Folks,
I have recently had a change of heart... yes, I come to terms with it all and decided we just weren't any good for each other... I had it good, nice and cushy everyday... but it got to where every time my car pulled into the drive - I got physically sick.. with nerves and anger... disgusted.. my whole attitude changed...it was like - an oppressive spirit came over me, and it was not just me - EVERYBODY who came through that door felt the same way.
When it gets to the point where you just don't care anymore...when you can't go in the door and get stuff done because well - SOMEBODY forgot to tell you this or SOMEBODY didn't provide you what you needed.... then its time to cut your losses and move on.. So, about two weeks before Christmas - I got a call from someone who made me feel really special... made me feel appreciated, and wanted... offered me what I had been looking for - for several YEARS.... so.. when I hung up the phone, I told Steve.. he of course was very understanding and supportive. So - I began a new career choice and told Huntsville ... well... you get the picture.
What? Ya'll thought I was leaving Steve??? LOL NEVER..... he couldn't be so lucky.
I had been screwed, bent over backwards, beaten down, defeated, unappreciated, deceived, betrayed, hands tied behind my back - unable to do my job, cheated out of raise because I refused to kiss the egotistical ass I was forced to call BOSS, all while POSING as a QUALITY AUDITOR who NEVER got to submit an HONEST QUALITY AUDIT FINDINGS REPORT.... yes - I spent countless hours each night - combing thru units with a fine tooth comb - finding COUNTLESS SAFETY FAILURES - COUNTLESS "THERMAL EVENT" ISSUES - COUNTLESS DEFECTS THAT CUSTOMERS WOULD AND SHOULD AND DO FILE WARRANTY CLAIMS FOR - and I would submit my findings - which were clear and obvious findings if compared to the defined Quality Standards and??? " Delete that - they can fix that... "
That totally defeats the whole purpose of what quality is supposed to do!!!! We IDENTIFY THE PROBLEMS - WE AUDIT FINISHED GOODS AS IF WE ARE THE CUSTOMER... Yes, I know the RE-WORK team can fix it... the problem is..... this unit is already SOLD! its out the front door!!! IT IS A FINISHED GOOD - AND WE ARE SHIPPING ROLLING DOG TURDS ON WHEELS!!!
Here is an excellent example, on the day this video was uploaded to Youtube - it was the fresh release of the new ORV model - released to the public - July 28th 2019...
I watched the video and in 2 of the places that defects are EVERYDAY occurrences .. and whadaya know... son of a ....
2020 Polaris Ranger 1000 Walk Around - YOUTUBE
Would you believe, I even sent this in an email to the ORV Quality Manager showing him exactly what can be seen in the video... the screw is not securing the seat bottom to the seat frame, and the screw missing in the rear of the roof top. Guess what.... the video is still posted in the original unedited version. Are these life threatening or safety defects? Probably not... but I bet if I could have looked over this unit further I'd have found a few... the point is - look how much they cared about what they were introducing.
This is the only thing I can truly say I accomplished 4 outta 5 days a week...
1.) a QC Manager that did not like me - because I continuously went above him - trying to find ANYBODY / SOMEBODY that gave a damn...
2.) a dented Steel Beam beside my desk where I came in, and beat my brains out on it for 8 hours a day until time to go home.
3.) no rewarding contributions to the products the "team" shipped out daily, nor a sense of pride whatsoever to the product quality and product safety that possibly - my neighbor, my friend, or my family might crawl inside of and take for a ride by.
4.) doing a job I was asked / "required" to do yet I didn't go to bed at night feeling good about what somebody's kids would happily jump in and ride.
From the outside looking in - you could see me... wearing my "Quality Assurance" hat and a smile. From the inside looking out - I was a mere Do - Dad, just for looks, on a dusty bookshelf that people glanced at in passing from time to time.
( I hate Do-Dads... they serve no purpose whatsoever - but always have to be dusted. )
The products are great, they are innovative, and super fun - really fantastic designs. The problem is not the products. Roseau, Spirit Lake, Medina, Osceola - top notch. The yearly numbers prove it.
I do not feel Huntsville will have a long term residency. Its a "good ol' boy" managed, with more money thrown around than management can grab with both fists, with a "sweep that under the rug and keep your mouth" shut kinda mentality.
They fail to recognize who their customer is. The customer is the next person in line - which means - it starts with the design team, the QE and QC team, who then pass it to the employees, the employees are their best source of advertisement.. they ARE the best consumer resource. The dealership is their tangible, first paying customer - NOT an extension of their manufacturing facility - or Re-Work team...
I can't count how many times I have been told... " We build it right cause we build it twice." And that is the truth. When I can't park my vehicle in the parking lot because there are 700 units in steel crates stacked 3 stories high - spanning the entire length of the parking lot - waiting to be "re-worked". Some of those are from 2018... sitting out in the rain sun and elements... whose going to buy those? Wasted money - "we don't have the main harness???" " Build the units anyway so we can count it on production - then we will sit it outside in a crate until we get the harness and then we will pay an hourly wage to tear it all down and install the main harness.." A front fender - molded plastic, primer, color and top coat - with a decal gets scratched - its scrapped back to molding.. cause its cheaper on the total scrap cost if you don't calculate in all the materials... "what about at the end of the year?? Oh we have a big rug and a broom for that too.."
With all that being said....
I love the Slingshot. Its a great product. Great design. I have loads of fun in it. The individuals who work on the Slingshot line are there because they too - love the Slingshot. You don't work on that line if you don't love it... its a full time job with part time hours... those folks could make more money on another line.. but they want to be apart of producing something special. My hats off to those folks. That line is the least worked, yet do the hardest work, they care, and they have a high sense of pride that management has yet to break.
So.... now I have started employment with another company - who has invested in me as an employee right out of the gate... it currently requires a lot of traveling and time away from home. All expenses paid with per diem meals, furnished apartment, mileage, paid travel time home, and in addition to an hourly wage so that I can be trained. I think I got handed a pretty sweet deal.
Regardless of said deal, I've always taken pride in whatever job I have done. It was something I grew up with on a farm, and it has stuck with me - that same sense of pride at the end of the day that somebody somewhere would benefit or enjoy what I had did that day. That I had contributed in some small way to family friends and neighbors.. when I no longer feel that sense of pride, or that what I am doing actually matters.... its a terrible thing to work in a place where you cannot contribute, you cannot do your job, you can't take pride in what the "team" is doing, and you begin to no longer care... it feels so good when you stop beating your head against the steel beams.
Now you know... Sorry. Not Sorry.
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