Editing Vaughn Beals
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
The edit can be undone. Please check the comparison below to verify that this is what you want to do, and then publish the changes below to finish undoing the edit.
| Latest revision | Your text | ||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
A key figure in [[Harley-Davidson]]'s turnaround in the 1980s, and manager in Milwaukee for [[AMF]] from 1975. Beals knew nothing about [[motorcycle]]s (at least at first) but was a highly experienced and competent manager. One of his first actions was the so-called [[Pinehurst Meeting]]. Until then, Harley-Davidson had no long-term strategic plan, so Beals took all the senior managers up to Pinehurst, North Carolina for a week. At the intensive brain-storming session, it was agreed that Harley-Davidson urgently needed more modern, better-quality hikes to compete with the Japanese. and a ten-year product plan was drawn up. First, the existing [[V-twin]] was to be updated (which eventually saw light of day as the [[Harley-Davidson Evolution|Evolution V-twin]] in 1983). Second. a whole range of all-new water-cooled engines would be developed, the [[Harley-Davidson NOVA|NOVA program]]. Far from being an AMF placeman, it was Beals who originally proposed that Harley-Davidson senior management buy the company back from AMF, and it was he who negotiated the deal. As chairman of the newly-independent Harley-Davidson, he oversaw the huge changes in production through the 1980s which enabled the company to survive, putting quality first, with employee involvement and just-in-time methods. | A key figure in [[Harley-Davidson]]'s turnaround in the 1980s, and manager in Milwaukee for [[AMF]] from 1975. Beals knew nothing about [[motorcycle]]s (at least at first) but was a highly experienced and competent manager. One of his first actions was the so-called [[Pinehurst Meeting]]. Until then, Harley-Davidson had no long-term strategic plan, so Beals took all the senior managers up to Pinehurst, North Carolina for a week. At the intensive brain-storming session, it was agreed that Harley-Davidson urgently needed more modern, better-quality hikes to compete with the Japanese. and a ten-year product plan was drawn up. First, the existing [[V-twin]] was to be updated (which eventually saw light of day as the [[Harley-Davidson Evolution|Evolution V-twin]] in 1983). Second. a whole range of all-new water-cooled engines would be developed, the [[Harley-Davidson NOVA|NOVA program]]. Far from being an AMF placeman, it was Beals who originally proposed that Harley-Davidson senior management buy the company back from AMF, and it was he who negotiated the deal. As chairman of the newly-independent Harley-Davidson, he oversaw the huge changes in production through the 1980s which enabled the company to survive, putting quality first, with employee involvement and just-in-time methods. | ||
[[Category:Harley-Davidson people]] | [[Category:Harley-Davidson people]] | ||