New Cat factory

[panamericano]

https://www.hagerty.com/media/news/how-caterham-is-racing-forward-in-its-new-factory/?utm_source=SFMC&utm_medium=email&utm_content=MED_UN_NA_EML_UN_UN_DailyDriver_Monday&hashed_email=bf9d7e674bc6d8f4e3a8a1455254f016972c0911201aa28305479ef87bb7c20c&dtm_em=bf9d7e674bc6d8f4e3a8a1455254f016972c0911201aa28305479ef87bb7c20c

[wdb]

Thanks! Here's a link without all of the foo.

 

https://www.hagerty.com/media/news/how-caterham-is-racing-forward-in-its-new-factory/

[MoBoost]

Too bad the tours are sold out when I’m going to be in England. Will see if I can get in there. 

[JohnCh]

This part of the article is no surprise, but it still makes me shake my head in disbelief:  "Ask Laishley how long it takes to build a Caterham and he answers candidly, “I don’t know.” That’s because each builder has his or her own methods and each car is unique."

 

How can you drive towards consistent quality, efficiency, and profitability in a production environment when everyone does it their own way?  The new space is pretty though.

[panamericano]

"This part of the article is no surprise, but it still makes me shake my head in disbelief:  "Ask Laishley how long it takes to build a Caterham and he answers candidly, “I don’t know.” That’s because each builder has his or her own methods and each car is unique."

 

How can you drive towards consistent quality, efficiency, and profitability in a production environment when everyone does it their own way?  The new space is pretty though."

 

Yes, sometimes there are many ways to do a job.  But, there is almost always the BEST WAY and all the other ways are not as good, some terrible.  I am always amazed reading builders' logs with horror stories.  A kit from a company that has done the same basic kit for 50 years could be expected to find the best way and enforce it.

 

It took Porsche until the early 1990s to see the light, with help from Japanese consultants.  It took Ferrari even longer, but they finally got it well over 20 years ago.

[Slonie]

I found this section quite interesting too:

 

Currently around one-fifth of production leaves the factory with a little 660cc Suzuki three-cylinder turbo engine, and the rest feature two-liter Ford Duratec units in various states of tune. Those are now out of production, but thanks to the financial backing from Japan, Caterham has bought enough for the next three years.”

 

“After that “We are looking at five or six different engine options form four different manufacturers,” explains Laishley. “And we have completely shifted from buying old engines at the end of their model lifecycle to something that is not even in production.”

 

I was surprised at the take rate for the Suzuki models, but that probably speaks to the strength of Caterham in the Japanese market. Interesting times ahead with lining up a new engine supplier in the next 3 years.

[BirkinBernie]

17 hours ago, Slonie said:

I was surprised at the take rate for the Suzuki models, but that probably speaks to the strength of Caterham in the Japanese market. Interesting times ahead with lining up a new engine supplier in the next 3 years.

FWIW, back in Birkin's heyday we suggested to the factory that they provide an installation kit for a Miata engine and gearbox.  This would have been a great solution for the US, in my opinion, eliminating the need for expensive bell housings and gearboxes.  But they refused, claiming that Japan was their biggest market, and the Japanese demanded a "British" engine and gearbox, not domestic.  This was 20 or so years ago.....

[Christopher smith]

They meant to say Dartford not Darford. Looks like spellcheck struck again.