| Author | Message | ||
     Ourdee |
4/7/09: Daybreak, I'm awake. My appointment in East Troy isn't till 12:15. Temperatures for the ride will be between 32 and 44 degrees. I check the computer, no cancellation notice. It is a little over 50 miles, most of it slab. I leave the house allowing 45 extra minutes for the dog running away, my tights getting a snag, etc. Arrive at 2799 Buell Dr, East Troy 45 minutes early. Cruise into E. Troy. and turn around at the diner. I'll eat there at least once during Home Coming. I'm not hungry this day. So, I visit the town about 13 mi. south. Get back to Buell with a few minutes to kill. I'm getting off the machine and a couple of guys entering the building stop to talk about my UlyLite. One has a sportster and is thinking about a Buell. I simply told him it is the best bike I've ever had. Hospitality Expert (I can't believe I didn't get her name) at the front desk was as sweet and professional as could be. Had me signed in and waiting for Larry. I look at the other end of the counter and see a familiar face (no it wasn't Erik). Leroy, works in the same department as I in Belvidere, Ill. happened to be in town and decided to take a tour. That was nice touring with someone I already knew. He has a Rupp mini bike hid in a shed somewhere. Neat to see his amazement at what a lot of us take for granted as he learned about Buell. I work in an automobile assembly plan where each line-worker spends 45 seconds on a car. So, seeing a person work on the same machine for 8 minutes was magical. That is a lot of different tasks to get right. If you haven't worked on a assembly line, it is hard to understand how easy it is to miss a step. I was amazed at the elves and the high morale I witnessed. They were smiling like I do at work (only where I work no-one else is smiling). Larry was a very enjoyable tour guide and only made one misstep after the tour was over (he thought HC was in July). I helped him out. It starts as an engine, then the frame meets it. The bikes are pushed manually from station to station on carts from one worker to the next. I think I saw about 23 stations working on everything except Blasts. I found the job I want; there is a guy that fires it up near the end. He rides the bike on a set of rollers while testing every thing. (note: talk about fuel hook-up) But where are the Blasts? Down in an area not much bigger than one of our garages is four work stations. These four elves build nothing but Blasts all day. Basically they each build one forth of the Blast then pass it on to the next elf to do his/her fourth. There was some kind of quick connector that was used to fuel the bike during the run on the rollers. Possibility of using that connection point for an extra fuel tank connection for touring? HEY, they ride them on the rollers, don't get to take em out of the building. They leave the building all crated up in one of two trucks. Larry said that domestic sales had picked up to the point that we no longer sold more bikes over seas than in the USA. At the end of the tour you have to sign out. I filled out a survey on the experience. Got a Buell sticker and key chain. Hit enough of a headwind going home I had to put on my mittens. Factory Tour = well worth it !!! | ||
| Drummer |
Thanks for the write-up...enjoyed it! | ||
| Court |
>>>>Hospitality Expert (I can't believe I didn't get her name) at the front desk was as sweet and professional as could be. Donna. An amazing Elf in her own right and one of the many amazing Buell stories. >>>>8 minutes 7 minutes and 14 seconds. (remember that, it's important) COOL STUFF ! | ||
| Xblaw |
Great story. Wish I could come up there to go on a tour. | ||
| Spiderman |
The hospitality elf!  | ||
| Ourdee |
7 minutes and 14 seconds. (remember that, it's important) 7:14, seven fourteen, 7 min. & 14 sec. got it. Called me by name when I came in the door, That impresses me. Eryk, you can. The only time we have is the time we make. Trip distance: 990.571594.1 mi Time: 15 hrs 43 mins. Now that would be a fun ride. | ||
| Court |
>>>Called me by name when I came in the door, That impresses me. You don't say . . . .  Donna is an amazing person, is a wonderful "Elf Story" in her own right and provided me (albeit unwittingly) with one of the best stories ever. Remind me to tell you . . . . | ||
| Ourdee |
OH, I forgot, Every once in a while I would hear a very nice sound like someone had an engine hid away somewhere in a dyno room. That puppy made some pretty music, I wanted to go find it, 'Twas like a "siren"  calling to me. 2. Siren Greek myth a sea nymph whose singing lured sailors to destruction on the rocks 3. a woman who is attractive but dangerous to men [Greek seirçn] | ||
| Gunut75 |
You must have visited Lake Geneva. If I was'nt workin, I would have met up with ya. I live right between East Troy, ad Lake Geneva. Just a hair east of 120. Glad you had fun. I live minutes away, and havent even taken the tour. | ||
| Boltrider |
I have to make it there some day. What's the significance of 7 min 14 sec? | ||
| Court |
What's the significance of 7 min 14 sec? I haven't got time to go into the details now (but happily will later). The short version is that there is a sophisticated tracking process for EACH Buell built. The timing is critical and each station appears green on the display screen at "Buell Control" (actually on Mike's monitor) from the moment it hits the station until 7:14. At 7:14 the station changes color and the question gets asked "person or process"? What changed and why, when we know how long this takes, has something changed. Consistency is everything and in 99.9% of the cases nothing is wrong. BUT . . the first sign of a problem that most companies might not catch for 2 years may occur when a part takes 14 seconds to tighten instead of 9 seconds. Could be the guy had a phone call of just doesn't feel good. Going past 7:14 isn't catastrophic . . . but let's say that at 1:30PM station 4 starts showing 8:45, 8:39. 8:42 . . . and that coincides with a new lot of axle gonkulators . . with me? The science is patterns. Each and every piece placed on each and every Buell is planned and monitored, the sequence, time to tighten the nut and the torque recorded permanently. There, I think, is MUCH more science than folks may know. Science, engineering, care and love . . . . all go into every Buell. Remind me to tell you the long version sometime or if you're on a tour, let me know and I'll show you. | ||
| Boltrider |
Yeah that makes sense. It sounds like the Buell way of quality control. I wonder if the 1125 put a dent in the 7:14 rule when they first started making them, since it was/is an entirely new platform? | ||
| Court |
That time, the 7:14 is an example and pre-dates the 1125R. It's an elegant and sophisticated element of an entire series of QA/QC measures that has brought folks from around the world to study it. | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
That's really funny. real-time statistical analysis. I love it and it makes a lot of sense. Does the engine plant in Milwaukee do the same thing? I took the tour when I went out there for homecoming 2007 and accidentally got to see the new 2008 engines being made. I love that machine that torques all eight head bolts at the same time! | ||
| Reepicheep |
We do that in the software business as well. Phase 1, concept, uses 90% of the overall time and budget. Phase 2, high level design, uses 90% of the overall time and budget. Phase 3, low level design, uses 90% of the overall time and budget. Phase 4, implementation, uses 90% of the overall time and budget. Phase 5, maintain, uses 90% of the overall time and budget. If the project comes in on time or on budget, I know something has gone terribly terribly wrong. | ||
| Dbird29 |
Isn't there a limit to the number of times "remind me to tell you sometime" is on one page? The count is now at 3. | ||
| Seanp |
That was the coolest thing about the factory tour at Homecoming last summer. I did a little bit of systems engineering when I was an undergrad and I loved the concept of it. It's awesome how much thought can be put into making something more efficient. I think I spent as much time pondering their green/yellow/red system as I did looking at the 1125s they were building. | ||
| Svh |
The green/yellow/red system was also very intriguing to me. The thought process that goes into not only making these bikes great and mostly reliable also helps to keep the cost down. The test riders are my favorite job and would do that job in a heartbeat. Donna also greeted my tour mate and I by name and was super gracious. I enjoyed it very much and will likely do it again before the end of the year. Amazing people, amazing company and amazing bikes. | ||
| Americanmadexb |
We dont use the color system where i work but we do use the same exact electronic torque guns that Buell uses. The thing i remember about the ones at Buell(i think i remember anyways) was that in each station you had to go in same order each time to tighten bolts, screws, nuts,.etc... or it wouldn't tighten the next one. its i cool setup how one gun knows the nut, bolt your on and apply the correct torque on so many different models! | ||
| Boltrider |
That time, the 7:14 is an example and pre-dates the 1125R What I meant was when they first started building the 1125, did the various assembly stations have trouble staying close to or within 7:14? Or did assembly pretty much go as planned? | ||
| Davegess |
The 1125 had extensive prebuilds done so they were up to speed pretty fast when the real deal hit. | ||
| Court |
It's not efficiency . . it's consistency. Remove the variability and make the goal to "design quality" . . not to "build quality". The system should derive quality as a result of a design, not reliance on a person performing the assembly to compensate for design. Tough to explain but I'd like a system where the default value is "correct". The manufacturing corollary to "fail safe". | ||
| Nevrenuf |
thanks for the right up ourdee,and glad you enjoyed it. hope to be able to do it sometime myself. i decided to drive up when the daughter has her baby in the next couple of weeks so i can bring the blast up to the wife. hopefully i'll be able to get up there for homecoming and do the tour | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
Neil, if your tour guide happens to be Kenny Rogers (no, not that Kenny Rogers), don't tell him you like his music. DAMHIK (dumb-ass me how I know...) | ||
| Dynasport |
I am sure that much thought and effort has been made to produce a reliable and economical production process. For me, though, I am so glad I don't have a repetitive job like that with some computer tracking how many seconds it takes to do each step. I don't think I'd make it through one shift. | ||
| Ourdee |
I don't think I'd make it through one shift. Probably like in the auto bus. They don't start you at 100%. On cars they work them up to speed. But yes it takes a certain mindset to do that job. I got off the line, and drive cranes and run a machine now. Biggest help is an ability to see the value of the job you do. Elves get to make a lot of guys happy. Well, unless you aren't for Buells and watch AMA races.  | ||
| Court |
>>>I am so glad I don't have a repetitive job like that One of the challenges . . . .and one of the things that Buell has taken extraordinary measures to overcome. Starting with things like "gumballing". Can you say Frederick Winslow Taylor. I think we should do a special "A Day in the Life of an Elf" tour at Homecoming. It seems that less in known than unknown about Buell. It's so much more than "just being assembled" in Wisconsin. The Elves on the line are less "assemblers" than a progression of the engineering process. Football teams . . . . after they score one touchdown, don't gather up their ball and go home . . . . in a process that involves continuous improvement, and is committed not just in word but in practice, each bike coming down that line can be thought of as a pitch thrown in the world series. The goal, with each bike, is the build it precisely right, eliminate sources of production errors and to achieve consistency. Don't get me started on Buell people and production . . . I could write all day! (Message edited by court on April 09, 2009) | ||
| Ourdee |
Court, Questions I should have asked; Are the Elves trained to be interchangeable? Do they learn the station fore and aft of theirs? Is there a team leader, a foreman, just how does the chain of command work. How is the Elf used for feedback and input in the continuous improvement process? Who replaces a sick or vacationing Elf? | ||
| Ourdee |
OH, If they throw out the plaque on the wall behind Donna, I call dibs.  | ||
| Spiderman |
My name is already on the back of that sign... |
