How Long Will It Take For An Elio To Transit The Assembly Line?

[Zipper]

I'm aware that there's at least one forum member here that has vehicle assembly line experience. I'm also aware that there are many thousands of variables that can affect the duration of transit.

I'm just looking for a broad S.W.A.G of what the duration of transit might be.

Some folks have mentioned that they would like to watch their baby during its entire assembly process. I'm reasonably certain that's not practical. It would be nice to have the plant tours scheduled such that each of us could get a good feel for the overall process then, perhaps, follow our baby along the last 30 minutes or so prior to its 'birth'.

The logistics around that level of coordination are probably less difficult for the folks at Elio than they will be for the owners who would have to arrange their travel to the plant to coincide with a relatively specific date.

 

[Ty]

I never watched one of the trucks go all the way through the process. (I did, of course, see every station perform work on trucks. Most of my time was working on the cross-body harness station) There was the painting area and drying, etc. Those things took some time but I don't think it was a whole day worth. You are right about being impractical to watch the whole process. I can't imagine any manufacturer letting 200 or so people wander around watching their Elios being built. They could arrange it so you could watch the last part being done though so you would be there when it rolled off the line after that last QA check. Instead of a plant employee driving it to the parking lot, you could drive it over to a customer reception area where they take some pictures, maybe give you something for your journey, and maybe a stack of brochures since it would be easier to hand those out than answer questions every stop!

 

[zelio]

I never watched one of the trucks go all the way through the process. (I did, of course, see every station perform work on trucks. Most of my time was working on the cross-body harness station) There was the painting area and drying, etc. Those things took some time but I don't think it was a whole day worth. You are right about being impractical to watch the whole process. I can't imagine any manufacturer letting 200 or so people wander around watching their Elios being built. They could arrange it so you could watch the last part being done though so you would be there when it rolled off the line after that last QA check. Instead of a plant employee driving it to the parking lot, you could drive it over to a customer reception area where they take some pictures, maybe give you something for your journey, and maybe a stack of brochures since it would be easier to hand those out than answer questions every stop!

I think they should hire you as tour coordinator. You have some great ideas. :-) Z

 

[Ty]

I think they should hire you as tour coordinator. You have some great ideas. Z

LOL... That would probably be fun for a little while... a little while.

 

[Malthorn]

A lot would depend on how Elio setup the line but isn't likely under any reasonable situation. For example the Ford Focus line at Michigan Assemble plant has a Focus or CMax roll off the end about every sixty seconds. At any given time there are hundreds of vehicles on the line and it snakes all over the buildings.

 

[ccryder]

Since most of the Elio is off-the-shelf, assembly time will be reduced. At GMs V6 engine plant, 250 V6 engines an hour. At volume production you are looking at 35 vehicles per hour.

Parts will need to be staged or kitted along the line so when my Blue, cruise control, automatic, Blue Tooth is rolling down the line the correct parts will be assembled on chassis #2435. In order to meet this takt time, the rights parts, enough work stations, correct staffing and parts will need to be on the production line. IE are good at those time studies and determining the head count and equipment to be in place.

 

[ccryder]

Just in case: takt is the "rate, rhythm, or beat of the production.
So for a typical 8 hour shift there is roughly 7.25 production hours. At that rate, every ~103 seconds an Elio would roll off the line.

All you have to do from there is back calculate to determine how many stations and people are required to meet the takt time. Sounds easy, yeah right.

 

[paddy's wagon]

Building a small truck, like the S-10, at the Shreveport plant was a very long, winding (space wise) and precisely timed process. The body fabrication itself was handled mostly by robots. The truck was assembled in two tiers, an upper and lower level, one tier for the body another for the frame. At a certain point in production they met, were mated and the truck's finishing was performed. Painting was done on the body line, no frame.
storeage for engines, frames, axels and other preassembled parts consumed a lot of space and an army of people to keep the line supplied with bits and pieces. (parts is parts)

The Elio is a motorcycle, the body is a small plastic component and will prolly already be prepainted.
The front clip, that is engine, drive train and suspension, will probably be assembled or even preassembled on a separate line then mated to the frame and the body/interior fastened last. Obvoiousy the space required for producing an Elio would be a fraction of what it took to assemble an S-10, since the company is only leasing part of the old S-10 plant.

So I'm thinking one could stand in the "middle" of the Elio production line and watch the whole assembly in one room, not including storage of parts.
Even that would be reduced if the plant used a "just in time method" of assembly line supply.

The one thing that I'm uncertained about is engine manufacture. I gather from reading the forums that Elio wants to fabricate it's engines from scratch, and not buy preassembled (off site) engines, is that right?

 

[zelio]

Building a small truck, like the S-10, at the Shreveport plant was a very long, winding (space wise) and precisely timed process. The body fabrication itself was handled mostly by robots. The truck was assembled in two tiers, an upper and lower level, one tier for the body another for the frame. At a certain point in production they met, were mated and the truck's finishing was performed. Painting was done on the body line, no frame.
storeage for engines, frames, axels and other preassembled parts consumed a lot of space and an army of people to keep the line supplied with bits and pieces. (parts is parts)

The Elio is a motorcycle, the body is a small plastic component and will prolly already be prepainted.
The front clip, that is engine, drive train and suspension, will probably be assembled or even preassembled on a separate line then mated to the frame and the body/interior fastened last. Obvoiousy the space required for producing an Elio would be a fraction of what it took to assemble an S-10, since the company is only leasing part of the old S-10 plant.

So I'm thinking one could stand in the "middle" of the Elio production line and watch the whole assembly in one room, not including storage of parts.
Even that would be reduced if the plant used a "just in time method" of assembly line supply.

The one thing that I'm uncertained about is engine manufacture. I gather from reading the forums that Elio wants to fabricate it's engines from scratch, and not buy preassembled (off site) engines, is that right?

I can't answer about the engine but I have read in some of EM information, that "just in time method" of assembly line supply is the plan. The way it was presented was that it was less expensive this way than to have to buy and store a lot parts. It certainly makes sense to me. Oddly enough, since I reserved my Elio, (I apologize to those who dislike anything the least off topic), I have started shopping this way. I find even though I am paying more for food because I am eating more organics, my money is going further. No additional money is coming in but I am able to get more with the money I have. The "just in time method" plan even works on my very small scale without my going into debt and I am saving some towards my reservation upgrade. That gives me even more faith and confidence in EM. :-) Z

 

[BlioKart]

The one thing that I'm uncertained about is engine manufacture. I gather from reading the forums that Elio wants to fabricate it's engines from scratch, and not buy preassembled (off site) engines, is that right?

Engines will be assembled in the same building as the Elio. Comau will provide automation for engine assembly and body welding. So they wont be delivered to the factory completed but in parts. I believe the reasoning behind using a bespoke engine is because it would be more cost effective than sourcing an engine from a current manufacturer. At least that's what they say I am not engineer but sounds reasonable to me. They hope to get to 250K a year in production for the entire world market. And having your own engine means more profit for you and not your engine supplier.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comau#Powertrain_Systems wiki page for comau interestingly enough they are a Fiat owned subsidiary

Body Welding
Comau designs, produces, tests and services advanced body welding equipment for vehicle bodies and body components. Body welding systems are made for low, medium and high production volumes and for any size component or vehicle. Products include framing systems, accumulated pallet conveyors (APC), break-away end effectors, vision systems, welding guns and line feeding systems.[6][9]

Powertrain Systems
Comau develops, produces and services manufacturing systems, modular machining systems for powertrain components, assembly systems for engines, transmissions and components, automated modules, product performance simulations and testing systems that are customized to specific production facilities.[10]

Robotics
Comau has been designing and producing integrated robotic solutions since 1978 and is currently a leading international producer of industrial robots.[7] They manufacture industrial robots for a variety of industries. Integrated robotics, turn-key systems and robotized cells are implemented mainly in the automotive industry. In 2000 Comau Robotics developed SMART, robotized cells and process-integrated solutions for all payload categories, which have reduced dimensions, increased working volume, high-precision movements and positioning accuracy for spot welding, arc welding, foundry, laser welding, press-to-press automation, handling/palletizing and sealing/gluing.[11] Their industrial robot products handle small, medium and high payloads. They also produce robot control units.[6] The company is member of the International Federation of Robotics.