Elon Musk has said since the beginning that he was not going to operate Tesla like any other car company and so far he has proven himself to be a man of his word…and that’s not always the best thing. Using a different sales model than anyone else is cool, different, and sets his brand apart. Using more automation than anyone else has proven to be a large problem, one that Musk admitted to in a recent Tweet when he said that, “humans are underrated.” If there has been one massive problem that Musk and his company have run into it has been on the manufacturing end of things. Rather than look at some of the established practices that the traditional automative world has used for more than 100 years, Tesla has gone their own way and the results have been very public.
The company has yet to come close to meeting a manufacturing goal and a recent CNBC.com report is perhaps the most stunning revelation yet in why that may be. Area machine shops in the vicinity of the Tesla plant are being overrun with parts and pieces that need “rework”. That may mean that they need to be re-drilled, perhaps altered in a CNC machine, or otherwise touched by someone and “fixed”. This is a huge issue. Tesla has eschewed some of the statistical processes that are used by many manufacturers to monitor the quality of components coming from suppliers. Tesla has also been accused of not vetting the suppliers as closely as they should have. The rework situation is pretty incredible, especially when you see the photos in the story below.
W. Edwards Demming, the great industrial engineer who was largely ignored here in the USA and who was revered in Japan would have a field day with this. His practices and procedures were fully embraced by Japanese automakers and still today they are used. Their acceptance of his ideas and processes created an industrial behemoth. Tesla appears to be falling into traps that Demming wrote about extensively in his books and preached against in his teachings.
This is an amazing story. These machine shop owners have effectively hit the lottery…at least until the money runs out and if this is how Tesla will continue to operate, we can actually see that happening.
Hit the image below to see the full report at the CNBC.com website –
This looks like a smear piece to me. For some reason, many people have it out for Tesla right now. Rework of parts for failure to meet a print will be at the cost of the supplier unless it was an engineering mistake (which should have been caught by now). In fact, the parts may have been taken to the local machine shops by the supplier rather than return them to the suppliers plant.
As for supplier vetting and the use of statistical controls- even a perfect supplier makes a bad part occasionally. And one misstep in the manufacturing process and you have to rework a part. And statistical controls are not quality controls (a common misconception), they are consistency controls. If the part was designed wrong in the first place, a perfect machining operation isn’t going to make the part work. I have seen entire shipments of product sold to the manufacturer I worked for be rejected for not meeting incoming inspection by the manufacturer I worked for. This is the fault of the supplier and all the SPC in the world is not going to fix that.
The report quotes automotive sources within its report. Perfect opportunity to sling dirt on your competitor. They want Tesla dead, so why would they be sympathetic? Tesla over stepped its ability to deliver with its orders. They are trying to increase production to meet those orders. I occasionally work for a sub supplier that is working to automate the factory- I have heard of some companies that sold automation equipment to Tesla that could not make their own equipment work. These were reputable companies selling established products that over stepped their capabilities. This was not Tesla’s fault but they are the ones taking crap for not being able to deliver.
Without knowing the details of the reworked parts, I don’t think you should throw rocks at Tesla over this.
Curious when Elon will pay back the billions of dollars that he was loaned by the tax payers.
You guys crack me up. He\’s paid the loans back already.
Please, this is not a slam – the gentleman in 1st comment seems a bit more knowledgeable about the inside going ons @ Tesla. The average ‘joe’ on the street is not privey to such ‘behind the scene’ type of thing & thus may believ such a story……
While the 1st gentlemen’s post makes many, many good points, there’s something that may be forgotten. At the end of the day, the roll out of the Model 3 has been a complete and utter disaster. Many folks leaving or fired from the factory, news like this about parts, blah, blah. In summary,…….lots of $$$ spent and NOT a lot to show for it. He needs to stick to rockets.
Wow this brings back memories.
It is sad to see that companies have still not learned these lessons. In my experience this wuseable parts. Had the end user notified tier 3 of the problem immediately the as usually due to suppliers that should have been first tier being second and third tier. It is all due to a lack of communication I would say? Instead of important changes being immediately communicated to the places that matter it has to pass through a couple of e-mail chains first. Tier 1 doesn’t care if the part is to small as they only paint it, Tier 2 just put the holes in and they adjusted their fixture to keep the holes within spec on the drawing supplied and tier 3 finally find out that the drawing was toleranced without the dimension that was needed it’s to late. There are weeks of parts in transit and days worth at the other tiers. The tier 3 is weeks of transit away so they end up having to fly parts to the tier 2 taking a %500 loss then tier 2 and 1 charge tier 3 for their lost time. The user then charges tier 1 for down time awaiting usable parts. Had the end user notified tier 3 of the problem immediately the parts in the supply chain that were wrong would have been significantly reduced but because tier 2 made the adjustment it takes another cycle to locate as the problem is attributed to them…… Ohh and don’t forget that there is other BS that goes on like tier 2 has a machine that is not capable or/and they have promised something that requires tier 3 compliance to their spec regardless of the master requirement rejecting parts that would be ok if they corrected their error rather than requiring parts that correct their error.
SPC is a great thing but it relies on machine CPK’s way to much. Parts need oversight from start to finish from a common source with overall process control not segmented…….. Overall SPC works if the correct actions are in place to act on quality issues at the place of error. Common sense approaches like stopping production of junk rather than continuing just to keep everyone else busy….
Tesla is probably just finding out now what you already know. I believe even Boeing who once had immense control over their own stuff had this-type problem with the 787 when they were having to start subbing out work all over the world. For Tesla, to start that way from the beginning is bound to create a mess at times. I’d imagine in this case, rushed development has gotten them shipping containers full of Chinese parts that may be to spec but turned out to need small tweaks to be suitable for actual use, and since they can’t put ’em back on the boat and wait they’ll have to just fix the drawings and in the meanwhile farm out corrective measures to existing components instead. So it goes on the learning curve.
In my industry, we would call that failure of the Management of Change Process.
Historically, the worst offenders in the world with regard to Management of Change is the software industry which is where Musk earned his fortune. Ever had an phone or computer choke after a software update?
Musk has no interest in the mundane process of operating an automobile manufacturing company. Tesla will go down in flames when the investors finally figure out that new product release propaganda does not substitute process functionality.
Controlling supplier quality is a continued process and a business philosophy
It is either done on not done . As a machinist and model maker I was drafted into the quality dept of the Co. where I still work today (39yrs later..) in the 80’s
Two things have killed supplier quality – Solid modeling programs and bonuses based on margin … cut labor needed to check material and documentation in all aspects and allowing manufacturing documents to be created by colledge grads who have never bent , welded , formed or cut
anything —20 yrs ago I had an engineer tell me the side of a 4ft x 5ft 5/8’s
thick SS chamber would not move under vacuum – we modeled it !!!
I showed them the .350 inches of travel on a 2 ” indicater when it was pulled down and said ‘ model this ‘ – it had 17 TONS of pressure under vaccum !!
And yes I have Ishikowa , Rumler + Brache , and all the quality shit and classes you could dream of – It has to be applied !!!!!
I just told the head of a ‘ problem solving ‘ program he head his head up his
ass when the phrase ‘ 6 sigma ‘ quality was used and asked what fuckin’ rock did that crawl back out from under !! Anyone subjected to this horse shit will understand my rant .
If the minions tell the boss (Musk) it’s all good he will believe them
and pay the price as he is now
It is no secret that Elon Musk excels at “elocution” and not “execution.” His unending and unfulfilled promises regarding Tesla’s next quarter’s production have resulted in the company having to cut corners to try to keep up with his hubris and ego. I view Musk as a con man of sorts. He has convinced many in the investment community that his vision has worth, although many are now becoming more skeptical. And he sees the opportunity and has no problem bilking American taxpayers into subsidizing his dream by giving money via tax credits to every customer who buys his products. So what is he doing while his company is stumbling from quarter to quarter? Digging tunnels under freeways in Los Angeles. Go figure.
GRD- Actually he is winning the space race but whatever
I know! Amazing on that front. Must have some really good people working for him there.
The sad thing is the problem has been there from the start. Tesla are not known for their spare parts availability. This is always a indication of capacity/quality issues. They need to ramp back and meet the FULL criteria of automotive production before optimization at all costs. ie new replacement panels and bumpers etc available to owners of these vehicles………
Ha ha ha ha!
I wonder what Elon Musk’s real name is – I go for Irma Asholeo…..
These are the same genius quality Japanese manufacturers responsible for crapload of airbag recalls.