"Nigel Hewitt" <
[email protected]> wrote in message
news:
[email protected]...
<snip>
> I worked for a company like that once.
> They did a sum that involved dividing the total cost of
> running the entire company by the number of shop-floor
> hours worked. This gave a feel-factor number for what we
> needed to be making in terms of product to stay running.
>
> Then some idiot costing people started to believe that
> this was the 'cost' of a shop floor hour and realised
> that they could put work out on contract for less. This
> meant that some people were on slack time while their
> job was sent out to be done at five times what they were
> paid. Over the next few years they saved so much money
> this way that they went bust.
>
> I'd left by then.
Hmmmm.... an awful lot of similarity in that tale to what is currently
happening within the MOD, I'm sad to say. Those of you that know me will
know that I left the raf almost a year ago to start my own business, I was
"pushed" (well, actually, I was assisted to jump ship by a rather attractive
redundancy package), although I think I'd have gone anyway.
Some idiot (brain-dead officer) turned up at my old place of work with his
"model" of how things were to change, here's a rough guide to the way it
went, and no, it's not a Monty Python sketch, although it does read good
with the officer's lines done in a john cleese sort of voice......!
Officer. "We can save a fortune by putting all our eggs into one basket,
ramping up production
at "campX" engine bay and closing this one down.
Me. But what about the logistics of shipping engines up and down
the country?
O. There are daily transport runs that bring you the modules to
build the engines from, they'll
just be running engines instead of modules.
Me. But the modules are stackable in their containers, you can only
get 2 engines on a flatbed. Will
the supply system put on extra lorries and drivers if we
need engines in a rush?
O. Now you're getting silly.
Me. "Camp X" historically produces half the engines per month that
we do, would it not be a good
idea to up their production levels before we start to wind
down?
O. They are ramping up as we speak, it'll all be ok once their
floor has been re-done and the new pulse-line
is up and running.
Me. Floor?
O. Ah, yes, you'll need to ramp up again towards the end of next
month for a few weeks while their
hangar floor is re-laid, I'm afraid. All down to contracts,
you know?
Me. Would have been nice if someone had thought of that before
starting this whole process! What
about all the extra acommodation at "CampX" that'll be
needed for their bay to up production? I
mean, you're talking about an extra 200ish bods and that
camp is already housing students that
are there on courses in either portakabins or hotels?
O. I'm glad you asked that one, you see, what we've decided is a
jolly good idea is to house everyone
at "campY" 60 miles away that's in the process of closing
down, and we'll bus them in and out.
Good, eh?
Me. You must be joking, best part of 2 hours on a cold and draughty
raf coach at the start and finish of
each day? You do realise the only road between the 2 camps
travels through the middle of cityX?
That would mean getting out of bed at 5am for an 8am start,
not getting home again until almost 8pm,
when's anyone expected to get any time with their family?
O. Well, we think it's workable, and because we provide the coach
we can save on home-to-duty payments
as well.
Me. Ok then, coming back to the workplace itself, what's this
pulse-line thing all about?
O. Ah, that's the key to the whole project. It's based on the
model of how Toyota build cars and it works
so efficiently because it's so simple. Your engine will move
from workstation to workstation, each station
doing its little bit until the whole is complete.
Me. But the raf don't build toyotas, we repair engines. There's a
difference. Because of the modular nature
of the engine, we remove the module that has the problem and
either repair or replace it, then test the
engine. How can you interrupt a pulse-line process to insert
an engine at a particular place just because
that's the bit that needs looking at? It doesn't work! Oh,
and another thing, we struggle for certain spares
as it is, what effect will it have on pulse if we have 6
engines all stopped at the same build point, all
awaiting the same seal?
O. I think this conversation's gone far enough, I can see you are
simply a disbeliever in the pulse-line
methodology.
Well, that was almost 18 months ago now and what's happened since? The
engine bay at my old camp has indeed gone, "CampX" still struggles to
produce engines of a decent quality, let alone in sufficient numbers, and
there is apparently an acommodation building programme about to get underway
there as well, just in time really as they're tendering off the whole engine
rebuilding/repair side of things to rolls-royce next year! There are more
lorries than ever transporting engines up and down the country, more
aircraft sitting dead awaiting replacement engines, it's harder to get
engine spare parts as "CampX" is holding on to them all, the pulse-line is
stopped more often than it's running due to lack of spares, the troops are
totally demoralised due to the repetitive nature of their jobs now instead
of having a bit of personal pride in completing a whole engine and seeing it
tested.
Me? I'm sitting back laughing at how stupid the mod really is, it'll rather
take the word of one officer over 400 troops, then pull the blinkers over
rather than admit it was the wrong decision in the first place. Every other
week I have someone in the garage telling me yet another tale of woe, or
have I heard this, or did I know that such-and-such had happened.... the
more I hear the more I'm sure that I made the right decision, I'm glad I
jumped when I did.
Badger.
