spylaw4 Posted June 16, 2009 Share #1 Posted June 16, 2009 Advertisement (gone after registration) Some of us stayed on for the factory tour on Monday. The following is what I picked up from Herr Hagenauer (sp?), whose English is excellent BTW. Some of it has relevance to the sticky Instant News bulletin thread. Doug, Robert and Geoff may be able to add to this or amend if needed. Presumed factual: 1. Leica is naturally not immune to the financial downturn. 2. The US sales seem to have suffered most, but Europe and Asia are holding up well. 3. The present factory is leased, but the downturn means that it is unlikely that they will move to the new factory before 2012. 4. Due to the downturn the factory is closed on a number of Fridays (sorry I can't recall the exact frequency) and this explains why there was no tour on Friday for the Forum group. 5. The S2 production line has been initially installed in the last couple of weeks but is not yet ready to start up (obviously it needs to be completed and tested). 6. There are problems due to product demand forecasting and the need to order material (and pay for it) well in advance - e.g. glass - 2 years. 7. Porsche were called in to advise on modernising the "workflow" - now using the "last minute" technique from car production (the exact word for this escapes me at the moment) of parts arriving at the workpoint just and only when needed. More efficient. Somewhat speculative - gleaned from observation: a. A computer screen in an office in the "prototype/model development" machine shop had an interesting CAD model of a camera backplate not unlike the M8's on show when we came round the corner. It disappeared a minute later, but had re-appeared in a different limited view when we walked past on the way out. Could be absolutely nothing... but on the other hand? b. An office door with a notice HDMI on it. Herr H referring to in-house computer software development at this moment. Could this imply an HDMI connection for some future product? The Factory is impressive as is the Customer Service operation which is very friendly and helpful - and supplies excellent coffee, soft drinks and biscuits! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted June 16, 2009 Posted June 16, 2009 Hi spylaw4, Take a look here Hessenpark update - from Factory tour.. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
jaapv Posted June 16, 2009 Share #2 Posted June 16, 2009 Thanks for the update, Brian. Yes, Leica used Porsche Consulting before, for the Summarit line, so it seems like a good move to get them in again. It sounds like a quite interesting tour. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpattinson Posted June 16, 2009 Share #3 Posted June 16, 2009 7. Porsche were called in to advise on modernising the "workflow" - now using the "last minute" technique from car production (the exact word for this escapes me at the moment) of parts arriving at the workpoint just and only when needed. More efficient. That would be 'just-in-time' or 'lean' production method derived from Toyota. It has rather interesting applications to software development as well, my firm specializes in applying it to software delivery. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevelap Posted June 16, 2009 Share #4 Posted June 16, 2009 .....Porsche were called in to advise on modernising the "workflow" - now using the "last minute" technique from car production (the exact word for this escapes me at the moment) of parts arriving at the workpoint just and only when needed. More efficient. Thanks Brian, very interesting. The three-year delay in the move to the new factory is puzzling on the face of it, given that it's built (if not yet fitted out) already. Finances must indeed be tight. I think the car industry production line phrase is "Just-in-time", by the way. I could be wrong. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandokan Posted June 16, 2009 Share #5 Posted June 16, 2009 Brian, your perception of "excellent coffee" differs very very far from mine! I think I would have preferred an Americano to what they served at the Customer Services tour. Apart from that, the tour was excellent and seeing all those sensors for the Digilux gives hope that people wont be lose out on that investment. Also the turnaround (was it 5 days)? for units shipped directly to them (in Solms) is also impressive considering all the checks they do on the systems before returning them. Ravi Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevelap Posted June 16, 2009 Share #6 Posted June 16, 2009 Good grief, an Americano, coffee!!. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
marknorton Posted June 16, 2009 Share #7 Posted June 16, 2009 Advertisement (gone after registration) Thanks for the update Bryan, I've never managed to get the timing right to visit Solms at the time a factory tour was on. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott kirkpatrick Posted June 16, 2009 Share #8 Posted June 16, 2009 And "Just-in-time" in the Japanese car industry, where it started is called "Kanban" which I think was the word for the cardboard slips that were used to label shipments. Anyone know the story better? scott Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted June 16, 2009 Share #9 Posted June 16, 2009 In my experience -we often have these just-in-time delivery chains- it all too often means just-a-little-bit-delayed Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
spylaw4 Posted June 16, 2009 Author Share #10 Posted June 16, 2009 Brian, your perception of "excellent coffee" differs very very far from mine! I think I would have preferred an Americano to what they served at the Customer Services tour. Apart from that, the tour was excellent and seeing all those sensors for the Digilux gives hope that people wont be lose out on that investment. Also the turnaround (was it 5 days)? for units shipped directly to them (in Solms) is also impressive considering all the checks they do on the systems before returning them. Ravi I only drank coke! But the soft drinks (there were others as well as Coke) and biscuits were excellent! BTW just for clarification I was not referring to the Customer Services tour on the Friday. @ Stevelap - the new facility seems to be partially occupied by other divisions of the Leica Empire. IMO it will cost a pretty penny to either equip the new facility anew or move all the existing machinery some of which must be quite delicate, to say nothing of lost production during the move. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevelap Posted June 16, 2009 Share #11 Posted June 16, 2009 ....@ Stevelap - the new facility seems to be partially occupied by other divisions of the Leica Empire. IMO it will cost a pretty penny to either equip the new facility anew or move all the existing machinery some of which must be quite delicate, to say nothing of lost production during the move. Indeed Brian, I agree, although I'm sure that moving was part of the original plan. As you say, difficult economic conditions and a new CEO, who perhaps took one look at the figures and said 'nein' for the time being. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
earleygallery Posted June 16, 2009 Share #12 Posted June 16, 2009 Indeed Brian, I agree, although I'm sure that moving was part of the original plan. As you say, difficult economic conditions and a new CEO, who perhaps took one look at the figures and said 'nein' for the time being. Hmmmmm just a thought as I read this, delayed move, decision to drop the R10, maybe connected? Thinking longer term, if you put aside the current R issues an imagine Leica only ever made the M, assuming the S2 is a roaring success would they not want to look at extending the range to a 'FF DSLR' as well? Maybe they need the new facility to be able to manufacture another product line, and given they have decided to stay put for the time being, it was necessary to drop the R10 plans and look at a 'stop gap' product with a partner (Panasonic or A N Other). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
buckhorn_cortez Posted June 16, 2009 Share #13 Posted June 16, 2009 That would be 'just-in-time' or 'lean' production method derived from Toyota. It has rather interesting applications to software development as well, my firm specializes in applying it to software delivery. And "Just-in-time" in the Japanese car industry, where it started is called "Kanban" which I think was the word for the cardboard slips that were used to label shipments. Anyone know the story better? Not even close, and shows the usual misperceptions about Japanese innovation in manufacturing. In fact, the technique was first used by the Ford Motor Company as described explicitly by Henry Ford's "My Life and Work," (1922): "We have found in buying materials that it is not worthwhile to buy for other than immediate needs. We buy only enough to fit into the plan of production, taking into consideration the state of transportation at the time." Even more interesting, however, is when Toyota manufacturing personnel visited Ford in the early 1950's they did not adopt Ford's system as Ford did not have a fully integrated JIT at that time. After visiting Ford, they went to Piggly Wiggly (food stores) where they found a fully implimented JIT system and based the Toyota system on the one they found at Piggly Wiggly. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tobey bilek Posted June 16, 2009 Share #14 Posted June 16, 2009 It is called "Just in Time " supply chain. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcoombs Posted June 16, 2009 Share #15 Posted June 16, 2009 Some of us stayed on for the factory tour on Monday. The following is what I picked up from Herr Hagenauer (sp?), whose English is excellent BTW. Some of it has relevance to the sticky Instant News bulletin thread. Doug, Robert and Geoff may be able to add to this or amend if needed. Presumed factual: 1. Leica is naturally not immune to the financial downturn. 2. The US sales seem to have suffered most, but Europe and Asia are holding up well. 3. The present factory is leased, but the downturn means that it is unlikely that they will move to the new factory before 2012. 4. Due to the downturn the factory is closed on a number of Fridays (sorry I can't recall the exact frequency) and this explains why there was no tour on Friday for the Forum group. 5. The S2 production line has been initially installed in the last couple of weeks but is not yet ready to start up (obviously it needs to be completed and tested). 6. There are problems due to product demand forecasting and the need to order material (and pay for it) well in advance - e.g. glass - 2 years. 7. Porsche were called in to advise on modernising the "workflow" - now using the "last minute" technique from car production (the exact word for this escapes me at the moment) of parts arriving at the workpoint just and only when needed. More efficient... Hi, folks. Apologies for coming late to the thread. As Brian says, I was also on the tour (which was quite enjoyable, for sure) and have a couple of comments. To point #2 above, I heard the same comment and the number of down 30% (in North America only) sticks in my mind. We didn't follow up on this to clarify if it was year-to-date, year-on-year or what, though (we weren't reporters). To point #4 above, I believe that the factory was closed last Friday only because the preceeding Thursday was a national holiday and so many people bridged to the weekend that it was decided not to open. I did not have the impression they were running on a four day a week schedule. The rest of Brian's comments were spot on.. One observation which struck me was the extent to which the production process was, how would you say, artisan-like. Highly skilled and trained people building everything by hand. Many of these positions require years of experience to do well. The idea of laying off people due to a downturn is probably not in the cards, which gives them a higher, and less flexible, fixed overhead. Doug Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
markgay Posted June 17, 2009 Share #16 Posted June 17, 2009 There's a lot of research suggesting just-in-time manufacturing never transferred successfully beyond Japan. I'll have a dig among the cobwebs but it certainly was a flop in Britain. Commonsense would tell me that JIT makes you vulnerable to the discipline of your suppliers - not a good thing in a downturn that, as I write, is getting worse. More significant is the comment that the factory closes every Friday. That's almost certainly because the staff are taking a pay cut to protect jobs. Funny that Porche is advising, because short weeks have been implemented by most carmakers. Steel manufacturers, on the other hand, have gone the whole hog and mothballed factories. A touch of the ominous to this latest report from the front line. Mark Oh, an office door with a notice HDMI - HeadMistress? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stunsworth Posted June 17, 2009 Share #17 Posted June 17, 2009 More significant is the comment that the factory closes every Friday. That's almost certainly because the staff are taking a pay cut to protect jobs. There was a mention later that the factory could have been shut due to the Thursday being a public holiday. It's certainly common in France for example for people to take an extra day if a holiday falls on a Tuesday or a Thursday. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbretteville Posted June 17, 2009 Share #18 Posted June 17, 2009 Thanks for the update Bill. The reduction in the North American sales was mentioned by Stefan Daniel on Friday, it is (as far as I can remember) in particular binocular sales that have dropped significantly. Last Thursday was a public holiday in Germany (Corpus Christi) and that was given as a reason for the factory being closed by Andreas Jürgensen. Regarding HDMI: The S2 has a HDMI interface (according to LFI 2/09). - Carl Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ceflynn Posted June 17, 2009 Share #19 Posted June 17, 2009 You will not be disappointed: Company Seven | Leica ULTRAVID 8 x 20 BL and 8 x 20 BR Compact Binoculars Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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