Mr. James "Jim" Rippy

GLG News by Mr. James "Jim" Rippy, Former Senior Vice President of Operations

GLG News is now G+ Insights

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Tire Industry needs a "Quartz" movement!

November 26, 2010

The tire industry has made many incremental improvements since the radial tire replaced the bias tire many years ago. Improvements in design, materials, chemistry etc. The last true breakthrough was the radial tire.

Health Care Reform will not fly!

September 30, 2009

Analysis of:Fate of Government-Run Health Insurance May Rest in Obama's Hands | www.foxnews.com

Too much lobbyist money opposing any real reform. The insurance companies control.

SameOld! Same Old! Lutz should have left with Waggoner

July 18, 2009

Analysis of:GM's Lutz Makes Another U-Turn | online.wsj.com

Why do they keep a guy who shares responsibility for the failure of GM?His "wonder skills" in design and marketing have not proven to be of any value. He should retire now and just go. His skills are way overrated based on results at GM and his previous car company employers.

A Sad day in History

June 1, 2009

Analysis of:What GM Bankruptacy means to you | online.wsj.com

Where did the leadership go? Surely, the leaders at GM and the UAW could see this coming. How did they get to their present level if they did not see this coming years ago?

A look at the other side

June 1, 2009

Analysis of: A Saga of Decline and Denial | online.wsj.com

Wages and benefits are sometimes not the most costly items in negotiations.

How about work practices?

April 21, 2009

Analysis of:GM Meeting With Treasury Team on Deeper Cost Cuts | www.bloomberg.com

All we hear about is concessions in wage and benefit related issues. The GM plants I have visited lead me to believe that work practice revisions and total removal of restrictive work practices would equal any gains in wage and benefit reductions. A good team of industrial engineers from more efficient industries would find a gold mine at GM.

Significant changes in the Tire Industry

March 2, 2009

Analysis of:Tires under"immense pressure", says Armes | www.moderntiredealer.com

Significant changes in the tire industry over the past decade have been major shifting to low cost countries of production and extreme upsizing in North America. How will these strategies hold up in the recession and long term implications.

"CAR CZAR" How Ridiculous!

February 9, 2009

Analysis of:Lack of "Car Czar" Stalls progress on Bailout | online.wsj.com

They cannot recover with present leadership. Their Boards are "Sail with the Wind" enablers. They need change urgently.

The real reason we are failing

January 28, 2009

Analysis of:Circuit City to liquidate remaining US stores | www.businessweek.com

We need to measure differently. We need to reward differently. Our present system does not work anymore and is tilted out of control.

Bail them Out, But!!

November 12, 2008

Analysis of:The Breakfast Wars: Starbucks Learns to Cook | www.nytimes.com

  The article in the news today about the reduction of health care benefits planned for GM salaried retirees is very sad .We are talking about folks in their seventies and eighties who gave their lives to the company. People who were told almost annually that the size of their wage increases reflected the money that must be set aside to provide health care for them in retirement. I have always been a strong supporter of our free enterprize system. I find it very saddening to watch so many lives being destroyed because of greedy inept management and leaders. These leaders now asking for a huge government bail out are the same ones who have destroyed a once great icon of American industry.  . I say “Bail them Out”, but make sure that the entire top layer of management is gone and the board that supported their failed strategies with them. 

GM-Chrysler Merger. Will it work?

October 14, 2008

Analysis of:G.M. and Chrysler Explore Merger | www.nytimes.com

Leadership at the top will just double the problem with the merger.

GM-Chrysler Merger. Will it work?

October 13, 2008

Analysis of:GM, Ford SharesHit New Lows As Sentiment Fades Further | online.wsj.com

Two weak companies with same failed strategy equals a diaster unless changes at top are part of deal.

Follow the Leader

August 11, 2008

Analysis of:Bridgestone H1 profit drops 18%, slashes forecasts | www.forbes.com

A Sea Change has occurred in the Tire Industry. Major changes in production locations, pricing strategy,capital investment are happening today.

What will it take?

June 26, 2008

Analysis of:Deepening gloom at General Motors | money.cnn.com

Where are the leaders on a daily basis. This company needs some real "hands on" leadership to survive.

How long will they wait?

June 2, 2008

Analysis of:Source: GM plans more restructuring | www.autonews.com

How long will the “do nothing” board at GM allow Waggoner and his team to continue their destruction of the company? How many restructuring scenarios will they be allowed before their board realizes that the plans presented are not working? When will the top folks be held accountable? Will they wait until the company is unsalvageable and all the top guys have ridden into the sunset with huge retirement packages? They have had so many “fix it” restructuring plans that they are probably to the state of recycling some of the old ones to buy more time.

What will it take for GM to wake up?

March 27, 2008

Analysis of:GM may boost vehicle prices to offset rising costs | www.autonews.com

I am convinced that this company cannot prosper with the present leadership in place. A complete house cleaning is probably the only hope for this company. How do the top guys continue to not only keep their jobs, but continue to be paid bonuses for the abysmal performance. Some of these players have been in their current positions for several years with track records that would have eliminated their team from the tournament long ago.

They will never get it!

December 27, 2007

Analysis of:With Detroit Downbeat on 2008, Its Suppliers are singing The Blues | www.nytimes.com

GM will never change until the top leadership is gone. They still operate in the mode of Jack Smith and Ignatio Lopes. A look at their performance over the past decade would convince anyone that their failed strategies do not work and will never work without significant changes starting with top leadership. Any coach with the won-loss record of GM would have been fired and sent to the minors long ago. Think about it! Who should be held accountable for declining market share and abysmal profitability if not the very top guy and the top guy in purchasing?  The "tooth fairy" did not cause such poor performance. This company needs new leadership.

Better but not good enough ?

November 7, 2007

Analysis of:Goodyear Reports Record Third Quarter Results | www.aftermarketnews.com

Good year has made significant progress sine the days of Gibara,but they are losing ground to both Michelin and Bridgestone. They do not have the efficiency levels of Bridgestone or the technology of Michelin. Their capital investment in new processes is approximately half that of the top two. They are sure to fall behind in plant efficiency. The move to remove retiree health care from their books and to the United Steelworkers is a small band-aid on their legacy cost. They will have to invest more in plant effeciency or be left in a distant third place.

GM Purchasing never changes

October 10, 2007

Analysis of:GM looks to substitute materials to reduce costs: Purchasing VP calls price increases "scary" and outlines upcoming plans | www.purchasing.com

GM continues their attempts to restore profitability from the "hides" of their suppliers. Their purchasing department over the years has been a true deterrent to their success. Their recent statements are reminders of the Jack Smith and Ignatio Lopez era. Some of the supplier executives will remember the teams that GM would send to their factories supposedly to assist in improving the suppliers efficiency and reducing the price to GM. What a farce! They should have been visiting their top suppliers to learn how to be more efficient at GM. These programs only covered up the lack of leadership and management capability at GM. They have never learned how to partner with their suppliers to reduce cost for mutual success. They continue to use fear in their supplier relationships. Statements that commodity prices are scary and material substitutions are being considered by GM purchasing only re-inforces that their methods are stuck in a time-warp just like their performance of the past

They just don't get it!

August 31, 2007

Analysis of:Ford, GM propose health care fund to union | www.autonews.com

Any agreement on health care funding is only a short term fix. We are the only developed nation in the world that does not supply universal health care to their citizens. Health care cost's have doubled in the past decade with relatively tame overall inflation. We need universal care with a single payer system. There is no justifiable reason for the increases in health care cost to such astromomical levels. This factor affects the ability of the auto maker's to compete with contries that provide health care as a birthright, ratheer than a service. Not only does our system continue to drive manufacturing off-shore, it is morally wrong to have 50 million people without health care access. We have thousands of people who die each year for lack of access to quality health care. Rather than negotitiation to fund a broken system, we need to jointly ask our politicians why we cannot have a system like France, Germany, Canada, United Kingdom, Sweden etc. We are ranked 37th in health care.

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