Re: [AMC-List] another american success story

[adh@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Sandwich Maker)]

nit: there's no 'g' in cummins.

" From: Tom Jennings <tomj@xxxxxxx>
" 
" In NY Times today is an article about Cummings Diesel. Back in
" the 90's they were certain that new enviro regs were goin to
" kill them: impossible to meet.
" 
" Instead, they're thriving; quality, sales, technology, power,
" all up. They're reviving closed plants.
" 
" While it was specifically the EPA requirements that did it,
" before you leap, look at this: it was really some (any)
" outside bully forcing them top stop making very-short-term
" business decisions ("but it will cost us money") and instead
" make long-term technical ones.
" 
" Cummings is making good money now, and is spending LOTS on
" research (something soon-to-be-dying industries STOP spending
" money on). Their market is complicated (covered in the article)
" but they're doing really well.
" 
" Whiney businesses of all sorts -- American and otherwise --
" always piss me off. There's bad luck and bad markets for sure,
" but actual research (with people, their HANDS and brains) and
" actual development make for short-term costs and great long
" term results.
" 
" If it takes an EPA to force crucial industries to start doing
" some GDMF @#@!~%$$!! research, so be it.  if they did it
" themselves no one would have to poke them. Kick the equity
" managers and business consultants out into the street!
" 
" AMC did best when it kept it's focus on the bread and butter
" (little Americans and 4-door Classics) and experimented on the
" side (AMXs, research and collaborations).
" 
" Too bad GM (and apparantly the unions) got addicted to short-term
" fat money and cutting costs.
" 
" _______________________________________________
" 
" Oh yeah, another thing about this, they're making a lot of
" components they might otherweise have bought on the open market,
" but they state they didn't want to have some outside supplier's
" crappy part become their problem.  Delphi anyone?
" 
" _______________________________________________

gm is short sighted because it's stockholder owned, and - the tragedy
of the public corporation - as far as they care its product is money,
and anything it does to make money is only a side effect.  this
encourages the directors to burn the furniture, as long as they can
get out - like roger smith - with golden parachutes.

cummins is still primarily family owned, and like aaron feuerstein at
malden mills they can make what seem to be anti-profitable decisions
which are in the company's best long term interests.
--
years ago i stumbled on 'my days with the diesel' by clessie lyle
cummins, the company founder, and it was a fascinating read.

the company was actually his second.  his first was funded by a banker
whose chauffeur he'd been.  when he was screwed out of his share, with
a straight face the banker told him 'i put up -the-money-; all you did
was work'.

learning from that, he actually made two companies: cummins engine
development, wholly owned by himself and contracted by the greater
cummins engine manufacturing co for all r&d.  no small kerfuffle when
he retired and moved to dissolve all his holdings and the board
[re]discovered he personally owned all cummins patents!

cummins put the first diesel in a road-going vehicle, a packard
because it had the longest hood - and even then they barely squeezed
their marine powerplant in.  this was in the early '30s, the
depression, and needless to say it got a lot of attention...

they ran at indy - and did well.  iirc their 4-stroke car was only
middling but it's stablemate 2-stroker won!  it also seized solid when
it was shut off, so taking that as a sign they abandoned 2-stroke
development.  this was before lead and companies like phillips and
union proudly put their octanes in their names - 66 and 76.

iirc their 855 - now pushing 500hp - is a direct evolution of their
first purpose-designed truck engine.
________________________________________________________________________
Andrew Hay                                  the genius nature
internet rambler                            is to see what all have seen
adh@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx                       and think what none thought
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