Shutdowns
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Instructor
Joined: Nov 2018
Posts: 141
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From: Virginia Beach
Shutdowns
Since getting to 3000 (at least I know I'll get a 2021) there have been 5 weeks 🙃 of shutdowns which have moved me from End of April delivery to 3rd week of June. That's what you get for having 1 supplier.I was in Tire & Servicenter business for 36 years, and if Goodyear didn't have it I called Dunlop.
Drifting
Joined: Jul 2017
Posts: 1,370
Likes: 1,341
From: Kingston, Ontario
Sounds great, maybe you can give GM some pointers on how to get other suppliers to build their parts just in case they need em if their primary supplier can't deliver for next to no profit.
Moderator
Joined: Feb 2006
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From: DFW Area TX
Yeah, it would certainly make a lot of sense to have multiple suppliers of bespoke parts like the DCT or the Bedford Castings - NOT. Then the C8 would cost at least twice as much as it does now.
Instructor
Joined: Feb 2021
Posts: 106
Likes: 98
Are you really going to compare DCTs to tires?
Multiple suppliers for key components us a terrible idea. Tremec isn't exactly about to hand over it's DCT design for some other company to take away their contract numbers. And using two different DCTs would go over so we'll in a high performance vehicle.
Not to mention the gap in quality and performance in either case. A perfect example is quite possibly the phone in your hand. Apple uses both LG and Samsung for it's screens, and one of those two has major blue shift and image burn-in in the greys. If you have a Samsung phone then you probably already know how much the rest of the world wishes they got the US models.
Multiple suppliers for key components us a terrible idea. Tremec isn't exactly about to hand over it's DCT design for some other company to take away their contract numbers. And using two different DCTs would go over so we'll in a high performance vehicle.
Not to mention the gap in quality and performance in either case. A perfect example is quite possibly the phone in your hand. Apple uses both LG and Samsung for it's screens, and one of those two has major blue shift and image burn-in in the greys. If you have a Samsung phone then you probably already know how much the rest of the world wishes they got the US models.
Race Director
Joined: Sep 2016
Posts: 13,180
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Since getting to 3000 (at least I know I'll get a 2021) there have been 5 weeks 🙃 of shutdowns which have moved me from End of April delivery to 3rd week of June. That's what you get for having 1 supplier.I was in Tire & Servicenter business for 36 years, and if Goodyear didn't have it I called Dunlop.
Things like the DCT and it's parts, radiators of a specific size and shape, and a thousand other parts aren't quite as interchangeable as tires. There's no industry standard DCT. I'm sure there are dozens of manufacturers who would be happy to set up a production line, and hire and train employees, just in case GM decides to call them.
Given that the DCT is a Tremec patented unit, it's not like GM could just go to another transmission supplier and say "Hey, we want you to build half of our transmissions in case Tremec can't meet the demand. And for parts where GM could have multiple suppliers, none of those suppliers are going to be geared up to be able to double production in an instant. No company will build more capacity, or hire more labor, than what they need to meet demand.
To be prepared for supply interruptions, GM would have to order more parts than they need and stockpile them in or near Bowling Green. And maybe GM (and pretty much every other manufacturer in the world) should have been doing that. But doing so increases costs, and your Corvette would cost more. JIT reduces cost, which is why the entire world adopted it.
