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Harley Davidson Motorcycles

Harley-Davidson Inc



The Harley-Davidson Motor Company was formed in 1903 by William S. Harley and the Davidson brothers (Walter and Arthur).   The company started out slowly but once word got round that the Harley-Davidson was a reliable piece of machinery, more orders flowed in.   Early on Harleys were exported to other countries.   During World War I (1917-1918), Harley-Davidson produced 20,000 military motorcycles to serve the U.S. Allied forces.   Again during World War II (1941-1945), Harley-Davidson produced more than 90,000 motorcycles for the Allied forces. The company had always been family owned but in 1965, with company profits down and a shortage of money, the decision was made to go public.   The family run company was careful to keep control, having 7 of the 9 board members being family.   This influx of cash was used for new equipment and advertising but within a few years they were back to being in financial difficulties.   With shareholder approval, in 1969 Harley-Davidson became a subsidiary of AMF (American Machine and Foundry Company).   AMF had a strong engineering background and they promised the existing Harley management would keep control.

AMF had a goal to boost production dramatically and generate new models.   The production increase was pushed through too quickly with little regard for quality.   As a result the AMF era Harleys soon gained the reputation for poor quality.   Also, the top-down management meant that the long-term Harley-Davidson employees were being ignored.   AMF was becoming frustrated with the money being spent on the company and the poor returns.

The 1980s was the turning point for Harley-Davidson.   In 1981, thirteen members of Harley-Davidson’s senior management purchased the company from AMF in a buyout.   The company needed to become more efficient in order to survive.   They adapted three Japanese business methods; just-in-time inventory cut-down on money tied up in stocks of parts, employee involvement using...