Emira (wide)shut line Discussion

[TomE]

Respectfully though, it’s still a lot of the same people hand building a lot of the same or similar parts being bonded with the same materials and technologies — but with some additional tools and more attention to detail. I’d fully expect the quality to go up even as an “early adopter”.

I’m not making any attacks at you personally TomE but this Lotus forum vibe sure is starting to sound a bit like a Tesla apologist group.

For the record, I don’t even think the shut line looks bad or is an issue.

The point you commented on was about things needing time to settle down because it was in effect a start up. It's not a start up in the conventional sense, and the design, development and engineering certainly isn't (although there are a lot of new people). But the manufacturing facility and extensive supply chain certainly is substantially new. There are more new people working in production than previous staff carrying on - including nearly a whole shifts-worth of extras. The panel fabrication and painting process is all new, the chassis build is in a new facility, the bonding of panels to body is a totally new process. Lots of the suppliers are new to Lotus. And they've only had about 100 full spec cars built so far to train people on.

All of the changes have been introduced to make a step change in quality. I'm sure the first customer car will be way ahead of anything Lotus have ever built before in terms of quality. That was very apparent from visiting the factory. And it's clear they don't want to let cars out to customers unless they are completely happy with them.

But I think it would be realistic to expect some teething problems from a new operation - hopefully these will be caught by all the new QA processes rather than being discovered later by customers. I'm optimistic but also being pragmatic. And I'm speaking as a customer who wants them to succeed but knows they have a big hill to climb, rather than trying to defend or undermine what Lotus are doing.

 

[roundincircles]

The point you commented on was about things needing time to settle down because it was in effect a start up. It's not a start up in the conventional sense, and the design, development and engineering certainly isn't (although there are a lot of new people). But the manufacturing facility and extensive supply chain certainly is substantially new. There are more new people working in production than previous staff carrying on - including nearly a whole shifts-worth of extras. The panel fabrication and painting process is all new, the chassis build is in a new facility, the bonding of panels to body is a totally new process. Lots of the suppliers are new to Lotus. And they've only had about 100 full spec cars built so far to train people on.

All of the changes have been introduced to make a step change in quality. I'm sure the first customer car will be way ahead of anything Lotus have ever built before in terms of quality. That was very apparent from visiting the factory. And it's clear they don't want to let cars out to customers unless they are completely happy with them.

But I think it would be realistic to expect some teething problems from a new operation - hopefully these will be caught by all the new QA processes rather than being discovered later by customers. I'm optimistic but also being pragmatic. And I'm speaking as a customer who wants them to succeed but knows they have a big hill to climb, rather than trying to defend or undermine what Lotus are doing.

For those who have spent time around auto manufacturing and implementing continuous improvement manufacturing and been in the new Lotus facility, it is clear there is a determination to achieve build integrity. That is a great way to start. However, largely, its new people, new tooling, and a new approach so there will be new surprises. I'm sure they will achieve their quality goals.

 

[Rudolph]

* * * * *
From the SELOC forums:

yesterday
29-5-2022 at 09:13
- from what i heard , dash panels that need to come out of China are failing and as a result many unfinished cars were left in the factory.
Because the area where these panels come from is in lockdown, the cars won't become available untill they are finished first
This news was a few weeks ago, so in the mean time, the situation might have changed........

9 hours ago 30-5-2022 at 05:43

- When on the factory tour a few weeks ago , it was mentioned that a hold up was a bottom piece of dash that was stuck in Shanghai , When we later spoke with the MD we mentioned flying the parts in, it is something they where thinking about, but the cost has to be taken into account. Lets hope the parts are on the way , don't know what the current lock down situation is in China .
when you see the cars in their “naked” form , there are 100’s of parts that are unique to the car, so many things that can hold up the build process , lets hope its just this one item , and it gets sorted , i can’t wait until July for mine, its a shame I will have to go to the FOS in the Volvo , but hopefully get it in time for some good weather and runs out.

SELOC Forums

forums.seloc.org

 

[emiraspain]

For those who have spent time around auto manufacturing and implementing continuous improvement manufacturing and been in the new Lotus facility, it is clear there is a determination to achieve build integrity. That is a great way to start. However, largely, its new people, new tooling, and a new approach so there will be new surprises. I'm sure they will achieve their quality goals.

I agree with the above, not a start up, but "starting up again" is a nice way to put it. However, for me the potential worry of how Lotus, more so than Agents/Dealers, will deal with any after sales issues is indeed the key. I say this as you can have the best agent in the world, but if Lotus dont respond well to them, there is nothing you can do. I wonder what parts stock they are building up, not for building per-say , but for replacing faulty ones, and there will inevitably be faulty parts. All this goes to how long you will potentially be without your car if something does go wrong.
I wonder will software updates have to be done at dealers or not. In some cases, in other countries, getting to a dealer can be a trip of 10 hours each way, without stopping, so yes it will be an interesting next 2- 3 months.
I don't expect perfection from the car, although I would like it, but I do expect near perfection in after sales care, as the components can be outside of ones control, initially, but after sales is 100% without their control. The pre-sales "professionality" professionalism is a better word I think, and a real one, does not lead me to believe the after sales will be as I would expect it, I feel they are more like outsourcing their sales staff to be honest, they feel like agency staff to me, and I still dont think they are beign kept up to date with realities.
In any case, I am sure the sales staff far far FAR outwiegh after sales staff, or will they be the same, they shouldnt be. DO Lotus have aftersales .. have they put much thought into it, what happens if they need a general recall, or if there is a flood of small issues..... Anyway, all scare mongering, Im sure there will not be any huge surprises, but some issues can be expected....... and, almost all car companies fall down in after sales, even the mighty porsche group.

 

[Autopsy]

* * * * *
From the SELOC forums:

yesterday
29-5-2022 at 09:13
- from what i heard , dash panels that need to come out of China are failing and as a result many unfinished cars were left in the factory.
Because the area where these panels come from is in lockdown, the cars won't become available untill they are finished first
This news was a few weeks ago, so in the mean time, the situation might have changed........

9 hours ago 30-5-2022 at 05:43

- When on the factory tour a few weeks ago , it was mentioned that a hold up was a bottom piece of dash that was stuck in Shanghai , When we later spoke with the MD we mentioned flying the parts in, it is something they where thinking about, but the cost has to be taken into account. Lets hope the parts are on the way , don't know what the current lock down situation is in China .
when you see the cars in their “naked” form , there are 100’s of parts that are unique to the car, so many things that can hold up the build process , lets hope its just this one item , and it gets sorted , i can’t wait until July for mine, its a shame I will have to go to the FOS in the Volvo , but hopefully get it in time for some good weather and runs out.

SELOC Forums

forums.seloc.org

As someone who was stuck at home for the better part of last two month I'm happy to report Shanghai's scheduled to open up on 1st June. Let's hope everything getting back to normal right after then.