Game Set Match

After watching something like this, you can't help but realize just how "relative" our world is. These young men probably do "all right" and are grateful for their contract, yet Adidas (a 19.5+ billion-dollar company) couldn't post the profits they do without them. On the other hand, OSHA would shut them down in about 4.6 seconds, demand a plant overall and impose needed updates & upgrades. Would anyone then buy $55.99 tennis balls?   Yes indeed, it's ALL relative! 🤔 🤔 

How these people can do this all day, every day and not go stark raving mad is impressive.  I guess it is simply survival that drives them.  I feel sorry for them...not much of a life is it?

Posted by: @jack-dodds

How these people can do this all day, every day and not go stark raving mad is impressive.  I guess it is simply survival that drives them.  I feel sorry for them...not much of a life is it?

But Jack, that's EVERY job!

Regardless the profession, job or career, "repetition"  is inherent.  Does a bank manager perform any tasks differently today than he did yesterday? Doesn't a Police officer do the same thing over & over again?  Plumbers, attorneys, retail, etc., essentially all do the same work day after day after day. How much of a life does anyone have sitting in the same cubicle, filing the same paperwork, looking at the same computer software day after day after day?  Doesn't "survival"  motivate most people to work?

Being conditioned by Western standards, it's easy to overlook the process and results those men have achieved. As I noted initially, it's all relative.

@chris  I don't take issue with what they achieve; in fact I'm amazed that they can do it.  IMHO it's not the same as any of the jobs you mention because in most of them there is more than one function, more than one approach to each function, decision making, interaction with the client/customer, problem solving, etc.

Posted by: @jack-dodds

@chris  I don't take issue with what they achieve; in fact I'm amazed that they can do it.  IMHO it's not the same as any of the jobs you mention because in most of them there is more than one function, more than one approach to each function, decision making, interaction with the client/customer, problem solving, etc.

Oh, no worries Jack but I disagree with your characterization of their assembly methods. That is, in a "one piece flow" manufacturing operation there is more than "one function."  And there's always a "better way" (more than one approach to each function...that's called "continuous improvement").

Decision making (always thinking of a better way) is also part of the equation (having "problem solving skills" is a must). Lastly, each operator in that production operation is a "client/customer" of the operator before/after him.

For instance, if we (you & I) were making skateboards, my "client" would be you... I must ensure I attached all four wheels properly so that you ("the client") are satisfied. You, in turn, would ensure that the decal you attach is properly located for your "client" (the next operator in the production line) and so on.

I realize it's easy to dismiss "line workers" as brain dead operators (and of course in some cases that is true...but there's incompetence in every profession )  I can assure you, however, those guys refined that process, it didn't start out that way. I'm equally certain they'll continue to refine it.

Obviously, I could elaborate.... but keep in mind, that good production methods are far more complex and evolving than most people realize.

I have had the good/bad fortune of working in virtually every type of environment over 35 years as an outside contractor. And observing all the jobs associated with these environments and production workers do have the same repetitive movements for years. Line up at the time clock to punch out, physically run to the car only to wait in line to get out of the parking lot, every day same same.  Not my cup of tea, factory or assembly worker, talk about a rutt. 

Posted by: @brush

I have had the good/bad fortune of working in virtually every type of environment over 35 years as an outside contractor. And observing all the jobs associated with these environments and production workers do have the same repetitive movements for years. Line up at the time clock to punch out, physically run to the car only to wait in line to get out of the parking lot, every day same same.  Not my cup of tea, factory or assembly worker, talk about a rutt. 

 

 

Without question, all that can definitely be true. Nothing but clock-watching half-wits (who can't tell you what 10% of a dollar is) concerned about little more than punching in/out, lunch breaks, stealing something and where the bathroom is.  Factor in corrupt labor unions and, well.... you get the picture.

Conversely, we could travel to a CA Tesla plant or OEM facilities in Europe, and you'd think you were in a hospital staffed with MIT engineering graduates.