Dealing with the process - A very long post
 

I would really like to make a post that delivers all cars, clears all hurdles, advances all statuses, fixes all constraints, relieves QC holds and cures cancer. This isn’t it. What this is hopefully, will be my opportunity to talk to some of the issues and ease some of the tensions, raise some awareness and ask for some patience.

I think it is pretty safe to say that we are all excited about the Stingray. I’ve been very fortunate to have a lot of exposure to the car. I don’t for one second take for granted the fact that I’ve had these opportunities. I too have a car on order and have been anxiously awaiting status changes, movement in the system and any shred of information that I can get my hands on about my car. Maybe that all makes it easier for me to remain calm and quiet through the process but I encourage you all to try to find it in yourselves to remain calm and try to find the enjoyment in the chase.

I know that a lot of you have been at this for quite some time. I know several that placed deposits in January after the reveal. All I can tell you is that your wait will be well worth the effort. Please, let the process run its course. Let the team that is working on this car do their job and let them deliver you the car you are expecting.

I also want to take this opportunity to express my appreciation to forum member GM’er for going out on a limb and taking on the yeoman’s task of starting the daily status update thread and trying to keep folks informed.

With all of that said, on to my point. Through this forum you have be granted an A ticket ride through the process of a launch, start-up and build cycle of the most exciting Corvette model ever (in my opinion). With that ride comes every conceivable emotion from anticipation to excitement to satisfaction but along that trip will be wonder, disappointment, confusion and even anger in some cases. Please travel through this with your eyes open and realize that you are also getting a look at a system that isn’t perfect. You are getting a look at a system that isn’t intended for public consumption and you are getting information that no one else will get as they go through their order process. If you think that you are frustrated, imagine the soon to be owner that doesn’t have any information and has a dealer that may not know or understand how to navigate the system to find the information that they are so desperate to receive. You are far better off than any of these other owners are if you can roll with the punches. If not, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.

Many people will never get exposed at any level to what goes on during a product launch, automotive or other type of product (and maybe you should consider yourselves lucky). There are gates to pass through and ultimate deadlines to be met. There are performance goals and targets to meet or exceed and there is a tremendous amount of pressure on those tasked with the development, evaluation and delivery of these goals. There are quality objectives to be met on tasks where failure really isn’t viewed as an option. There are literally careers being decided on these objectives. The designers and developers have done their job and placed it all in the hands and on the shoulders of those tasked with bringing up the suppliers and preparing the place of assembly and the workers tasked with bringing this puzzle together. There are hundreds of suppliers producing thousands of parts and sub-assemblies that would do anything to get a part, process, or system on the new Corvette. Some are willing to stretch the truth to get there.

When the scheduling of the launch is being put together, targets need to be assigned. These include quantities, timelines and goals for the suppliers to plan for. This is a monumental task and consider that it is started months before any of the fine details are in place. Hitting or even coming close to this plan is an amazing accomplishment. Part of this planning phase generally includes a short goal, a plan and a long goal looking basically at the over under for parts and options. This tells the suppliers how they need to staff, tool and plan their process and supplies to deliver. With a model carryover there is a lot of past information to go by. With a model changeover, that all goes out the window and it becomes someone’s responsibility to predict the future. They need to look in to a crystal ball and project what options are going to sell and at what volume. If they miss too high, the wrong parts get made. If they miss too low, not enough parts get made. Outside of that we are looking at a car being put together by humans with parts that are made (in some cases) with newly developed processes and put together by humans. Things can go wrong and they do. This creates constraints. They are not expected, they are not wanted but yet, there they are and need to be dealt with. I’m not saying any of this is the current situation as I don’t know but just asking you to consider the possibilities.

There is no one more interested in you getting your car than the folks on the teams that designed, built and delivered the new Stingray. They won’t however let up their intensity at this point. Too much invested to fail and too much at stake for problems to be released because someone was in a hurry. The complaints about the cars being held up are loud. The complaints about a problem of any kind making it to the field would be deafening.

Through this process there have been hundreds of cars putting on thousands of miles and collecting data and providing feedback to the program managers. If there are things that need to be changed, they are getting changed. This is all a fluid process and the line needed to start at some point and it did. If cars got built ahead of any of these required changes, they will all get dealt with prior to the owners getting delivery of the car. I read a post yesterday stating that newer cars off the line were getting built and delivered while older cars were still sitting in QC. They demanded that the line be stopped and work only proceed on the older cars. This just isn’t going to happen. Too many things in motion and too many people involved. Not knowing what the situation with the older cars really is, this notion may in fact even be an impossibility as there may be nothing that an army of workers can do when something specific may need to be looked at and it may not involve adding or changing parts. They need to keep the line moving and keep the workers working. They would implement a fix at some VIN break point and keep building while working in parallel with the cars in hold status. This is also a closed loop continuous process. If things are found, they are implemented and the cycle repeats but with a smaller volume of cars in holding status they can be dealt with in a much smaller timeframe.

If you want to do something while you wait, go watch the reviews online again to keep the excitement building up. Start a new thread on the forum and congratulate the team for what they have accomplished. Try to remember that there are thousands of folks with orders in the system, some first time owners and there are only a handful of people receiving all these requests for information. Read the owner’s manual, watch the videos that are out about various features of the car. Learn as much as you can so you can start to help the next group of owners coming along.

You are not going to get all of the information you want and you are not going to understand all of the information you get. Stop beating yourself up. It’s been a long wait, the worst is over the best is really yet to come. You won’t remember any of this in a month or two. Try to make the best of what you have to work with. Be grateful for what you do have and don’t begrudge the few owners that happened to get their car before you. This isn’t their fault and don’t deprive them of their happiness.

Enjoy the ride.

I don't even need to read the post. Just from the title and the poster, I will reply "well said"

:iagree:

Well said! I love what you and Gm'er are doing on here for us! Thanks to you and to everyone whom is doing their best to make this a world class car!:thumbs:

Thank you Paul, a well thought out post and actually my only complaint comes from the marketing side of things and nothing to do with the car, CR or production. It is the website configurator, so many people are completely frustrated because they is no good way to see color matches or options on the car. Many options don't have pictures or even good descriptions...I don't think I need to reference any of the other mfr sites sites, but suffice to say a pic of a vette that does not change color is substandard. And web design is easy...
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h3...P_AQ9gmds1.jpg

OP, well said! :cheers:

And this is the meat and potatoes of it all folks, well said. I'm sure there are many that don't take the intricacies of the process into consideration, just their own self satisfaction.

Am in the cellphone industry (ZTE USA) let me say that people don't realize what goes into a new product. Alot of times it is not the maker who has issues it is the suppliers who provide the parts to the manufacturer. It is really complex and it will never be a smooth process. If you ever buy something that went smooth through the start up process I promise you it will break or is bad quality.

:iagree:

OUTSTANDING !
Reality speaks! :thumbs::thumbs::thumbs:

Wow... Talk about hitting the nail right on the head. I don't think anyone could have put that any better.

Just out of curiosity, Paul, when do you expect to take delivery of your C7. What options did you order?

Thanks!

Sent PM!:thumbs::thumbs:

If first like to start by saying thank you for taking the time out to clear much confusion up mean a lot to me and I'm sure many other members, with that said, I am just really upset with why I do not have a ETA when my dealer has already been invoiced... I already purchased the car because I know chevy makes amazing products... I would just like to know a possible ETA... If that is asking too much I apologize in advance... Again thank you for taking the time out to write to us

Yep, you were 100% correct.

Thank you Talon.

Very well said Paul!

I am an IT manager that has led a number of projects that cost millions of dollars and took several years to implement. At some point the project team has to develop a project plan predicting when every task will begin and end. How much it will cost and who will do it. While good people develop the plan, there is no way to predict every thing that can go wrong. Some tasks get completed quicker and/or with less cost. Some take longer and/or cost more. In general, the projects are completed within budget and on time. But, things do go wrong and a good staff reacts to it and fixes it.

I have to believe that GM's task is much bigger and much more complicated than what I have been involved with. We just need to wait it out.

I did read the entire post and it contains many of the things cooler and wiser heads who have been in/about manufacturing know. But this post says it all in one place.

It is a fitting and well thought out post.

For those who are still ticked off , plz re-read the first post. Please. :cheers:

Job well done - thank you.
 

Having this blog available gives everyone an unusual amount of information. As Paul stated, with this information comes the risk of "knowing too much".

It is a priviledge to be part of this forum. It has enhanced the whole Corvette experience. :cheers:

Many thanks to you and to GM'er for the great information you have shared with the rest of us.

Paul,
As always, perfectly said.

Jimmy

Outstanding....we ALL are truly blessed