paulmj1

benzbell

Bama pride at work. I just hope they have all the parts to finish my GLE 63. Build starts third week of June.

djer

At 7:11, that's definitely a ROW car, with no amber corners and definitely cornering light in place, plus european license plate bracket. I always wonder if we can "purchase" some parts over there and have them do some work on our cars lol.

chassis

Nice. A nice novelty promo video.

Hardly any value-added work depicted. Lots of prep and inspection, which means non-value-added.

No money shots of significant (suspension, steering, brakes, engine+transmission, body shop) parts being assembled (welding, or bolts inserted and torqued). This is where value is added in the assembly process.

Everything in the video is found in all vehicle assembly plants around the world. Extremely ordinary.

BACnMercedes

I really wished they would have shown more about how that front bumper goes on. Then I might have a better understanding of how to get rid of the ugly diamond grill.

Ron.s

This looks like it’s intended to highlight the quality control process-in my opinion. It would be interesting to see the real QC process if they weren’t putting on a show…and how they handle defects.
Once you’ve seen the automation with all the Robot functions they seem to look much the same for all brands. The painting and clear coat are always amazing to watch how they get perfect coverage without runs or overspray. What isn’t obvious is how a modern paint process uses an Electrostatic process to attract the paint to the body parts.

djer

Many moons ago I did an overseas delivery for a Volvo in their Gothenburg plant, and that was truly a memorable trip. We were right on the viewing point on those welder spot robots. I wish to do one again but probably closer to home here, either in Alabama or South Carolina (hint )

BACnMercedes

I assume you mean the BMW plant for SC? I’ve done it before and don’t remember getting to see anything that high tech. Just skip that part and go straight to their track. While small, it’s pretty fun.

djer

Yeah, wasn't there a factory plant tour as part of the delivery experience at BMW?

KrustyKustom

Real bummer is MBenz dropped the European Delivery program earlier this year. I was planning on a 30 year anniversary with the wife in two years.........

jmmstm

I went on the Factory Tour in Vance about 10 years ago. There was a large pile of body panels that the tour guide said had failed quality control and were going to be repaired or scrapped. Toward the end of the tour there was a section where there were several workers with gloves and markers going over the completed cars pretty much inch by inch looking for defects. Then they were moved to different staging areas for the needed repairs.

BACnMercedes

@djer if I remember correctly, yes. That was when I actually toured the plant. But I don’t remember it being to in depth and we saw to much. I know the plant has got much bigger since then, we’ve seen the construction, but I just don’t remember seeing many robots or any welding. It is possibly that it has changed since 2018. I don’t think they are even doing deliveries there right now.

chassis

Signs of poor quality entering the factory, or created by factory processes. “Waste” is the technical term. Hopefully the tour guide did not spin the pile of scrap as a good thing. It’s not.

mikapen

"Quality Control" is a good thing. It's an especially good thing that Line Workers are able to identify bad parts, instead of just installing them.
I was a UAW worker in College - my most embarrassing job ever. Nobody cared what they stuck on the truck. THAT's not a "good thing."