3 ms·

O/T - How many side mirror rims were in each cycle? If it were just one, then your shifts must have been over a day long, which doesn't make much sense.

wpietri 5y ago
Good question! It was 4. While waiting for the press I'd deflash [1] the set that were cool enough to put to the grinder and stack them for transport to the next station. Those doing the math will note that in theory 67 seconds would allow for 1716 rims per 8-hour shift. But it took time to open it, get them out, and close it again. The machine never stopped; breaks were handled by somebody coming along and taking over for a bit. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_(manufacturing) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_(manufacturing)
- detritus 5y ago
  Crikey! Thanks. That's still a heck of a lot of work in those hours, with very little downtime. I do a lot of 'proceduralised' jobs, but I'm 'lucky' in that I get to define and hone the procedure and then it tends only to be necessary for a few hours or a day or three, before I move onto something else entirely. I get a wee quick out of making things more efficient, then get to move on before my brain calcifies. The thought of acting a mere part of a machine for 8 hours a day, weeks, months and years on end is ... well, it makes me appreciate my job, even at its worst!
  - wpietri 5y ago
    Totally. I only did factory work as summer jobs and loved it because it was fun to learn a new domain and try to optimize things. But yeah, I would have been deathly bored eventually. Interestingly, Toyota's factory culture is very different. It's part of company philosophy to seek continuous improvement. They're also big on cross-training and investing in staff. Basically, they respect that hands come with brains, and that it's worth engaging both. I suspect I would have enjoyed that much more. If you're curious, the This American Life show on NUMMI gets at the contrast between the two approaches.
    - detritus 5y ago
      Kaizen culture was a big meme back in the 80s and 90s in the North of England as Japanese car manufacturers set up shop and the differences to then-declining local manufacturing culture became evident.

wpietri 5y ago

Good question! It was 4. While waiting for the press I'd deflash [1] the set that were cool enough to put to the grinder and stack them for transport to the next station. Those doing the math will note that in theory 67 seconds would allow for 1716 rims per 8-hour shift. But it took time to open it, get them out, and close it again. The machine never stopped; breaks were handled by somebody coming along and taking over for a bit. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_(manufacturing) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_(manufacturing)

detritus 5y ago
Crikey! Thanks. That's still a heck of a lot of work in those hours, with very little downtime. I do a lot of 'proceduralised' jobs, but I'm 'lucky' in that I get to define and hone the procedure and then it tends only to be necessary for a few hours or a day or three, before I move onto something else entirely. I get a wee quick out of making things more efficient, then get to move on before my brain calcifies. The thought of acting a mere part of a machine for 8 hours a day, weeks, months and years on end is ... well, it makes me appreciate my job, even at its worst!
- wpietri 5y ago
  Totally. I only did factory work as summer jobs and loved it because it was fun to learn a new domain and try to optimize things. But yeah, I would have been deathly bored eventually. Interestingly, Toyota's factory culture is very different. It's part of company philosophy to seek continuous improvement. They're also big on cross-training and investing in staff. Basically, they respect that hands come with brains, and that it's worth engaging both. I suspect I would have enjoyed that much more. If you're curious, the This American Life show on NUMMI gets at the contrast between the two approaches.
  - detritus 5y ago
    Kaizen culture was a big meme back in the 80s and 90s in the North of England as Japanese car manufacturers set up shop and the differences to then-declining local manufacturing culture became evident.