Engines of Democracy

By: Charles FishmanWed Dec 19, 2007 at 12:06 AM

The General Electric plant in Durham, North Carolina builds some of the world's most powerful jet engines. But the plant's real power lies in the lessons that it teaches about the future of work and about workplace democracy.

Now, for instance, when the GE90 is in final assembly, the huge engine sits in a scaffold that consists fo two-story-high yellow metal platforms. The platforms form a kind of pier, giving easy acces to the flanks and top of an engine that is as big around as a passenger liner. "They used to go up on ladders to work on those engines," says Sims. "The GE90 teams said, 'Could we build some platforms?' I said, 'That's a great idea.' Once we decided on a design, it took a month to build the first one, and now we have two. Not having to climb up and down the ladder, or to move it each time you need to reach something new, has reduced the assembly time of the engine by eight hours."

GE/Durham's culture of constant improvement offers a completely different way of looking at work. "Here in Evendale," says Bob McEwan, "we have method engineers and process engineers, and you give them a job, and they hem and haw for a year, and then they come up with something. Then you have to get the techs on the floor to buy into it. It's all very structured, and it takes a while to get done. Every once in a while, you get a 'Wow!'

"Now, down in Durham, you don't hear about process improvement. They are constantly swinging away at it. Every time I go down there, I'm amazed. They have their washers all sorted into holders, like poker chips sorted into trays. You can easily get the washer you want. It's things like that. They don't ask anybody--they just go and do it. Down there, you can get more going in a week's time than you can here in a year."

McEwan's office is in the basement of the Evendale factory, a sprawling facility that was used to make bombers during the second World War. Today, the giant facility employs about 8,000 people. Directly above McEwan's office is a shop floor where GE technicians assemble jet engines.

"I think what they've discovered in Durham is the value of the human being," says McEwan. He points to the ceiling.

"Upstairs, you've got wrench turners. In Durham, you've got people who think."