The story. In 2008 Shanghai Michelin Warrior Tyre Company was among the worst-performing Michelin factories worldwide. The seven-year-old organisation was a joint venture between Shanghai Tyre and Rubber Company, a Chinese state-owned enterprise, and the French tyremaker. Its products were inferior and its safety record was very low by international standards. Reject rates for its tyres and turnover of production line staff were both high.
There was a persistent cultural and organisational gulf between the two partners. Reversing the situation had been beyond successive plant managers.
The challenge. Bertrand Ballarin moved from France in 2008 to take the role of plant manager. Michelin’s head office was pressing him to implement its own management system of daily production (MDP) to try to improve the factory’s performance.