Car Woes

I love all the Engineering stuff. I am in awe how such productivity could be programmed into an assembly line. Is that 20 second Takt time still valid today? The post war Japanese generation made super human sacrifices to build a new industrial Japan. Are the present generations still willing to make the same sacrifice?

So what is the Takt time in a Michigan auto plant? Is it anywhere near 20 Seconds?

That is about what it takes to work up a good fart. If you had 100 assembly line persons and they had to fart every hour, you already lost 55 production units in a day. Imagine if you had 2000 workers! Japanese are not known to be farty people because their diet seldom includes dairy fat. We all know that those living up North consume lots of cheese and butter and a lot of meat.

The dream factory would be the one designed in Germany. Was that real? That was almost a 100% automated system. The entire building was a giant mechanized unit including floors and walls. Amazing what engineers can do.

They already have (in a smaller scale), self-perpetuating machines. Wow! Imagine if you could do this in major industries. But we may end up like "Matrix" or what was that Arnold movie about the future sending in prototype robots to kill the ancestor of a rebel?

Nothing important. Just oiling the old rusty brain.

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"Each worker pulled a box of parts from a computer controlled conveyor and must install the parts on the moving engine block for not more then 20 seconds. The line produced different engine models at the rate of 20 seconds per and based on the needs of the final assembly line in another part of the plant. Ā The final assembly plant was also a wonder.

Human beings were needed to install the various components of various models, from the smallest to the largest Crowns, also at the rate of 20 seconds each".

The 20 seconds time interval is called thetakt time. It's also called the "beat" of the production line because the conveyor carrying the engine, moves to the next station every 20 seconds. Whatever component that needs to be installed or added on to the engine at that particular station (and at every station throughout the entire length of the conveyor line, needs to be installed in less than or exactly 20 seconds. It also means that at the end of the line, there is one complete engine coming out every 20 seconds.

In 2006, I was part of the Operational Excellence team of my employer W.L. Gore and Associates that went to benchmark the assembly line of Apache attack helicopters in Meza, Arizona. The assembly process was in the form of a big U shaped assembly line running around the building. There was no traveling conveyor belt since the helicopters had wheels and they were just pushed around from one station to the next. The fuselage which was made in another adjacent building gets mounted on to it's wheels at the start of the U line. Other components are also attached to the fuselage. After three days, the first helicopter is moved on to the next station where the avionics are mounted. Meanwhile another fuselage is being mounted at the start of the line. After three days, these two helicopters move to the next stations and another new fuselage gets started. Meanwhile the first helicopter which is now on the third station is being mounted with propellers, and so on. The takt time was three days and there was a complete helicopter coming out at the end of the line every three days.

These helicopters were used extensively in the Persian Gulf war. We saw a white flag of surrender used by the Republican guards of Saddam Hussein. It was a souvenir that was displayed on the wall. According to the plant people, the Republican guards dreaded the Apache helicopters because of their deadly armaments and once it corners a group of enemies, it could hover over them and they don't leave until the US soldiers arrive to capture the enemy. Aside from US armed forces use, they are also supplied to US allies but these are not equipped with the latest instruments.

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You can add to your list the brand names: Nissan, Mazda, Volvo, Audi, Volkswagen, and soon Citroen.

Back in the 1960's, Lee Iaccoca headed Ford and, being concerned with the bottom line of his operations, he suggested to the Board that they install Mazda engines in some Ford models. Ā His timing was bad as the Board members were still very mad at the Japanese being that World War Two was just 16 years ago. Ā HIs reasoning of course was that Mazda could sell its engines at a profit for $ 300.00 each F.O.B. any point in U.S.A., a cost that no American engine manufacturer can ever match.

In 1976, with a group of 11 other Filipino Service managers from the Philippines, we toured the Toyota Engine Plant in Toyota City. After about 20 minutes of awe, one of our group asked the Japanese guide "Where are the workers?" After a few minutes of searching we came upon a trio in overalls in a tiny break room, one with his feet up on the round table was reading a comic book while the others were sipping soda with a lively discussion at another table. Another 20 minutes of resumed tour and we came upon the real workforce, the assembly line for the engines. Each worker pulled a box of parts from a computer controlled conveyor and must install the parts on the moving engine block for not more then 20 seconds. Ā The line produced different engine models at the rate of 20 seconds per and based on the needs of the final assembly line in another part of the plant. The final assembly plant was also a wonder. Ā Human beings were needed to install the various components of various models, from the smallest to the largest Crowns, also at the rate of 20 seconds each.

Amazing, what automation they had set up. Automation that the Americans first started and should be able to also do. That is the answer for the productivity of the American workers, for any product.

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Just a reminder

toyota, honda, hyundai, bmw build their cars in America and hire americans. In fact, they are better than ford which has plants in mexico, only the f150 is built in michigan. within the last 3 years American cars are a lot better and should have no problems going over 100k miles. i believe thats the recommended first tune up. the only problems with them seems to be the heavy use of plastics in the interior and exterior. that's the main complaint with the corvette, they should have the same interior as a german car specially with the zr1, over 100k and you can push the body at the back because of the plastics. on the mechanical side they are just as good if they they were produced after 2009. if you go to the car shows like the one in sf, thats the main complaint about American cars, they have cheap looking interiors and the choices are very limited. i believe the battery of the chevy volt is made in south korea funded by American stimulus funds.

The engines of the new mazdas with the skyactive, have good reviews.

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By comparison, my sixteen year old 1995 Toyota Camry has logged 128,000 miles when I got it back from my daughters in 2003. It now has 154,000 miles plus. Except for accident damages and regular oil filter changes with engine oil, the only parts replacements I have had were for front brake pads (twice), tires, timing belt (changed at 120,000 miles) and oil pan gasket which should not have failed had not a greenhorn mechanic over zealously tightened all the nuts under the car, resulting in the gasket having been squashed and so leaked. The engine's oil pan bolts must never be tightened, as they are supposed to be designed to last almost forever.

Toyota recommends that the spark plugs be changed every 90,000 miles, (compared to every 5,000 miles for regular plugs) but my mechanic asked me if the engine was misfiring and to my negative answer, he said I should just keep them until the engine misfires.

And my records show that my gas consumption is at about 32 miles per gallon for my (and my daughter's) total mileage, city and highway. At the time I bought it there was no american car that could match those records.

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The 2002 GMC Envoy XLT that I bought in December 2001 has about 110,000 miles, still runs good and also still looks good because I've been parking it inside the garage. The only major expense on it has been the replacement of the set of shock absorbers, change of the brake pads and change of tires. I'm very happy with it's quality and performance.

For the same price of an equivalent foreign car, you get the top of the line model with an American car complete with the bells and whistles. In my case, the SUV came with an a/c, sunroof, running board, leather seats, heated driver and passenger seat, dual temperature control, power seats and windows, Bose stereo system, automatic windshield washer that turn on as soon as it rains, and automatic adjustment of your driver seat and side view mirrors to their programmed positions as soon as you put your key into the ignition slot. It even has a small compressor so that you can inflate your own tires wherever you are and can also use it to inflate your bike tires and basketball or volleyball.

For a foreign car, it will cost you an arm and a leg assuming that they have the same features available. The best feature that sold my wife to it was that there is a covered vanity mirror embedded on the sun visor both on the driver and passenger side. As soon as she flips open the cover, the light turns on so that she could easily take a quick look at her make up even in the dark, before alighting from the vehicle. For her, this is the deal clincher. The foreign brands we looked at in 2001 don't have this feature. Approved and funds were released.