It was the first commercial engine that GE had designed from scratch in more than two decades. Henderson and a small group of his managers decided to build the engine at an empty GE plant in Durham, North Carolina. So radical was it, in fact, that some things made even Henderson uncomfortable. What you establish is what gets perpetuated. Starting a culture is so much easier than changing a culture.
Workers manage everything from process-improvement and work schedules to overtime budgets.
Because it was green-field, the business practices could be very different. That would mean we'd start with a better caliber of employee, and we wouldn't have to spend time in fundamental training. There's clutter in most plants, racks of parts and so on. He didn't want that. The assembly process eliminated or outsourced all nonessential tasks.