Day 158: Porsche and Mercedes factories

This morning we visited the Porsche factory. As always with these visits, no photos are allowed, but I'll share some observations.

Stats:

Models: 911, Boxer, GT3, 918 spyder

Employees: 6000 production, 1000 other/admin

Production: 200 cars per day; 264 engines per day

Shifts: 2 shifts of 7 hr each

Takt time: 4 minutes - can be compressed to 3 min in case of line stoppage.

Cycle time: 70 hours (10 shifts)

Visual management: small amounts of KPIs on area boards, little instructions on line.

CI initiatives: employee suggestions implemented result in cash bonus to suggestor.

Observations: lots of kitting; automated delivery to the line of parts; engine assembly starts once the body reaches the main assembly line; leather from Austria used in interior; 60% of leather sourced is rejected (goes to shoe, purse making); all leather is stitched individually by workers - not automated; no overtime - staff breaks every hour for 5min to change operations. 

We were allowed a ridiculous amount of access - able to touch almost anything we wanted. The trickiest part was staying out of the way of the AGVs.

To sum it up in one word? craftsmanship

Our afternoon was a contrast - Mercedes' factory in Sindelfingen. This factory was on a 600ac site where many many buildings and two tracks had been built. The complex is massive, using buses to move employees around. Customers can also pick up their cars at Sindelfingen and about 250-280 cars are picked up daily.

Stats:

Models: E class sedans and wagons, CLS, SLS, AMG engines

Employees: 34000 total

Production: 1800 cars per day (single piece/mixed model); 80-85 engines per day (single operator assembly)

Shifts: 3 shifts of 8.25hr

Takt time: 35 seconds

Cycle time: 3 days; final assembly cycle time is 1.5 days

Visual management: very little aside from the master clock/production count

CI initiatives: not very visible.

Observations: very big focus on "right part to the right place at the right time"; people - not machines - moved parts; ridiculous amounts of possible configurations (example: over 5400 seat configurations possible); own on-site electrical plant (generated via natural gas); uses a black box style transponder to identify customer options during final assembly; 1400 deliveries daily to the plant.

To pick one word for Mercedes? Perfection

These plants were in some respects mirror-images of each other. Size is a key factor of course in the choice to automate or not, as well as some of the decisions of how to manage and incent the work force. Mercedes wants a perfect (perhaps less exciting) car every time, but the passion for car making and driving really shone through at Porsche.

AMac

Day 159: BMW Welt and Werk - Munich

Today we spent the day at BMW - at BMW Welt (world) and at the BMW Factory - in Munich. We started with the factory tour where we were able to see stamping, body forming (welding), paint, marriage, final assembly and test. 

The complex is huge, modern, and impressive. This plant fabricates the 3 series coupe, sedan and wagon, and the newly rebranded 4 series coupe. Production is running at just shy of 900 units per day, with a takt time of 58 seconds throughout the operation. 32000 employees work at this site, including 16000 in design and development. 

Unfortunately, I was not allowed to take photos inside the factory (as always) but I came away being very impressed with the degree to which BMW had tried to address sustainability. Being located within an urban centre, in the middle of the city, meant challenges unlike those you could imagine Mercedes facing ( with their large land site, for example).

Virtually all process waste is recycled - scrap steel, aluminum from the press shop; scrap copper milled from the spot weld tips; even the paint excess/overspray (which was very minimal) is reclaimed for reuse. On average 80g of solid waste, per car, is non-recyclable. This is tiny - imagine the weight of a large chocolate bar as the leftover solid waste from a process that takes 40hrs and thousands and thousands of parts. 

I have to praise BMW very highly for all their efforts to reduce their footprint - noise reduction on stamping equipment; all the reclamation of scrap/excess to minimize solid waste streams; green roof systems and solar panels on their buildings - all great examples of trying to be a leader in this area.

But most of all, leading by product design and innovation. Witness the i3 and i8 model cars:

The i8 - which sells for over €130,000 - is sold out until mid-2015. The i3 is purely electric, while the i8 is a hybrid, to get the power and range desired. Imagine paying a few Euros to charge your i3, maybe two or three times a week, instead of paying maybe a hundred Euros in that same period. That adds up quickly.

I don't think it will be too long before the infrastructure (charging stations) comes along to really support electric only cars in urban centres. It's only a matter of time and consumer demand.

After our factory tour, we had a tour of the museum, the following are some of my favourite pictures:

Tomorrow is Audi, then we transfer to Florence.

AMac

Day 157: Mercedes museum - innovation and history

We spent this morning at the Mercedes Museum, which could have easily been a full day stop. It is a huge museum, compared to Porsche, and once you walk through the very lengthy history of this firm, you can see why.

The start of it all, the single cylinder "grandfather-clock" engine:

This engine was invented in 1886 and truly was the start of it all - non-steam powered transportation. Daimler saw this propelling almost anything and everything - boats, cycles, small train cars, even flying machines (dirigibles in this case):

Thus technology was applied to many practical and some impractical applications. It's size and weight was small enough that it could be slapped onto almost anything to make it move. Below is one of its early applications - a 3-wheeled automobile from Benz.

It was this vehicle that resulted in the patent below:

And so the automobile came to be. We always think of Ford when we think of the early beginnings of the automobile, but it was Daimler's engine and Benz' use of that engine combined. To be fair, each invented the automobile - in slightly different shapes and forms - at roughly the same time. Both brought elements to the table.

The exhibit space is large, stylish. The number and quality of the vehicles is impressive. The long history of the brand, along with the strong racing roots, is well documented and displayed.

One thing I found surprising, although now it seems obvious, was the use of forced labour by the company in WWII.

We often forget that most manufacturing to support the Reich during that period used forced labour. Instead of just glossing over this fact, the exhibit is very open about it, in a respectful matter-of-fact way of course. 

And how's this for a KPI?

Description below:

AMac

 

Day 156: Arriving in Stuttgart: Porsche, 24hrs of Le Mans, and Flammkuchen. Oh and beer.

We arrived in Frankfurt early today and took the ICE train to Stuttgart for the start of our Lean Europe Tour. After getting sorted in the hotel, we grabbed a taxi to the Porsche factory, as it turned out that Porsche had arranged a car for our use. It also turned out to be a brand new model: the Macan Turbo. Smaller and definitely sportier than the Cayenne, it was a pretty plush drive.

We also stopped in at the Porsche Museum across the street, where they were showing live the 24hrs of Le Mans race. They were keeping the museum open for the entire race - free to the public - and they had some cars outside on display (along with the aforementioned Flammkuchen and beer):

Inside the museum were some very fantastic cars:

Back in the parking lot where our demo car was waiting for us, we spotted a return of a familiar name:

Yep, the Targa is back!

But let's go driving!!!

AMac

Day 155: Departing for Europe and World Cup Madness/Japan vs. Germany Round 2

My family heritage is Dutch. So today, the second day of World Cup action, I am sporting my best oranje to support the team in their first match of the tournament.

In fact I love my team so much that I will go to the airport 3 hours early so I don't miss any of the match.

Heading to Germany, wearing my Oranje, I settle into my economy seat  - which by JAL (and American Airlines) standards is large. I usually don't watch films on the aircraft media but today I thought I'd check it out - I have 9.5 hrs to kill. One of my favourites was available: Lost In Translation. I just love this movie and in particular, after having visited Japan, and barely sleeping the entire time, can relate - and I can watch it over and over and still find it amusing.

I see places I have visited, customs that surprised and delighted me, and oddities that got me scratching my head. I see Kyoto, the temples, the kimono, the sakura. I see all of those in this film. I experience all of those all over again. Sitting here, on this German plane, asking for ein weisse wein bitte, watching a gawky Bill Murray stumble through Japanese culture, through places I've been, it's a bit surreal. 

I make the effort to speak to the flight crew in German, knowing it probably sounds terrible;  they smile at my clumsy efforts and politely correct my errors. I recall sitting on the Shinkansen train from Tokyo to Nagoya, sitting beside a tiny Japanese man, elderly, headed home from who knows where - work? Temple? Family? Even though I spoke very little Japanese, as soon as I ventured a quiet arigato, he immediately started telling me about Fuji-San (out the window), the trains (he was an engineer on the earlier generation of high speed trains), and dried eel (which of course he had to share with me - delicious albeit a bit oily). 

I think about all the times in our work day when we don't make even the slightest effort to be understood by the person in front of us. This plane is full of people who speak different languages, who call different countries home, and who have different cares and worries. Yet a little effort to appreciate and respect others can go a long way.

And yes, NED won today (5-1 over ESP!)

AMac

Day 148: Japan vs. Germany/Hurry Up and Wait

Short blog entry this week... just a quick update really.

I am so excited - this time next week I will be getting ready to board a plane for Germany to start my Lean Europe tour. While in Europe, I will get to visit Porsche, BMW, Mercedes Benz, Audi, Lamborghini, Pagani, and the Ferrari Museum. An extra day in Stuttgart at the start and two extra days in Florence at the end, it should be a great trip.

I am a minor car nerd, particularly for German cars (we are on our 3rd Audi now), so I am super stoked about this trip. Being able to access these factories is a pretty amazing opportunity, and I'm really lucky. I am also really curious to see the difference between a Japanese car factory and a German one. I found these pictures from an import car show in Los Angeles in 1958, so I thought I'd give you Japanese vs. German from a different time:

Actress Nobu McCarthy perched on the Datsun - this show was the automakers debut in America

The Zundapp (yes the motorcycle manufacturer) easily fits two... or more?

Yesterday, I visited a factory here in Metro Vancouver that designs and manufactures truck and trailer bodies. From movie trailers to fire engines to food trucks. Very neat stuff. Some as small as 8' long, but some as long as 50'! That's a BIG trailer! The yard had 3 main buildings on 3 acres, and almost every inch of the yard and bays were full. Thats-a-lotta-WIP! In fact, it was almost too much WIP. It was really difficult to see what needed to be done next. I'm sure someone who worked there day in and day out could probably see through the maze of half-completed projects. The front end of the flow was pretty quick and efficient, so they were constantly pulling work in to start. The fear of being idle - or seen being idle - perhaps? However the middle was sloooow and lumpy - a lot of customization for each project meant that the middle operations had a high degree of variability - and they were always a step or two behind the rest of the shop.

Really, this time we mean it!

Starting a job is easy, but finishing that job can be really hard. How often have we read a status report showing a task or project or job at 90% done (or as I like to call it "small 'd' done")? And worse, to see the same status week after week?

Just because you can start a job doesn't mean you should.

AMac