PARAGRAPHAs the year came to a close, the global economy was struggling. Even so, we at the Mercedes-Benz bus plant where I work in Hosdere, near Istanbul, Turkey, were determined that we would not simply weather the economic downturn but would also increase production capacity by 30 percent. We knew it would be a huge challenge because of economic conditions and the increasingly complex nature of supply chains. Nevertheless, we went ahead with the project, which ultimately proved successful. MBT formed to tackle that challenge, the plant was able to meet its goal.