Yamaha ...president....state of the company letter

[Heritage]

http://www.yamaha-motor.co.jp/global/ir/topmessage/

 

[yamahahaapex]

lots of info going everywhere in that statement. can be interpreted anyway, sounds like change isnt going to happen based on economics

 

[yamahahaapex]

if i read it right there looking to do more with less so keep the models, design, and look at ways to reduce weight. The hp/track power is there and competes well. Now just make it fun to ride in the mountains or deep pow without having to turbo it

 

[Paraclete]

sounded like a lot of hot air to me.

 

[09nytro]

Good read......sounds like they will come out of the norm and produce new products

 

[DigitalFusion]

sounded like a lot of hot air to me.

X2

 

[TRUE BLUE SINCE 1980]

Is'nt this what we have been asking for? The future looks good!

 

[DigitalFusion]

maybe I read it differently than some of you, but I took away from it that they are going to try to decrease costs, yet make a better product all while knocking down testing/QA/R&D time?

new product development, for example, we used to take significant time to develop new products with strict adherence to the standard processes garnered from past experience to be safe and reliable. With the competition in today's rapidly changing markets, this process is not fast enough, nor is it competitive.

not trying to be a negative-nancy here, I love yamaha, I bleed blue (used to be yellow), and will continue to do so (look at my sig, filled with yamahas) but that just sounds like a CEO attempting to write an inspiring letter to the shareholders.

maybe Im just biter right now 'cause the minuscule snowfall they were forecasting for our area has been cut back to just a dusting.

 

[sweetrides]

interesting read

 

[Heritage]

Digital ...I thought the opposite of you...I took it to mean...that they must speed up product development and
get New products in the hands of the customer quicker....and that they must lower pricing and add value at
the same time to keep customers happy

 

[driftbuster]

"Taking new model development as an example, until now the accepted norm has been: "the cost of a new model = the cost of the current model + the cost of the newly added features that raise its value,"

This is why new sleds cost $ 15 K and are priced beyond most riders. It's about time they figured out that they need to do something differrent!

 

[DigitalFusion]

Digital ...I thought the opposite of you...I took it to mean...that they must speed up product development and
get New products in the hands of the customer quicker....and that they must lower pricing and add value at
the same time to keep customers happy

Technically, my job title is product development, which is a fancy way of saying 'planning to make something really good to offer to consumers'. Basically R&D and then Q.A. I've heard this line before, or at least similar lines before, and I can tell you 100% of the time I have consulted with, contracted for, or been the lead and/or on a team under someone who said something like this the outcome has been... umm.. interesting.

You cannot make R&D and testing/QA faster without suffering quality, or pouring more money into more resources (whether it be pre-production engineering or testing of post-production products) to get the same amount of work done faster. They are saying they are going to speed it up yet spend less. The only way this works out is when the people lower on the totem pole work 150% harder and fight every step of the way to do things right. I've seen this first hand and its painful to watch people who truly care about the product be forced to fight to even have a chance to pitch their case to the higher-ups to do things the way that would be best for the consumer. R&D and QA is usually one of the first things cut when companies are looking at the bottom line. Its like they dont understand that you can make more money and gain more customer loyalty off something that works right the first time by making sure its as close to 100% when you release; than you can off something you have to constantly refine.

Snowmobile sales are on the decline. hell, they held off the big release last year due to lack of sales. They are accountable to shareholders looking to make a profit. The shareholders do not care how they do it, as long as the bottom line is higher and yields more money in the bank. So they put out spit-shined letters like the above to make shareholders have some hope, but all it really means is they are trying to cut costs and increase sales by offering less expensive products at the sake of product development.


God, I hope I am wrong in this case!

 

[HRD2PLZ]

Based on that letter, I foresee a large order of the book "Who Moved My Cheese" for YMC employees.

 

[AKrider]

I feel like I just read something that Dilbert's boss would have come up with in the comic strip.

 

[newfie09xtx]

I feel like I read a 'Whole lot of Nothing!' All he did was go in circles.