Bailey recommence Production 👏👏👏👏👏

[Dustydog]

What a surprise.
65% of new / used caravan sales this year are to long ago returners and never done it before.
Just in time production methods have been invented.
Henry Ford style production methods will be implemented.

Russell Hobbs now make caravan microwaves.

Full production commences 17 th August.

I wish Bailey every success and hope their employees are kept happy and safe.
More importantly can we look forward to better Quality products 🤔

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwC0iVjNhfg&feature=youtu.be&utm_campaign=11732182_August%20Customer%20Newsletter&utm_medium=Dotmailer&utm_source=email_marketing

 

[Mel]

Any news about manufacturing getting back to work is welcome. Particularly if it also means a boost to UK Tourism and hospitality.
How many used vans end up back on the market when some first timers discover it isn’t for them, will be interesting. Hope it does mean that lots of people do discover the joy of Caravanning and stick with it though.
Mel

 

[ProfJohnL]

I am very pleased to see that Bailey and I will assume most of the other large caravan manufacturers are preparing to restart production. We do need to get industry and commerce up and running as safely as possible to start the countries economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.

The short video by Simon Howard, Marketing Director at Bailey was interesting. It was certainly impressive to see how clean the assembly shop is now, all-be-it devoid of parts, people and part completed caravans. From a close scrutiny of some of the footage I could not see any specific production or quality control signage.

Based on what Simon tells us, they have been forced to think about how to assemble caravans and motorhomes whilst keeping socially distanced, and I was pleased to hear about the PRAG assessment process they have adopted to identify and reduce risky production steps. They have also had to go further and de-clutter the assembly area to allow the assembly workers enough space to maintain social distancing. Time will tell how effectively these measures will prove to be. There will be a learning curve, as its almost impossible to conceive of every human interaction that a work force evolves to effect an assembly of this nature.

They have finally decided to drop one of the old traditions seen across the industry of where suppliers parts were often passed to the production line still in their transit packaging, meaning the assemblers also had to unpack the items on the line side. SH points out one of the pitfalls of the tradition, and that is the amount of packaging material that some products have which clutters up the assembly area. What he didn't tell us was that the way some of these packages were opened was far from careful, and parts of appliances would be damaged or lost in the process. To make good the loss, assemblers often took parts from other stock appliances. This was passing the problem down the line.

I do wonder if the operators at the preparation stations will have sufficient training to ensure no small parts are over looked when an appliance is unpacked and put in the assembly line side stillage. I also wonder how the line assembler will cope if a shortage or incorrect or damaged part is dispensed to the line side.

This is beginning to look like smart production, and I wouldn't wish to belittle the work done to synchronise the factories internal logistics and materials handling to accomplish it.

Dusty dog mentions "Just In Time" I wouldn't go as far as that, because the company is still holding a large stock of production materials, where as JIT aims to reduce stock holding at the assembly site, and replace it with suppliers fulfilling and delivering orders within closely controlled time slots.

With a well implemented JIT system, the suppliers may deliver straight to the assembly line, and it might require several drops per day. Obviously there has to be a practical balance to this, but the aim is to move towards a lean manufacturing/assembly process with as little stock in progress as possible.

I hope this chance to reorganise the production process is a step in the right direction to improve product consistency, and make more customers happy first time.

 

[Dustydog]

HI Prof

JIT was a reference taken from SH who indirectly referred to a substantial reduction in materials in trade stock holding and an almost doubling of delivery trucks per day ,thus reducing cash tied up in the warehouse. DD

 

[Buckman]

HI Prof

JIT was a reference taken from SH who indirectly referred to a substantial reduction in materials in trade stock holding and an almost doubling of delivery trucks per day ,thus reducing cash tied up in the warehouse. DD

JIT seems to be an outdated term as now they wait until they have no stock and then order only enough for the production line and not any to replace faulty parts. I think most of us have experienced this!

 

[ProfJohnL]

JIT seems to be an outdated term as now they wait until they have no stock and then order only enough for the production line and not any to replace faulty parts. I think most of us have experienced this!

I have to disagree with such a negative perception. No production line business, not even a poor one could survive with a the strategy you have suggested.

Spare parts for aftersales cannot be drawn off production allocations, as that would stop production. With the production process Bailey have described, it will have a mixed model prodcution line. In theory they could have multiple models running on the line at the same time. If a part is withdrawn from the line to service an after sales call, becasue one caravan is missing that part they have little chance to extract that particular van from the line, so it all grinds to a halt.

Spares invariably have to be ordered as extra items or as a separate order.

I do agree some businesses don't support after sales requirements very well. especially for legacy items, but where there are large costly components (e'g' typically and front or rear end moulding) these are not items that can easily be stored for spares, becasue of the cost and the variety of design or colours, its more cost effective to have panels manufactured when they are called for. Not perhaps as convenient as customers would like, but its a realistic approach to keep costs down.

 

[RogerL]

I have to disagree with such a negative perception. No production line business, not even a poor one could survive with a the strategy you have suggested.

Spare parts for aftersales cannot be drawn off production allocations, as that would stop production. With the production process Bailey have described, it will have a mixed model prodcution line. In theory they could have multiple models running on the line at the same time. If a part is withdrawn from the line to service an after sales call, becasue one caravan is missing that part they have little chance to extract that particular van from the line, so it all grinds to a halt.

Spares invariably have to be ordered as extra items or as a separate order.

I do agree some businesses don't support after sales requirements very well. especially for legacy items, but where there are large costly components (e'g' typically and front or rear end moulding) these are not items that can easily be stored for spares, becasue of the cost and the variety of design or colours, its more cost effective to have panels manufactured when they are called for. Not perhaps as convenient as customers would like, but its a realistic approach to keep costs down.

Spares can also be sourced by increasing production order quantity - the bane of component suppliers is the constant changing of order quantities

 

[Jcloughie]

Interesting, and could be indicative of how many companies will need to rethink their, possibly outmoded, working methods in order to go forward.

Or, might be said that they had a kick up the jacksy.


John

 

[ProfJohnL]

Spares can also be sourced by increasing production order quantity - the bane of component suppliers is the constant changing of order quantities

Which is why I wrote
"Spares invariably have to be ordered as extra items or as a separate order. "

 

[ProfJohnL]

Interesting, and could be indicative of how many companies will need to rethink their, possibly outmoded, working methods in order to go forward.

Or, might be said that they had a kick up the jacksy.


John

Certainly in the context of meeting Covid-19 safety, but as many companies are having to make some people redundant, I and I have every sympathy for them, as you suggest this is an opportunity for many companies to look for smarter ways to operate, both managerially and production wise.

 

[Jcloughie]

as you suggest this is an opportunity for many companies to look for smarter ways to operate, both managerially and production wise.

I really believe that the “Covid effect” will make very big improvements to some industries, not only in terms of production methods but also home working, trust, people management etc. Unfortunately I feel that there are possibly more industries that will find change extremely challenging, ie. Hospitality and retail. I agree that our sympathy is needed for those workers.

John

 

[Dustydog]

Which is why I wrote
"Spares invariably have to be ordered as extra items or as a separate order. "

An order is an order. What it is , is irrelevant. It is an order. Even JIT is usually ordered with at least a 10 % margin safeguard. JIT has never been on an absolute knife edge.

 

[JezzerB]

Mmm not so sure; BMW mini Oxford operate JIt to such an extent they have operatives in a control room monitoring traffic and are able to redirect the supply vehicles via better routes if needed. Yes they also have the spending power to source items close to the factory -ie dashboards arrive from an independent plant behind the Oxford factory but engines arrive from Birmingham area for eg. All very sophisticated and impressive.

 

[otherclive]

Mmm not so sure; BMW mini Oxford operate JIt to such an extent they have operatives in a control room monitoring traffic and are able to redirect the supply vehicles via better routes if needed. Yes they also have the spending power to source items close to the factory -ie dashboards arrive from an independent plant behind the Oxford factory but engines arrive from Birmingham area for eg. All very sophisticated and impressive.

Just like Honda in Swindon a range of different suppliers all local and the trucks just keep coming and going.

 

[Buckman]

I have to disagree with such a negative perception. No production line business, not even a poor one could survive with a the strategy you have suggested.

Spare parts for aftersales cannot be drawn off production allocations, as that would stop production. With the production process Bailey have described, it will have a mixed model prodcution line. In theory they could have multiple models running on the line at the same time. If a part is withdrawn from the line to service an after sales call, becasue one caravan is missing that part they have little chance to extract that particular van from the line, so it all grinds to a halt.

Spares invariably have to be ordered as extra items or as a separate order.

I do agree some businesses don't support after sales requirements very well. especially for legacy items, but where there are large costly components (e'g' typically and front or rear end moulding) these are not items that can easily be stored for spares, becasue of the cost and the variety of design or colours, its more cost effective to have panels manufactured when they are called for. Not perhaps as convenient as customers would like, but its a realistic approach to keep costs down.

Have you ever heard of the term "Tongue in cheek". I am very surprised that you took my post seriously?

 

[ProfJohnL]

The car industry probably has some of the most finely balanced JIT procedures of any business. I know of some production lines that carry zero off line stock on the premises, and the do rely on timed almost to the minuet deliveries direct to the production line. One manufacture was notorious for negotiating some heavy financial consequences. If a supplier failed to meet their delivery slot.

Many suppliers set up local hubs where they make bulk deliveries to storage (at the suppliers expense), and then stock is released using local delivery vehicles to feed the car plant. I have heard of some suppliers that actually have a spare driver and vehicle on stand by in case a line side delivery is interrupted.

It don't see the caravan industry having the need for such a finely tuned process, but the company I was involved with 20 years ago did make daily deliveries to most of the major caravan manufacturers and we were given a delivery window for the lorry to off load.

A rolling three monthly caravan build schedules were supposed to be sent to us so we could schedule our own build, but often we were only given 36Hours notice of what they wanted. We held a 24 hour stock of finished products so we could usually meet all but the most signification of their changed needs.

Occasionally deliveries were turned away, when they had a stoppage, or if they had decided to change the production schedule and not bothered to tell us.

I could go into a lot more detail about how the systems went wrong, but that is not for this thread.

 

[Dustydog]

So Prof do you agree with Bailey’s revised working methods? They seem sensible to me. Reduced storage, reduced daily financial outlay, buffer stock calculated, unpacked items supplied direct to line for operatives , a clear working area, if we are lucky we may see a big improvement in quality 👍👍👍

 

[Jcloughie]

I forget which TV station it was on but Richard Hammond did a series called BIG. One episode covered the Volkswagen's Wolfsburg production plant. That was a top example in precision production and timing. At the end of the production line they could not feed the cars onto the waiting trains fast enough, so they developed a completely new system which allowed them to feed the carriages sideways onto the train. They even have their own sausages making production line inside the factory to keep the workers happy and they are so popular they sell them for a profit locally too. Well worth a watch.

My dealer had to order a new axle for my van. Alko UK put in the request to Germany. within hours we knew the date it would be made and the date it would be in the UK. And that was kept to exactly.

John

 

[otherclive]

I forget which TV station it was on but Richard Hammond did a series called BIG. One episode covered the Volkswagen's Wolfsburg production plant. That was a top example in precision production and timing. At the end of the production line they could not feed the cars onto the waiting trains fast enough, so they developed a completely new system which allowed them to feed the carriages sideways onto the train. They even have their own sausages making production line inside the factory to keep the workers happy and they are so popular they sell them for a profit locally too. Well worth a watch.

My dealer had to order a new axle for my van. Alko UK put in the request to Germany. within hours we knew the date it would be made and the date it would be in the UK. And that was kept to exactly.

John

You did well in your Alko axle delivery. Mine was scheduled sometime before 4 Oct 2018. Arrived 18 November 2018 but with an interim date also missed.

 

[ProfJohnL]

So Prof do you agree with Bailey’s revised working methods? They seem sensible to me. Reduced storage, reduced daily financial outlay, buffer stock calculated, unpacked items supplied direct to line for operatives , a clear working area, if we are lucky we may see a big improvement in quality 👍👍👍

I do agree the proposed methods are step in the right direction, but Its impossible to predict whether they will all work exactly as conceived. There are bound to be practical teething troubles when such a major change is brought in. I'm not suggesting the work force will rebel (though that of course may be a possibility) but it may turn out that some of the proposed procedures are simply not practical.

I do believe the changes could also improve consistency of final product. but as long as there are operations that require the assembler to make a judgement call about the task (e.g The application of mastic, correct number and placement of fixings, etc) there will continue to be variation in product quality.

Quality is not a matter of luck its a matter of intention.

 

[Jcloughie]

You did well in your Alko axle delivery. Mine was scheduled sometime before 4 Oct 2018. Arrived 18 November 2018 but with an interim date also missed.

Mine Happened in 2015 after loosing a wheel in France (which is its own long story). So it would seem that Alko really lost the plot after that.

John

 

[JezzerB]

Personal experience here; I have seen little real problem with Bailey's quality-it was the sub contractor parts that went wrong in ours-thetford toilet cassette leaked, tap dechromed and water pump issue. The only Bailey issue was too much sealant in the awning rail and generally round the caravan.

 

[Raywood]

JIT needs a large throughput, as you need to have lorry loads delivered to get the cost of transporting down as well. The caravan industry works on fairly small numbers and presumably has to carry rather more than the JIT system dictates to get the parts delivered in economical numbers. Some parts could arrive that way but I doubt the system means no spare parts are available if any are damaged or found to be faulty.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Full JIT relies on a number of underlying and supporting processes. king of which is suppliers making items of that are "Quality Assured", so that product can go straight to line. With such parts there should be no need for spares to be made available as part of the production supplies. However as I have previously stated, we manufactured parts that we assured, but that did not stop the poor handling process and operator errors at the caravan manufacturers damaging appliances as they handled them.

 

[Robert_374373903]

On UTUBE saw this chap who speaks about motorhomes and this night it was about auctions . It showed many caravans , most looked fairly new , most of them was from finance companies.