| Author | Message | ||
     Pilk |
Don&Court, You guys are way cool. BMC could really use you on the customer support staff. I personally havent had any problems with them but, think that wont last. Only took a month to get my recall shock! Zero other problems with my X-1, over a year with her, tires, service, and grins, thats it. pilk | ||
| Doncasto |
Pilk: My alleged coolness depends greatly upon who (whom) is telling the story. Rumors to this effect may just be "anecdotal alarmisms." But, I did recently send a fairly long email to a Buell representative after having had my name brought up in a discussion about replacing the district BZM who quit recently. By the time the email was finished I am sure I completely erased any consideration that may have been built by the person who recommended me. Thanks for the kind (but possibly misguided) words. Don | ||
| Court |
Pilk: Trust me......Don's chances are better than mine. I worked at Buell for about two years during the "HD transition". It's unfortunate, but during that time a wedge was driven between the "entreprenurial Buell folks" and the "Corporate Harley-Davidson folks". I was introduced to Jerry Wilke by being told "we've warned him about you". Jerry and I, subsequently developed a good relationship bruised only when a HD dude e-mailed everyone that I'd "stolen" parts from the factory (this was $3.27 worth of saddlebag repair parts taken to Daytona and duly recorded with the girls in assy) This, in the scheme of things, is the same period in which Dave Gess was set up to "quit" in what, to this day, stands as one of the vilest and most disgusting HR moves I have ever witnessed. Anyway... Even though I'd just come off a "Small Business of the Year" award after my graduation from Advanced Management Program,I was seen as a "renegade", not as a Bob Lutz style "change agent". Ideas like "the internet", a functional website and quick turns on parts were seen as "radical". I've a collection of a couple thousand e-mails including about a dozen that, in retrospect, were prophetic. I was often wrong, sometimes right. That, dear friends, is why TEAMS exist. Witness TEAM ELVES if you want to see what happens when talented folks come together with a common goal and respect their individual strengths and weaknesses. We have had a couple TEAM ELVES internal bar fight doozies in terms of opinions. The TEAM wins. Respect remains and no member needs to make another look bad to gain stature. Don't get me started on team building. One of my ideas, I still dig....I was begging, at the time when the BLAST was introduced for:
I wanted to see Wilke's mantra "uninterrupted ownership experience" have teeth, rather than just be a droned chant at a dealer meeting. ESSENTIAL COMPONENT: There MUST be ownership. Someone, that's A single person, MUST be responible and accountable. My enthusism and optimism is based on the fact that there are some REALLY good people at Buell. A perfect example is Bill Bailey. He'd like to see my head on a stick, but he, nonetheless, is a smart guy who can make things happen. I hold him in high regard. The only reason some of these things happen is that his wings are tied in terms of actually being able to do some of it. But, talk to anyone who has seen Bill in action at a Buell event and you'll hear lots of neat stuff. One of the best tales was the guy who bought the White Lightning at Daytona and had a really weird problem. Bill gave him a factory bike and told him to go enjoy. Bill and Dennis Meskin (another REALLY sharp buy who'd contibute to taking a contract out on me) worked tirelessly and got the bike going. Anyway......I can dream. I'd love to have a hand in designing the support system for the new Buell, the stakes are high and the "we're a small new company" line has long since worn out.And, yes....since you asked, I have a plan. Bottom line is that I am not thrilled with what I have seen but I am betting on the folks at Buell. I EXPECT good things. Court | ||
| Blake |
Got ERP? oh my, pardon me!  Really though, MRP/ERP ain't no big deal mystery voodoo. But for some reason poor planning and management plague way too many growing companies. They'll commonly end up with a bazillion of part number XX yet be short by a thousand part number yy. Then they'll inevitably have to scramble at the last minute to meet schedule (cause they are unwilling to compromise the almighty schedule, no can't do that!) thus jeapardizing product quality and performance and ultimately costing the company big. Court... don't get me started! Oops, too late. Kaizen anyone? Blake | ||
| Tripper |
Crazy Kaizen ...good stuff that. |
