Jay3wheel
Elio Addict
JIT is started with a larger inventory and then gradually reduced as experience with providers show you what they are capable of performing. Luckily for Elio they have soooo muich room available for storage if needed.
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You can register using your Google, Facebook, or Twitter account, just click here.Well said - retired after 35 years in manufacturing and know it (too) well <lol> Because in any one factory we may produce 1,000+ SKUs (food industry) and our ingredients were perishable, Cycle Time was actually a bigger driver for us. That's not to say we ignored working capital, though! Oh what I would have given for only 14 variants (7 colors, 2 trannies).....company officials earn their keep in making such decisions as how long is appropriate for their company's definition of JIT .... do they want to have components there 1 day in advance, 2 days, 3 days, 1 week, 2 weeks , ???? .... it also requires close contact with suppliers (which I believe will be a strong point for EM) so as receive notice of any issues with delivery of components as far in advance as is possible .... it helps to have multiple suppliers for any item .... when you only have one source, your operation is at the mercy of their operation
Jim
Wont they have to either build to order on the assembly line or have a 2nd area for installation of optional parts.
Paul has already said there will be 14 variations - 7 colors each for the automatic and 7 colors each for the manual. All options will be done outside of the production line. He discussed that in this Town Hall Meeting. :-) ZWont some storage be needed? No dealers at the time of manufacturing will be open and some will opt to have factory delivery. Since it will only be built in two configurations and all options will be installed later. Wont they have to either build to order on the assembly line or have a 2nd area for installation of optional parts. Wont they have to keep said options in stock? Seems to me at first having them built to order makes sense then changing to the 2 variation system later.
Wont some storage be needed? No dealers at the time of manufacturing will be open and some will opt to have factory delivery. Since it will only be built in two configurations and all options will be installed later. Wont they have to either build to order on the assembly line or have a 2nd area for installation of optional parts. Wont they have to keep said options in stock? Seems to me at first having them built to order makes sense then changing to the 2 variation system later.
You are correct that there will be two steps to this process and the second step will eventually require warehouse space.
The first step is the very efficient vehicle assembly line which will produce the exact same vehicles with the only variations being transmission choice and body color. My guess is that it would cost too much to set up the line for build to order only to reorganize later so this will likely be the way it is from day one.
The second step is after initial assembly the vehicle will move to the finishing area where options are installed however for reservation holders this could also be mainly JIT as EM will have our orders about 60 days out. Eventually the finishing and distribution centers will be located not just at the plant but throughout the country. Efficient management and distribution of the required parts for options should be an interesting part of the Elio Motors process. My guess is that this process will be monitored and managed centrally from Shreveport and it is likely that option parts will be delivered to Shreveport before being distributed via truck and/or rail to the finishing/distribution centers along with the base vehicles themselves.
'distrusted via truck'
That's the very reason I don't want mine On A Truck!!! You can tell some of us read your posts Very Carefully.lol