Tesla

The Tesla Way, The Disruptive Strategies and Models of Teslism, by Michael Valentin, KoganPage 2019 

 We have seen the cars and we've read the headlines.  Tesla's disruptive strategies are yet to be tested, but founder, Elon Musk's ideas are worth hearing.  With very strong marketing and initially positive headlines, Musk entered the fray with key advantages - a market ready for new, environmentally hot battery fueled engines, as well as a flexible approach to building his cars and dealing with suppliers.

But as Toyota and Honda and Ford and GM all know, there are too many pieces of the entire auto-making journey that must click into place to make it all work.  Missed deliveries at Honda, for instance, could shut down a line that at one time cost $26,000 per minute to run.  Problems with airbag technologies have hurt almost all car-makers, and workforce issues continue to challenge this sector.

So what is behind this revolutionary thinking that launched Musk's run to mass production?  The business model covers a mixture of theory, as well as employees drawn from automotive and other industries, digital and otherwise.  At the end of each chapter an interview with a CEO or top manager from another industrial firm is featured, including Luxor Lighting, ThyssenKrupp, Bosch and Kimberly Clarke.  Further, the book includes templates and other tools to help analyze efficiency of processes on the factory floor.

Valentin places the Tesla world in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and he lists the seven principles of Teslism, a few steps of which are beyond the Toyota and Honda systems:

Principle 1:  Hypermanufacturing

Principle 2:  Cross-integration

Principle 3:  Software hybridization

Principle 4:  Tentacular traction

Principle 5:  Story-making

Principle 6:  Start-up leadership

Princple 7:  Human and machine leaning

No matter what business, and in particular manufacturing pros, think of these methodologies and Tesla's financials, there is much to be learned from this approach.

Patricia E. Moody

FORTUNE magazine  "Pioneering Woman in Mfg" 

IndustryWeek IdeaXchange Xpert

A Mill Girl at Blue Heron Journal, on-line resource for business thought-leaders and decision-makers, pemoody@aol.com, patriciaemoody@gmail.com, tricia@patriciaemoody.com,