Hey all,

We moved to the UK about 18 months ago and just found out we are heading back to the USA in 4 weeks. We had been putting off visiting the factory for far to long and finally went. You need to make reservations ahead of time as their are only 3 tours a day and they are limited to about 20 people. Costs were about 15GBP per person.

All I can say was that I am nearly 30 and I felt like a kid in a candy shop. It takes about 6 hours to make a car once it comes out of the paint shop and a new functioning mini rolls off the line about one a minute. 80% of the cars are custom order and that means that nearly every car on the line is different than the one before and after. That means ever station has to have the right parts lined up in the right order for the cars being built. It was super impressive. I work for a large consulting firm and deal with the software that can handle this sort of on demand manufacturing and it is easy to forget what the software is actually doing. Seeing it in person is really amazing.

The funniest thing was watching how easily some parts get fitted. "Easy" when a hydraulic robot does the heavy lifting.

The one downside is no photos on the factory tour. It was a employee privacy thing more than a company secrets thing. I guess building cars doesn't change that much.

If you are ever in London i highly recommend the tour. You can take a train to the Oxford station then take a cab to the factory. (or you can rent a car and drive).

-Will

 

I toured the Oxford factory back in June and simply could not resist ordering a new Mini. Great tour! Previously posted photos:

https://www.adoberevel.com/shares/e1...920aebba79061b

 

We did the tour in '04, coincidentally when our first MINI was arriving at the dealer. Highly recommended.

 

I plan on going in the Spring of 2015. My company give a free vacation every 5 years and this will be my 5 yr trip. I get 1 extra week of vacation for the trip not in my normal PTO and an extra $2500 to go. So i will use some additional PTO to make it a week or so over there and I plan on getting an Oxford Plant tour while there. Also on the list is to get on a filming of Top Gear, not as likely but worth a shot.

I did the plant tour in Spartanburg at the BMW plant where they do the X3, X5, and X6. Amazing facility and the fact that I was way impressed says something (I work in manufacturing).

 

TopGear is VERY hard to get tickets for. I have been on the list for 2 years and no luck. One of the disapointments while on this relocation

 

This is a great episode of Mega Factories. You get to see all of the plant in some great detail.

 

That was awesome. Thanks for posting this!

 

I wont contine to threadjack after this but yes my wife has had our name in the ring for a year now as it is fingers crossed.