The company's LifeSaver and Safetyliner tubeless tires gained wide popularity in the early s, and by tubeless tires became standard equipment on new cars. Ten years later Goodrich brought another innovation to U. The radial dramatically changed the U. Goodrich further diversified its production in the postwar era.
Continuing a long tradition of research and development, it opened a new research center in Brecksville, Ohio, in Goodrich Chemical Company, a subsidiary founded in , took over the company's wartime plants and built new ones in Marietta and Avon Lake, Ohio, and in Calvert City, Kentucky. Production of Goodrich's Geon and Koroseal plastic products expanded into overseas markets with joint ventures in Britain and Japan. By , Goodrich was manufacturing goods in five different areas, including tires, chemicals and plastics, footwear and flooring, industrial products, and sponge rubber goods.
Goodrich's fortunes declined, however, when a strike began a decade of rocky labor relations and interrupted production. In April , the URW walked off of jobs at Goodrich, Firestone, and Uniroyal, and the resulting strike stalled rubber production in Akron for 86 days.
That strike, along with a six-month work stoppage at one of the company's chemical plants, cost Goodrich a Three years later Goodrich was once again facing serious losses because of strikes in the rubber and related industries.
The URW walked out on Goodrich plants for five weeks, while strikes by the Teamsters Union and General Motors workers also hurt the nation's tire markets. Continued hard times in the nation's auto and rubber industries brought Goodrich back to the bargaining table in A day URW strike stopped production in all of Goodrich's domestic tire plants and finally required the intercession of U. Labor Secretary W.
Usery, Jr. These crippling experiences with labor disputes and the stagnation of the U. Ready for a drastic change, the company handed its reins to a rubber industry outsider in Pendleton Thomas, a former oil executive with the Atlantic Richfield Company, shook up Goodrich by having chemicals and plastics replace tires as the foundation of the company's business.
At the time Thomas took over, Goodrich's position among U. The success of radials had cut consumer demand for replacement tires, while the oil crisis had lessened the U. Thomas streamlined Goodrich's tire operations by closing unprofitable plants and retail outlets and concentrating on certain product niches, such as high-performance replacement tires.
By maximizing profits in its tire business, he developed the capital necessary to increase the capacity of Goodrich's chemical and plastics production. In , Thomas changed The B. Thomas's program of retrenchment and redeployment allowed his successor, John D. Ong, to develop Goodrich's chemicals business in the s. Goodrich had long been the nation's number-one producer of PVC, the versatile plastic used primarily in the construction industry, as well as a producer of specialty chemicals used in products ranging from cosmetics to floor polishes.
Like its tire division, Goodrich's chemical production had been hurt by the petroleum shortages and sluggish national economy of the s, but when Ong took over in , he maintained the course set by Thomas. The acquisition in of Tremco Inc. Ong also announced plans to double Goodrich's PVC production by the mids, and he sank millions into the development of a plant in Convent, Louisiana. This project backfired, however, when the nation's housing industry went into its worst slump in 36 years and PVC demand plummeted.
Goodrich's tailspin in the early s led to the most dramatic changes in its history. In , Ong merged Goodrich's tire division with Uniroyal, which had just fought a costly takeover battle with corporate raider Carl Icahn.
The jointly owned Uniroyal-Goodrich Tire Company looked good on paper for both companies, combining Goodrich's replacement tire business with Uniroyal's original equipment market to make it the nation's second largest tire producer.
Shortly thereafter, Goodrich sold off its acre factory complex in Akron, ending its nearly century-long association with the U. In , Goodrich acquired Tramco Incorporated, a provider of maintenance and repair services for commercial aircraft. With the full divestiture of its tire business, Goodrich became a company devoted solely to the production of chemicals, plastics, and aerospace goods.
The recovery of its PVC business and the wise investment of capital gained from its tire division sale had in the early s stabilized the company. In , however, chief executive John D.
Ong sold off the PVC business, to the concern of investors, in favor of emphasizing the company's other chemical businesses. Some analysts were skeptical of these strategic turns. Writer Zachary Schiller of Business Week, for example, noted that "the company has produced an average annual return on equity of just 1. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.
JavaScript appears to be disabled on this computer. Please click here to see any active alerts. Goodrich Corporation is a leading global supplier of nose to tail products and services to the aerospace industry, making everything from landing gear to evacuation systems and flight controls to engine satellite systems.
Major customers include commercial, military, regional, business, space, and general aviation aircraft manufacturers, operators, and suppliers. The company is also a globally recognized premier supplier of aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul services. Goodrich Aerostructures, a division of Goodrich Corporation, is the world's leading independent full-service supplier of nacelles, pylons, thrust reversers, and other structural aircraft components.
In the early to mids, customer pressure to improve performance at the Rohr Riverside, California facility was of such concern that management evaluated options that included moving work and closing the plant. Airframe and engine customers were also putting increasing pressure on the plant to improve its production activities.
While attending a Lean Manufacturing training seminar offered by the Lean Enterprise Institute , the General Manager of the facility realized that the continuous improvement efforts that they had started were in fact a "rudimentary model" of the Toyota Production System.
Soon after this, the Riverside plant began to implement Lean Manufacturing techniques with vigor. In and , the Riverside plant worked to aggressively implement lean techniques, adapting tools from the Toyota Production System. Efforts expanded as early successes and productivity improvements won increasing commitment from company senior leadership.
Later in , Goodrich Aerostructures began applying lean techniques to administrative processes at the Riverside plant. In , Goodrich Aerostructures moved to improve alignment of its organizational culture, structure, and strategy with its expanding lean operational initiatives through policy deployment.
By , Goodrich Aerostructures was expanding lean implementation efforts throughout many of its U. Since , efforts have focused on continual improvement and "value stream alignment" — structuring the organization around value streams e. Goodrich Aerostructures managers indicated that the impending crisis of facility closure was a powerful driver for the transition to lean.
Significant focus and energy were necessary to implement the "mechanical" aspects of change, including. Company representatives reported, however, that the "cultural" aspects of change, including 1 leadership role, engagement, and behavior, 2 employee engagement, and 3 real time problem resolution, have proven to be most challenging.
As one strategy to address the cultural aspects of change, manufacturing managers and engineers have moved their offices out to the shop floor, improving real time problem resolution. Even with senior management support and commitment, however, changing organizational culture requires substantial effort and powerful drivers. As part of its lean implementation efforts, Goodrich Aerostructures uses a variety of tools which the company has adapted from the Toyota Production System.
Goodrich Aerostructures managers indicated that "policy deployment provides focus, alignment, and linkage. Lean tools provide the means to identify and eliminate waste. By closing this banner or interacting with our site, you permit us to recognize our cookies and our partners' and identify you for marketing. Collins Aerospace is a leader in technologically advanced and intelligent solutions for the global aerospace and defense industry. Our advanced Goodrich rescue hoists and cargo winches help save lives during disaster relief efforts and rescue missions around the world.
Jump to: navigation , search. Rubber stock for the track treads of scout cars and other Army halftrac vehicles is milled in one Ohio tire plant. All rubber firmly "welded" to the steel parts is formed into one tough durable piece. Cashman, Sean. America in the Gilded Age. Chandler, Alfred D. Collyer, John Lyon. Goodrich Story of Creative Enterprise, Murdock, Eugene. Painter, Nell Irwin. Norton, Porter, Glenn.
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