"
Q: The demand for BMW's Mini Cooper is strong. Can you build more"

Purves: In our Mini plant in the United Kingdom, we're now running three shifts. It's in Oxford and we actually have a weekend shift of university students working literally Friday afternoon to Sunday night building cars, and that's the third shift. We're working two shifts, five days a week, and then a weekend shift.

Q: You're not bringing those to the States, are you?

Purves: We are."

Great... knackered studends, building Mini's.

:smile:

 

More comments.........excuse any typos.

"We regularly monitior all the unofficial BMW web sites. Recently, we had hundreds and hundreds of people on many web sites complaining about a rear fog lamp. An illuminated lights that was on the European cars wasn't on the American cars, and they wanted it. Within five to six weeks of this being identified, we said this is unbelievable, give them the light. We will do it."

 

That's pretty wild... :evil:

 

With Britain being basically a socialist country, the unions are fairly strong.

However, I would assume that this comment was meant as a joke. If it's not a joke, they are probably engineering students.

 

>>With Britain being basically a socialist country, the unions are fairly strong.
>>
>>However, I would assume that this comment was meant as a joke. If it's not a joke, they are probably engineering students.

I was guessing that also. My comment was, however, meant as a joke.

 

Here is link to article

USATODAY CEO MEETING

They with the CEO's of major car makers.

 

I realize that "knackered" part was a joke...but the fact remains that a significant part of quality control comes from EXPERIENCE in the specific processes of manufacturing a particular car. Why else would it make that much difference if a car is "early production" or an established model? Sure, some basic engineering problems have to be ironed out, but I'd think that a lot also comes from experienced workers. So, if a car's being made by inexperienced workers (i.e., temporary workers), that can't bode well overall.

 

I wouldn't take his "college students' comment too seriously.

 

True that experience helps, but no one there has years upon years worth of skill making MINIs, the car's too new. Besides, there's almost always a few new guys at a plant employing 4,500 people. I think that if there's a failure with quality, it is because they don't exercise strict enough quality controls and/or give proper training. Training means getting employees into good work habits from the start and quality assurance means keeping them in those good habits. Problems result when one or both areas slack off. I'm sure I'm biased, but I am also a trainer and have done quality measures and inspection and know there is truth behind what I am saying.

 

^ Very true. I'm also a trainer and evaluator by profession, and I know that it's very hard to appropriately train temporary/short-term workers who don't have a significant investment in the enterprise. So, if they were to be using students, I'd doubt that they'd be as well trained as "regular" workers. That was my point.

Let's hope that Tom was just pulling our legs (seems like a weird thing to joke about though...).

 

>>I wouldn't take his "college students' comment too seriously.


exactly :smile:

and some of us college students are not so dumb

 

So I haven't been keeping up on the forums too much but this article is interesting. My question is this: So do we get our rear fogs now? If so, when was this announced? Or is this news to everyone? I want this option now!!!!!!


_________________
Finally!!!!!!!: BRG MCS, sport and prem., white roof, nav. syst., bonnets, driving lights, blk leather, and a GRIP OF FUN!!!!!!

 

I very seriously doubt that a retrofit is on the way so that all of us can get rear fogs. I for one wouldn't care, since I did the brake light mod, which (in my opinion) is MUCH more useful than the rear fogs anyway.

The really interesting thing here to me is that even after the uproar about the rear fog lights seems to have brought about a policy change at MINIUSA, the petition to keep newly produced MINIs from having lighter oil in the shocks to fluff up the handling and reduce the road feel has completely fizzled out. No one has posted to the thread in over a week. What gives? THAT'S a serious issue that MINIUSA should be taking flak on.

_________________


Borla exhaust, Moss intake, Magnecor

 

chrisnl.....
i'm with you about the rear fogs.
i prefer the brake light mod!

 

>>^ Very true. I'm also a trainer and evaluator by profession, and I know that it's very hard to appropriately train temporary/short-term workers who don't have a significant investment in the enterprise. So, if they were to be using students, I'd doubt that they'd be as well trained as "regular" workers. That was my point.

My point is that nobody is experienced when they start a job, student or not. That's not in dispute. If the training for whoever is doing the weekend work is not up to the standards that everyone else gets, that's a big problem, a major management issue but not a problem with the workers themselves. However, I think you are unfairly criticizing the use of students as employees. Your mention of the employee's investment in the enterprise implies they will be unmotivated in regards to the quality of work. Why? What's so bad about student workers? Some of my best trainees were college students trying to earn money to put themselves through school. Maybe they don't have a long-term investment in the organization, but how about the short term investment of having a job and covering expenses? And on the flip side, I knew of some highly unmotivated "regular" workers who had a much greater investment an organization's success that couldn't care less about the quality of their work. I feel it's an unfair stereotype. Otherwise, I'd just remain concerned about the training and quality issues that should be worries regardless of shift.

I will mention that the interview with Jack Pitney on Autoline Detroit seemed to indicate there is no plans on reducing the workload in the Oxford plant, so weekend and overnight workers for the foreseeable future. If they stick with it, they'll become experienced.

 

You can't have any puddin' til you build your MINI! How can you have your pudding if you don't build your MINI!"

College students is a pretty novel idea. Oxford college students is even more novel. I don't know if want kids with their heads stuffed with all this Cartesian dualism trying to build my MINI.

Tom

 

Yeah us college students arent so dumb..well maybe some

 

The new MINI plant is one of the most advanced plants on earth. It has automated processes and QC. Every weld is done by machine and checked at the time of weld. All build data is continuosly gathered and analyzed. Paint build is controlled at the gun to within microns. All final assembly points, (the labor intensive portion of the build), is automatically routed, tracked, checked and verified. Building automobiles has become a very high tech operation, perfect for the new generation who've grown up with computers. Long gone are the days of sweaty 6th grade drop outs bolted on fenders between swigs of "Jack" and bopping Betty Lou behind the parts bin.

 

If they are being supervised by experienced people and are going through the same quality control as the MINI's built by other people I am not that worried.

 

Too many Mini's will lessen the uniqueness of what we've got. Look at the PT Cruiser. Neat idea, nice and retro. Now they've made so many you don't even give them a second look.

 

>>Too many Mini's will lessen the uniqueness of what we've got. Look at the PT Cruiser. Neat idea, nice and retro. Now they've made so many you don't even give them a second look.

Not sure I agree. I look at my wife's every time I walk by it. It's a very slick car and the Cooper S on order will compliment it and our LR Series IIA Dormobile perfectly.

:smile:

 

Two quick points:

The MINI most likely won't go the way of the PT Cruiser and New Beetle because it is actually a performance oriented vehicle. The people out there competing with them will be the difference.

Second thing, regarding the "weekend shift". For a sophisticated facility, this should not be as much of a big deal, using unexperienced workers. The only thing that I would worry about are if there are any quality checks that are visual only, which is pretty rare these days. That is about the only thing that an operator really controls in a modern car factory.

I was production manager in a parts-supplier facility in Mexico for two years. We added a "weekend shift" as well, to meet demand. Our processes were much more manually intensive, but our quality didn't suffer. What did suffer was our output, because our maintenance and technician staffs were also new. Machines took much longer to repair, etc.

I've been through the Z3/Z4/X5 plant in South Carolina, and there isn't much there that an operator can mess up. Pretty amazing, really.

 

Now I know why my car is stalling... College kids with a friday night hangover building MINIs.

 

You can't have any puddin' til you build your MINI! How can you have your pudding if you don't build your MINI!"


You, Yes You! Stand Still, Will You.

 

>>You can't have any puddin' til you build your MINI! How can you have your pudding if you don't build your MINI!"
>>
>>
>>You, Yes You! Stand Still, Will You.

From Another Bolt On The Door, Part 2, right?