Failure of Bailout Could Mean the End of Manufacturing in America

Congress¡¦s failure to pass a $14 billion emergency bailout proposal for the U.S. auto industry could mean the end of manufacturing in America, according to Dr. Kenneth Ragsdell, a professor of engineering management at Missouri University of Science and Technology who has worked with U.S. and foreign car companies for 40 years.

"Without the auto industry, there is no U.S. manufacturing industry, period,¡¨ says Ragsdell, director of the Design Engineering Center at Missouri S&T. ¡§For every auto worker in North America, four to five workers are in the supplier companies. If the auto industry collapses, then so do those manufacturers.¡¨

An expert in manufacturing design and quality engineering, Ragsdell has advised U.S. and foreign carmakers, including General Motors and Nissan, since 1968. He has worked with three GM presidents over the years and served as the only non-GM member of a task force charged with developing that company¡¦s first product development plan in 1987.