Quote:
Originally Posted by Getter-Done
Worked at an Assembly plant for 17 years.
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Getter-Done
I did not work where the were painted.
But I did sneak in there to see what was going on.  |
40 years for me; across about a dozen different GM assembly plants (Flint, Pontiac, Ft Wayne, St Louis, Janesville, Oshawa, Fremont, Arlington, Silao, Wentzville, Mishawaka, Hamtramck come to mind), three or four pre-production shops and one skunk works (that I can't talk about).
I've been thinking about writing a thread about "How I got so Smart", or something like that, but in a nutshell: it's "sneaking".
Even before I started my engineering curriculum at Flint I had a stint in Personnel. One of my jobs was to deliver the mail. As a result, one learns not only where all the "monuments" are in the plant, but three or four ways to get there: front ways, back ways, sneaky ways, etc.
While you are sneaking around you are getting to know folks and learning about their jobs, and learning about the process, by osmosis.
Even after that, as an "adult" when I would go to these various other plants for new model launch, I would ask my plant host to show me around ("...show me where you put the VINs on", or "...show me the paint body bank", or "take me out to paint repair") to further my understanding. They were happy to show off their place and I was genuinely interested (that is, I was not being manipulative to curry favor).
Or - I would sneak around myself. I remember the first time I went to Wentzville they pretty much got me through the door and said "ok - we'll see you in a week". I had been there for about 10 minutes before they cut me loose to fend for myself, so - after finding where I was going to be working - I spend the rest of my time watching trucks get built and wandering around.
There is no shortage of things in a vehicle assembly plant to capture your imagination, if you are a car guy.
K