plants will increase their automation capabilities. Skilled Trades deserve every single penny of what they are paid, it’s harder to justify union labor that isn’t highly skilled”.

These are the moves that the car makers will make if they feel an adjustment is necessary to counter the recent UAW moves. There is no benefit to Barra avoiding the handshake, the visibility would just create more animosity (and if she passed and then Farley and Tavares ‘did’ shake hands, then it’d show compelling messages to the industry). My best guess is that she and the others will shake the hand of Fain, but it’ll be interesting to see how it plays out live when the deals are ratified.


2.) What’s next for the UAW? To expand their organized labor footprint in the US? It is clear, this is largely what the militant and visible strike was about.

Here are the targets:

Tesla
Toyota
Honda
Volkswagen
BMW
Mercedes
Nissan
Hyundai
Kia


3.) Hottest Manufacturing Topics from the October 2023 World Economic Forum

Resiliency:

Improving supply chain control, flexibility and responsiveness to shocks
Only12% of companies are sufficiently protected against future disruptions in supply chains and operations.


Efficiency:

Maximizing value from scarce resources in a world of geopolitical disruptions, economic instabilities and rising energy costs.

The Manufacturing Efficiency Big 3: 1.) Automation 2.) Hardware 3.) Software. The hardware and automation allow for the integration of various products to create custom automation systems.

Side Note: A colleague’s 6th grade son is in advanced robotics programs offered by the public school, and incredible investments have been made in robotics and STEM facilities at many schools. They are starting them young, because the future possibilities are endless.

But at what cost? … That will be a problem for society to manage down the road.


Sustainability:

Reducing environmental footprints and delivering net-zero goals.




42-58, clouds.


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