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New 'Tent' Assembly Line Is 'Way Better' Than Conventional Factory, Says Tesla CEO (arstechnica.com)
A few days ago, Elon Musk announced a "new general assembly line" made with "minimal resources." As Ars Technica reports, this new tented facility "is seemingly the first phase of an entirely new building, dubbed 'Factory 2.0.'" From the report: The tent is easily visible from the nearby Warm Springs BART station platform. When Ars visited on Monday afternoon, there appeared to be cranes and forklifts moving around the site. We could not easily see inside the long white temporary structure, but there did not appear to be any newly completed vehicles rolling off the lines in the adjacent parking lot. Still, one automotive expert that Ars spoke with said that a new temporary manufacturing facility on the same site as conventional automotive factories was unprecedented in the industry. Dave Sullivan, an analyst with Auto Pacific, told Ars that he wondered what was wrong with Tesla's existing facilities, if Musk decided the company needed more capacity. "It's almost a sign of desperation," he said. "It's a sprint to be profitable in the third quarter." Ars notes that "each tent is 53-feet-high by 150-feet-long -- there seem to be several connected in a long line, mounted with aluminum framing." In a tweet, Musk said: "It's actually way better than the factory building. More comfortable & a great view of the mountains."
And, they all sing Kumbaya around the campfire on breaks.
"National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
The temperature topped out at about 75 degrees today. Let's see how much better it is when its 105+.
"What is wrong with the other production lines?"
Sabotage, that's what. We've been over this.
Didn't they say they tried to automate too much? If so all this room is probably needed to allow more manpower to work in parallel.
Whatever works.
We already know who the clown is, now we've got tents for this circus. Very good, Elon.
Dog is my co-pilot.
Hey, it worked for circuses for years. Why not car production?
Not surprising. Tesla has been shifting to humans over automation. They probably had some difficulty working around the existing layout and instead of reworking much of their factory floor I'm guessing they decided to move people outside. Heat from bodies may also make the factory uncomfortable if it wasn't designed for it.
And let's see what the quality guys think of assembling exposed to in the open wind swept air with no humidity control. There's a reason people don't have production lines in tents. He's trading quality control for quickly ramping production. I'll have to agree this seems like a desperate move.
Oh, and ya, great view there of those graffiti stricken trains.
This explains the strange gaps you experience in Teslas, trim not fiting right, strange squeeks and rattles, etc.
If you don't assemble in a temperature controlled environment all kinds of stranger things will turn up in the final product.
Sure looks like it's rocking at over 700 Model 3s per day, huh? https://www.zerohedge.com/news...
So, Elon Musk and his company just built in 5 weeks, literally from the ground up, what GM might spend 10 years architecting and designing, getting the EIR, hiring the right unions and negotiating their contracts, contracting for an acquiring equipment, actually assembling it, staffing it, and starting it running.
This race for profitability is actually viewed with contempt by a commentator of the conventional auto industry.
There is a lot to be said for agility, as any manager or investor in a start-up will tell you. This is simply another difference between Silicon Valley business and the conventional auto business. The same sort of difference that allowed Tesla to make electric cars that could actually compete with gasoline cars on their own turf.
I hear Ferrari is just starting to introduce one that might compete, after Tesla has had theirs on the market since 2007, with three new models since. But that's it so far. Ferrari is pretty agile as auto manufacturers go, but at the cost of low manufacturing volume. Ferrari won't be selling its cars at even 5000/month. Tesla is trying to get both the volume and the innovation.
Bruce Perens.
Who's the shift foreman, Sheriff Joe?
Where's the paint shop?
I don't see any issue assembling parts and, since it's an electric car, you don't have to worry about carbon monoxide when the engines are running (driving off the line).
But I can't see how you could implement a paint shop in a structure like this in short order.
Can anybody comment?
Mimetics Inc. Twitter
Now see you in the dust! Shouldn't have given away that hot info for free!
Take a close look at the photos of those "tents". That's a tent the same way that my car is a go-cart. Better to call it a soft-sided building
When sports clubs put these things up for tennis courts or cities put them up over facilities, they can be expected to last quite a few years. You can even get away with fairly decent climate control. In a mild climate like that, I bet it could last a decade with a bit of maintenance.
Tesla-people, please point out where I'm wrong.
"It's actually way better than the factory building." = "I wasted a couple billion of your money, and will be asking for more soon"
Bolded where you're wrong for ya. HTH.
this makes me wonder about working conditions. e.g. heat & cold. Also safety. I'd also wonder about environmental concerns. There's a lot you can get away with fume wise in an open air design. I've read somewhere (ars?) that they've got a 10 month limit on the structure's use.
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So Tesla is obviously struggling to keep up with demand, but how is this a "sign of desperation"? It's a sign of how popular the cars are. And they still have money to burn, so where's the problem?
USA? Go with looks and an unskilled production line. Change up the chrome looks every year. Keep profits up with an agricultural engine design for decades.
UK? Go expensive with hand crafted quality. Want a low cost car? Nationalise the car factory and use parts bins.
Germany? Make it good. Good parts. Good quality. Good expert workers. Other nations will pay for quality and quality parts.
East Germany? Steel is too expensive. Use plastic. Make people wait years for their very own car. Try Geschenkdienst und Kleinexporte?
Japan? Make good cars at a lower cost with robots and support a skilled work force.
South Korea? Robots and lower costs than Japan.
Soviet Union? Design a car for unpaved road conditions and a very cold climate. Working heater makes for very good car.
How do robots and delivered parts change all that in 2000-2030?
To win your going to need that factory Esprit De Corps of a car production line in Japan with the quality control of a West Germany.
The design smarts only a France and Italy can educate designers with will create a new car look people crave.
What does the history of UK car production line offer? Governments are not going to be able to pay for an entire car factory every year for decades.
Having workers working for the gov building cars from parts bins is not going to get the quality design needed.
Set up a car design company in Italy and France. Move German experts to Japan to consider new factor design. Have the factory parts, robots made in Japan.
Build car parts factory in South Korea. Build the car production line in Thailand using the design from Japan.
Ensure the workers in France and Italy are ready with the next years new look. Tool up in South Korea and have the next years production line ready in Thailand.
Low costs, real style, parts that fit and work, no gaps. Robots that work. Workers who are happy to work.
Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
This is just another way be cheap at the expense of the workers. I lived in a tent in the desert for 2 years (Hi, Iraqistan!). It was miserable. Now imagine working your ass off in one. Some union people need to go burn his tent down.
Yeah, you need a big building in Detroit, where it snows. In most places in coastal California, a tent structure will work just fine. Temporary AC is available to rent if you need it (conventions, parties, Easter church services), but most of the time you won't. You don't have to worry about snow loads on the roof in the Bay Area, either.
Heck, I've been to conventions in Las Vegas in temps >40C (at night!) in large tents.
Have you never painted in a tent? Never hung plastic sheeting to make one? My current booth (I only do small things) is one of those 10x12 greenhouses from Lowes. I mean, I don't know for certain that thiers is inside that tent, but there's little reason it couldn't be. All you have to do is keep the dust away.
Have you guys ever been in Denver International Airport main terminal? It's a tent. It gets as hot in Denver as it does in Fremont.
Snark all you want but just because something is a quote TENT unquote doesn't mean it isn't a robust and practical structure.
Brookhaven National Laboratory is on Earth. They achieved at least 4 trillion degrees Celsius.
Its an assembly line for a product that will live in the open wind swept air, rain and mud, snow and salt, etc. Things that need to be sealed were likely sealed at the subassembly plant before delivery to Tesla. Plus they will still have a clean room for steps where there would be an issue, such as painting. For many stages, bolting in instrument panels, consoles and seats, bolting on doors, etc what is the issue? Is there an issue for welding frame components, given the material thrown into the air during welding I kind of doubt it?
What are the open air and humidity problems that you are referring to?
This is just another way be cheap at the expense of the workers. I lived in a tent in the desert for 2 years (Hi, Iraqistan!). It was miserable. Now imagine working your ass off in one.
Obviously you were not Air Force, otherwise you would be aware of the fact that tents can be air conditioned too.
Since most of the robotics come from Germany, I am guessing that the next factory will be in Europe, possibly Germany or France. It should be easy to set up a quick and inexpensive tent, followed by robotic lines.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
others people money at that
Tesla bought an already existing factory from GM & Toyota on the cheap.
It's a Mars manufacturing facility prototype!
Hardly a new idea. There was a factory in my town during WW2 that switched to producing equipment for the army. They took out a side wall and extended their factory using tents. Increased their floorplan 10x overnight. Those tents stayed in place for 10 years. Makes sense if you need to increase your output overnight. Your essentials are space, labour, tools and materials. Space doesn't need to be brick and a tents a whole lot quicker to put up.
Musk can't catch a break with these guys now-a-days;
"It's almost a sign of desperation," he said. "It's a sprint to be profitable in the third quarter."
If he would have done nothing, they would have called him out on getting his numbers. But Musk doesn't want that to happens, and takes action, only for that to be considered 'desperate'. those analysts are just gigantic a-holes.
Elon M., the Tesla CEO who must remain nameless, is running low on other people's money. But he can still dream.
All you Tesla fanboi's have the spin machine at Max. Elon got those evil sabeteurs out to destoy Tesla (and no. no he's NOT losing it). Now tents are GOOD.
And when they go bankrupt, I'm sure it'll be a GREAT thing, since they can start fresh!
It's a Sprung Structure, manufactured by Sprung Instant Structures, LTD:
http://www.sprung.com/structur...
They refer to it as a prefab building.
Sam
I've worked in truss-membrane structures. Many years ago I nearly took a job designing them.
They can be designed super light-weight for fast assembly on unimproved ground. They can also be designed quite complex too. Fully weather-tight, double-wall for insulation, positive pressure capable, laser-fused clear panels for windows, easy utility/HVAC integration in the trusses, etc...
All this story does for me is provide evidence that Dave Sullivan is a dumb-ass that doesn't know what he's talking about, or more likely, has been paid off handsomely by the short crowd losing their shirts. Either way, the intended effect was not achieved.
This only confirms my theory that the new product out of Tesla is going to be a pop-up camper trailer.
#DeleteFacebook
OK idiot, R&D is fixed and finished, interest is fixed and finished. Both those things will go down per car as more cars are made. So the more cars they make the smaller your 'nonsense claimed loss' is. When that number gets smaller and smaller it will turn positive. Selling more cars won't make the number worse, it will make it better. Why you might ask (well if you had a brain) because the cars are profitable to make once those fixed costs are paid.
https://electrek.co/2018/05/14...
where does it say that the NEXT factory will be in China?
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
Don't know why you are telling me, but I'll claim the easy win. It's written clearly on that page that Australia by itself is 1%, so more obvious lies from you WindBourne.
Expect this to be shutdown as soon as any employee Complains of security issues
I'm surprised more manufacturers don't do this at least for initial setup testing and short term expansion. These buildings have more than a few advantages and are used extensively in agriculture these days. They also tend to save you boatloads of money on taxes since they are so cheap to build. The only issues are that they don't last terribly long (5-10 years if not hit by extreme weather events) and I would imagine that it would be a major fight in most municipalities to permit them since they can't rake in the tax dollars.
They're going to save a lot on labor once they start "housing" all the kids Trump is separating from their parents at the border.
Are you another old timer feeling sad that Windy isn't allowed to get away with his lies anymore now that people are paying attention?
Let's see,
you missed the entire point,
you don't seem to care about his obvious lies,
you don't like China,
you think anyone who questions American exceptionalism is Chinese
you agree with anyone on your team even when they are trivially obviously wrong.
you jump in with insults because you have no argument
yep Angry Old Man detected.