Scott_Hower said:
I also don't buy the assertion that 99% of manufacturing changes are driven by cost. If that were the case, we'd all still be driving pushrod engines to keep the accountants happy. Innovation and competition drive manufacturing step change.
Well, you may not buy it, but it's axiomatic to anyone who has worked in a manufacturing environment. You'd be amazed at how much effort goes into even seemingly trivial cost reductions, and how severely small differences in cost can affect marketability and profitability.
Also, the pushrod engine is not a great example. Overhead cams are a cost improvement over pushrod engines, as they eliminate a lot of parts, and parts count is cost. Not only for the parts themselves, but for installation time, kitting, cataloging, ordering, material qualification, source inspection, receiving inspection, and on and on. My 72 Pinto had an overhead cam engine, and I'm sure that no decision in the design of that car favored innovation over cost. 99% of its customers had no clue about the OHC, so anything innovative about it certainly wasn't a selling point.
Innovation and competition are definitely drivers, though, but only (1) within cost constraints, and (2) when they can be a selling point. Both of these are fundamentally economic.