News
Quality Control
I guess the reputation of the CCM bike as being a sturdily-built machine was well-earned. I was talking to a lady today whose mom and dad and uncle all worked at CCM beginning in 1950. She explained that in the early days when the company was about to introduce a new bicycle model, they'd throw one from the roof of the factory to determine if there were any weak spots. I kid you not! Later on, she said, they began to give them to the children of employees who could keep them for a year. At which time they were brought back to the factory to be inspected for broken parts, paint fading etc. Interesting.
John
This is very interesting in that it demonstrates thepost war difference in attitude towards quaility control in North America versus Japan. America demonstrated little interest in Quality Control, largely ignoring its own QC gurus like Demming and Juran. They were on top of the ecomonic world. They didn't see any reason to change. Japan on the other hand embraced Demming and Juran and realized that Quality Control would be instrumental in establishing themselves in world trade.
By the mid-1950s Japan had developed national industry institutes for the testing and research of bicycles. They placed the leading experts in these institutes and quickly developed standards and rigorous, sophisticated, accelerated test methods that could be used to identify issues before they affected the consumer. They tested all their manufacturers' product routinely and made new developments available to everybody. Japan invested in a system that would be of benefi to their bicycle industry as a whole.
CCM on the other hand was was left to it's own means, using outdated methods. While riding the bicycle is practical and cost efficeient, examining the bicycle after a year is too late. If the paint has faded or a part has broken, it's undoubtedly also happened on a number of customer's bicycles. That uhappy customer is probably going to another brand for his next bicycle and has probably told ten friends of his bad experience.
This hindsight approach to qualitycontro would contribute to the slow and eventual demise of CCM as a company. During the 1950s and 1960s it was't a major concern as CCM dominated the domestic bicycle market, with little Canadian competition and few imports outside of Raleigh. The unhappy customer had limited choices and many of those were no better or no worse. However, with the explosion of bicycle sales in the early1970s came the influx of Japanese competition with much better quality control. Combine that with poor management and the young customers' distaster for old establishments like CCM and the demise was predictable.
Well put T-Mar. Thanks.