LOL. (seriously).
Having given this some more thought: I think this is the crux of the matter:
The system is set up to build one million vehicles exactly the same. That means this: if you try to introduce a change "the system" is going to fight you.
Nothing happens automatically. Each transition between disciplines - from engineering to specifications, from specs to purchasing, from purchasing to logistics, from logistics to containerization, from containerization to the assembly plant, and then all the silos within the assembly plant (materials, material control, fork truck drivers, etc) - each of those interfaces is an opportunity for the ball to get dropped and the process stall out. Not only do you have to bridge those interfaces - it can get stalled out within each of those organizations, so you might have to track down the right purchasing guy (not easy in and of itself) to persuade him (using coffee, donuts, coercion, or worse) to do his job in order to keep things moving.
I've seen changes that were in process for years, like 4 years, and never got all the way implemented.
So basically if you want to make a change, no matter how small, you have to be passionate about that change, because you are going to have to birddog it and track it every step of the way.
And - you will have to do that while you have other fish to fry, across all those platforms I mentioned, and while doing current product support and future product designs. So you might have (a) Model year 2020 current product going down the line, (b) MY2021 pilot builds at a different plant going on for one model year out, and (c) MY2022 prototype builds going on at a preproduction facility and (d) MY2023 mule builds going on in mockup. All of those locations are creating issues and tracking logs and tasks for you to do at the same time. (God forbid an assembly line go down, or a build gets stopped. Then you are on double secret probation overtime).
I retired from GM after 40 years in product design and vehicle assembly. But - I've hired back on as an accessory design engineer at Nissan, so this is still all very fresh.
Just yesterday I approached the styling guys to request a change in the nominal gap between my racing stripe and the rear spoiler. The original gap was 5.5mm; I'm asking to change to 6.6mm, because of potential variation in the rear spoiler location (not my part). I asked them to respond, with their explicit approval, by close of business yesterday.
So today I get a note that says: "we can't picture it. Can you make some slides?" So today I'm making powerpoint slides for them to review, showing the gap at 5.5mm and 6.6mm and 10mm and 3.5mm because they lack the imagination or initiative to do it themselves.
Aren't they the "creative types" with all the imagination (and the proper tools to address this question)? Why does engineering (or me in particular) always have to do this? Beats me. I'm the one that wants to make the change and, so if I want it bad enough, by golly I have to do whatever it takes to keep the ball (all the balls) moving.
Why do I do it? Because I love playing with cars (and trucks...and tractors, and...) and because it is what I am made to do. It's what I do because it's what I do - at work, and at home. I was made to do this by birth, by training, by profession, and by preference. I've had this all planned out since I was 8 years old.
Being "retired" now - that's what I love about "nature". My chickens make eggs; my bees make honey; my maple trees make sap. Without my involvement. Without my coaxing. It's just what they do - naturally. Such a contrast to my entire worklife which has been spent trying to force inanimate objects to do "unnatural" acts within the confines of a mega-corporation.
K
