It’s hard to grasp that Harley-Davidson, the motorcycle industry leader nearly collapsed 50 years ago.

Today, with over 5 billion in sales, its brand, synonym with independence, power, craftsmanship and adventure is supported by a culture of excellence.

This is how Harley-Davidson did it:

Acknowledge the crisis

Facing internal and external pressures with pour quality issues, inefficient manufacturing processes and fierce competition from Japanese manufacturers. Harley-Davidson Management recognized the need for change and improve the business with a focus on quality.

Going Lean

Harley-Davidson implemented Manufacturing methodologies such as Just-In-Time (JIT) manufacturing and Total Quality Management (TQM). They also benchmarked other manufacturers to identify best practices. These measures improved quality, diminished inventory, reduced waste and increased profit margins.

Empowering Employees

To improve the employees’ morale, Harley-Davidson created tiger teams dedicated to problem solving and intradepartmental collaboration. This drastically improved their engagement and contributed to a culture of continuous improvement.

Product Innovation

Continuous Improvement was also applied in research and development and keep innovating and staying ahead in its market with the Concurrent Product Development Process. New designs were introduced and customization was now offered to its customers.

International Growth

To sustain its growth, Harley-Davidson expanded globally, especially in Europe and Asia, while managing its manufacturing operations efficiently and keeping their brand strong.

Conclusion

By continuously improving quality, involving employees and being a customer-centric organization for over 40 years, Harley-Davidson still remains a global leader in motorcycle manufacturing.

If you enjoyed this post, you will also enjoy Dantar Oosterwal's book: The Lean Machine: How Harley-Davidson Drove Top-Line Growth and Profitability with Revolutionary Lean Product Development https://a.co/d/85HzI1D

Image by Tama66 on Pixabay

Day 14: How Continuous Improvement Transformed Harley-Davidson from Near Bankruptcy to Motorcycle Leader

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