Slate says it takes 12 hours to build one pickup

[cadblu]

According to this CarBuzz Article, Slate says it will take 12 hours of assembly time to build one pickup truck from start to finish. The author Ian Wright interviewed with key people at Slate Auto who revealed:

"... it takes 12 hours to build one pickup and will be able to produce 150,000 a year. Production is due to start in December, and there was confidence in the room that it will be ready to fire up properly on time. A huge benefit for the manufacturing process is part of the Slate Truck's design: It has approximately 800 parts compared to Slate's estimate of a typical truck having 1,840 "major components."​

 

[EV Trek]

According to Grok it takes 15 to 30 hours to fully assemble a car.

 

[d.h.]

55 per cent fewer parts , probably makes up some of the difference. I wonder if the hours apply to supplier hours also, or just Warsaw ?

 

[tubes]

Don't forget: no paint, just the e-coat dip.

 

[cadblu]

55 per cent fewer parts , probably makes up some of the difference. I wonder if the hours apply to supplier hours also, or just Warsaw ?

Pure speculation here, but I'm going to say the Warsaw assembly plant only.

 

[dmon4u]

1,800,000 man hours of work per year......

 

[EV Trek]

55 per cent fewer parts , probably makes up some of the difference. I wonder if the hours apply to supplier hours also, or just Warsaw ?

Probably just assembly of the Blank Slate since that is how they all come off the main assembly line.

 

[GaRailroader]

1,800,000 man hours of work per year......

That is 12 hours on the assembly line not man-hours. We don’t know how many man-hours per vehicle.

 

[Shrink36s]

Sorry about that chief. I will update the link!

No worries, just helping. Good read.

 

[sidneyhornblower]

That 12 hours sounds reasonable. I'd also assume that's not one truck coming off the line every 12 hours, and I base that on having worked in several manufacturing plants (not automobiles) during my working lifetime. I wish the article had mentioned - though they probably don't know yet - how many per day or per hour Slate can produce. The time the vehicle spends moving down the line, while interesting for manufacturing engineers, doesn't tell me much.

Some wild guesses follow using Slate's quoted 150k per year figure:
Working one shift, 8 hours, 40 hours a week, 50 weeks a year means 75 trucks per hour, which sounds high to me.
Assume two shifts, so double the hours, and that means 36-38 trucks per hour, which sounds somewhat reasonable, but I have zero automotive manufacturing experience.

If Slate can run a perfectly functioning production line, I'd expect a completed vehicle to roll off the line about once every 2 to 5 minutes. I don't expect that to be their starting speed, but it seems like a rational guess for a line that's got some experience after a while.

 

[Bee]

That 12 hours sounds reasonable. I'd also assume that's not one truck coming off the line every 12 hours, and I base that on having worked in several manufacturing plants (not automobiles) during my working lifetime. I wish the article had mentioned - though they probably don't know yet - how many per day or per hour Slate can produce. The time the vehicle spends moving down the line, while interesting for manufacturing engineers, doesn't tell me much.

Some wild guesses follow using Slate's quoted 150k per year figure:
Working one shift, 8 hours, 40 hours a week, 50 weeks a year means 75 trucks per hour, which sounds high to me.
Assume two shifts, so double the hours, and that means 36-38 trucks per hour, which sounds somewhat reasonable, but I have zero automotive manufacturing experience.

If Slate can run a perfectly functioning production line, I'd expect a completed vehicle to roll off the line about once every 2 to 5 minutes. I don't expect that to be their starting speed, but it seems like a rational guess for a line that's got some experience after a while.

They are running 3 workshifts. Someone else on the forums who worked on the line of another auto maker mentioned that 14 shifts a week is pretty standard with two shifts doing a stardard 5 day shift and the last working a 4x10. So maybe closer to 25/hr.

 

[Doctors Do Little]

That 12 hours sounds reasonable. I'd also assume that's not one truck coming off the line every 12 hours, and I base that on having worked in several manufacturing plants (not automobiles) during my working lifetime. I wish the article had mentioned - though they probably don't know yet - how many per day or per hour Slate can produce. The time the vehicle spends moving down the line, while interesting for manufacturing engineers, doesn't tell me much.

Some wild guesses follow using Slate's quoted 150k per year figure:
Working one shift, 8 hours, 40 hours a week, 50 weeks a year means 75 trucks per hour, which sounds high to me.
Assume two shifts, so double the hours, and that means 36-38 trucks per hour, which sounds somewhat reasonable, but I have zero automotive manufacturing experience.

If Slate can run a perfectly functioning production line, I'd expect a completed vehicle to roll off the line about once every 2 to 5 minutes. I don't expect that to be their starting speed, but it seems like a rational guess for a line that's got some experience after a while.

IIRC, Toyota’s Georgetown KY Camry line was producing 1 car per minute, essentially, (and they invented LEAN/SS manufacturing!).

 

[RetiredOnPaper]

I hope they show the assembly proses from sheet metal to finished product. Just remember kids, there is a difference between the total time it takes to assemble 1 car start to finish, and the time between cars rolling off an assembly line.

 

[cadblu]

They are running 3 workshifts. Someone else on the forums who worked on the line of another auto maker mentioned that 14 shifts a week is pretty standard with two shifts doing a stardard 5 day shift and the last working a 4x10. So maybe closer to 25/hr.

It's vitally important that there is a bit of an overlap between shifts, so that line issues (assembly, quality, tooling, inspection, safety, EWI electronic work instructions, etc.) get relayed to the next shift coming online. Production and quality engineers will be closely monitoring everything going on. Line managers will be conducting GEMBA walks, *where the work happens") identifying bottlenecks and defects at the moment they occur. LRIP will most likely start with two assembly lines and then branch out systematically as they begin to fill the rest of the 1.4 million sf of the Warsaw factory.

Now we've confirmed the factory will be installing SUV kits, open air kits, and cargo kits? in a final assembly area after the blank Slate rolls off the line. It was mentioned that there will be 4 dedicated test cells, perhaps one for each variant. And these final assembly areas will also branch out as more main assembly lines become commissioned. It's very exciting to see this all coming together.

* Edit- only SUV kits, square back or fast back available for delivery. Open air / cargo kits not a factory option at delivery. Available by either RP partner or the owner.

 

[Doctors Do Little]

It's vitally important that there is a bit of an overlap between shifts, so that line issues (assembly, quality, tooling, inspection, safety, EWI electronic work instructions, etc.) get relayed to the next shift coming online. Production and quality engineers will be closely monitoring everything going on. Line managers will be conducting GEMBA walks, *where the work happens") identifying bottlenecks and defects at the moment they occur. LRIP will most likely start with two assembly lines and then branch out systematically as they begin to fill the rest of the 1.4 million sf of the Warsaw factory.

Now we've confirmed the factory will be installing SUV kits, open air kits, and cargo kits? in a final assembly area after the blank Slate rolls off the line. It was mentioned that there will be 4 dedicated test cells, perhaps one for each variant. And these final assembly areas will also branch out as more main assembly lines become commissioned. It's very exciting to see this all coming together.

You are going to have to stop with all of this GEMBA talk…you get me reaching for my extra thick glasses and pocket pen protectors.

I’ve always wanted to pull the chain to stop the line and have 6 managers descend on me in 90 seconds to find out what happened. LEAN…it’s what’s for breakfast.