How do they build ordered cars?

[GGM]

Just wondering if anyone knows how they go about building cars at the plant that have been specially ordered? Just curious how they do it when there is so many cars being pumped out and how they add the "specific to th owner" details...

 

[PuShAkOv]

Maybe like a custom car wash... they take an order ticket.. punch in (scan) the options and as the car moves through the conveyer different options are added/activated based on computer data. Workers could just scan the upcomming car and see what features they need to install. This way you can make computer changes up to the day it would pass through development.

~Just a though.

 

[codex57]

I believe all the cars are "custom" ordered so to speak. The dealer cars just have what that particular dealer believes to be the most popular set of options on it. When a dealer submits a list of cars to be made for his inventory, he still has to select options on it. That process is really no different from when a customer orders it.

 

[paddyLV]

If you are really curious go towww.edmunds.com and in the search

field type in 'bmw european delivery.'

Their Forum will allow you to post questions to people who have picked up their Bimmers

at the assembly plant in Munich.

I was all set to pick up my '04 330i [in Dec.] on the European Delivery option.

The thing was, it was winter in Germany and where I wanted to go (Northern Italy and

Austria) would have been like the N/E the past couple of days... I didn't want to do it

in a new ZHP.

 

[GGM]

Codex57- I see what you mean but then is the process on the assembly line kinda like something that Push said? I was just interested how they would know what to put in each car i guess.

 

[dzervit]

I'm not sure how they do it on the other side of the pond, but one of the big three does it like this: Dealer make orders, the geniuses in sales figure out who is ordering what options. Orders (custom or whatever) get sent to HQ, HQ then sends orders for cars to the plants. At the plants, there is a magical printer that prints out 'lablels'. These labels show how to build a car. They slap a label on a frame and away it goes... built to order. I know this because when the printer stops printing (mostly due to network problems) our guys got frantic calls to get the network link up so that magical printer keeps on printing those labels!! When it comes down to it, it's a pretty simple system: You place an order and factory gets and builds it... end of story.