All this talk about Bike Boom Raleigh Pros got me thinking about how quality was "managed" in that era.
The Bike Boom coincided with the Oil Shock of the mid 70's.
The Oil Shock spurred purchases of fuel efficient (mostly Japanese cars).
Purchases of Japanese cars brought out the flaws of U.S. built cars,
because Japanese cars of the time, were much more reliable and trouble free than their American alternatives.
When the Japanese built in quantity, their philosophy was that they needed "better" quality to ensure consistent production.
Quality went up in high volume, not down, because they invested more in it.
Those investments were not altruistic ... they saved money (because flaws in high volume added up to more money lost).
(and yes, I've got the numbers at home, buried in my QC/QA literature ... ironically, as quality went up, the Cost of Quality came down).
So what's this got to do with Raleigh Pros:
Quality, consistency and reliability were not high on Raleigh's list of priorities during the Bike Boom,
unlike at other times in their history.
Their priorities were profits, sales volume, markets , cost controls, etc.
It's a shame because the same priorities caused their collapse.
Amir Avitzur
Ra'anana, Israel