Jesse Mobley

Doing Business the Right Way!



Posted: Thursday, August 04, 2011

by Jesse Mobley
EconomistNow

Zero pay cuts, zero waste, zero layoffs, zero strikes, and even zero health care premiums—these aren’t facts from a glamorous company which many people think of, rather they’re from a relatively small car manufacture named Subaru. In the depths of Indiana lies the automotive plant which is changing how manufacturing and overall business is done. Driven by responsibility, Subaru has created a formula which rallies both employees and competitors to do and be more than average.

Subaru has withstood the test of time, making it through multiple recessions and countless adversities. “Change for the better,” is the motto of SIA, Subaru of Indiana Automotive, which has implemented countless unique ideas to better the industry, like the zero waste philosophy at the Indiana plant. Eco-friendly isn’t something Subaru is doing just to please advocates of Mother Nature, rather it just so happens to be profitable as well. With savings of $5.3 million last year, SIA has found a way to make a so-called costly stewardship into a profit-raking monster. Simple strategies like auctioning off valuable waste to the market, reusing copper slag for welding, customizing machinery to save over 100 pounds of steel per car, and even recycling over 30,000 pounds of lug nuts have created a bold black print on the company’s balance sheets. Making zero waste for a 3.4 million square foot plant profitable is one thing, but what about making your employees feel like stars?

This all seems to be too good to be true, and to some extent it is. With zero Carbon footprint comes extra work for the employees in Indiana. Most employees work over 40 hours a week and forfeit many weekends with their families, but SIA has already taken this into account. On average, employees will rake in a starting salary of over $50,000 and other valued incentives, such as no premiums on health care, financial counseling, and ability to earn a Purdue University degree onsite. Another huge thing SIA does for their employees is pay for them to volunteer in their communities. This is one reason why there were no lays-off during the shortage of parts after the recent Japanese natural disasters. Not bad for citizens of a state which has been struggling in the automotive industry over the past few years, huh?

Funding for all these social programs and other activities wouldn’t last long if there wasn’t demand for their cars. From 2008 to 2010, sales have jumped more than 40% which has allowed the car manufacturer to keep strong with their promise for change. Some tag Subaru’s principles as glorified dumpster-diving or corporate socialism but I like to label it as, “Doing business the right way.”
Jesse Mobley

Founder and Chief Editor of EconomistNow

Vice President of HopeWater LLC

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