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This is definitely great and uplifting news but I am not sure why GM or Ford is the one on top of list for this endeavor? There are a bunch of second source assembly houses that build medical equipment for the big players. Seems like it would make more sense for them to build it with some sort of FDA fast pass.

Discretion, I work for a carmaker company but my opinion is of my own only.

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> why GM or Ford is the one on top of list for this endeavor?

Ford and GM were massive manufacturers when WWII reared its head. That gives them a rich history of wartime production [1].

The principal cost in these sorts of shifts can be bureaucratic. Having cultural capital to call on is invaluable.

[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automotive_industry_in_the_U...

> Having cultural capital to call on is invaluable.

How similar is the culture today compared to 75+ years ago?

> How similar is the culture today compared to 75+ years ago?

Doesn’t matter. “We did this before and must do it again” is a powerful call to action. That cultural capital spins up the bureaucratic flywheel.

I first heard the song "We Did It Before and We Can Do It Again" on some old Looney Tunes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veYIbxaU0A8

As a local, I don't know the exact differences in culture today compared to 75 years ago. Though after hearing enough ranting from workers, line bosses, and industrial engineers about exciting topics like quality control, line efficiency, production planning since I was young... I personally think the culture is pretty valuable, especially given the size of the manufacturing workforce.

I think a more pressing question is if any workers will want to come in if GM and Ford commit to this.

On the surface it’s very different. But in practice it’s surprisingly close as successfully running any truly large scale manufacturing means direction flows down from the top and innovation flows up from the bottom. Automation may be replacing a lot of labor, but cars are also vastly more complex and have far tighter tolerances.

Mary Barra volunteered in a meeting. That's why GM's getting the press. Later on in the article it mentions other manufacturers currently working to do this in Britain.

The industry that can help is the kind that can quickly provide the parts that ventilator manufacturers can't source. If a molded plastic part is missing, the auto industry would be able to answer that I think. I'm not sure though how much of such manufacturing actually takes place at the car manufacturers themselves, vs. how much they are just assembling such parts sourced from other sources? I imagine the industries that can really help are these specialized plastic part manufacturing companies (for example). Assembly lines for cars won't help, it's the part production that can help.

Considering how we've massively bailed GM out with public funds, they may as well be considered to be partly responsible for the health of the public.

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