The Elio Engine

[Ekh]

EM has the distribution system very well thought out however have only shared the general overview of what will happen with us. EM's level of planning is such that I have even been allowed to see a map of the areas where marshaling centers will be located. These areas were carefully chosen due to their proximity to rail lines, which allows for the efficient transportation of vehicles from the factory to the marshaling centers, and for their proximity to the retail centers thus allowing ordered vehicles to be loaded onto trucks overnight and delivered by morning to retail centers up to several hundred miles away.

We all know that EM has been very reluctant to share information which is likely to change, even though changing plans is common for a new business, as whenever changes happen it never fails that the naysayers accuse them of lying. As the details about how exactly the distribution system will work is definitely one of those items that is subject to change based on what they find once things get going it is in EM's best interest to avoid issues by giving us the general overview of how this will work.

The issue under discussion (at the moment, anyhow) was what would be on the cars when shipped to marshaling centers -- seats installed, or not, for instance. But to your point -- some base level of car must be shipped to the marshaling yard and options added (or standard items deleted). I'm sure they've thought through location of Marshalling Years and optimized them for both incoming and outgoing deliveries.

I do wonder how much work can actually be done at the marshaling yard and still get the car shipped for next day delivery to sales centers (except in Ohio, where Elios will not be sold unless the law is changed). That seems like a very, very tall order to me. It takes time to install / uninstall a ton of parts, time to put the car back on its dolly, time to load a truck, and time to drive it to its destination.

Elio will have to carry very significant inventory both of cars and option parts at the marshaling centers, which is itself a cost factor.

I hoe you're right, and all of this is thought through so well that it runs like water through a hose once things are up and running. It's really just the challenge of doing all this in 24 hours, as repeatedly promised, that seems like more than a stretch. 2-3 days, that I'd buy. 24 hours? Maybe not so much.

 

[WilliamH]

EM has the distribution system very well thought out however have only shared the general overview of what will happen with us. EM's level of planning is such that I have even been allowed to see a map of the areas where marshaling centers will be located. These areas were carefully chosen due to their proximity to rail lines, which allows for the efficient transportation of vehicles from the factory to the marshaling centers, and for their proximity to the retail centers thus allowing ordered vehicles to be loaded onto trucks overnight and delivered by morning to retail centers up to several hundred miles away.

We all know that EM has been very reluctant to share information which is likely to change, even though changing plans is common for a new business, as whenever changes happen it never fails that the naysayers accuse them of lying. As the details about how exactly the distribution system will work is definitely one of those items that is subject to change based on what they find once things get going it is in EM's best interest to avoid issues by giving us the general overview of how this will work.

It is in Elio Motors best interest not to disclose the exact locations of the marshaling centers until leases are signed.
We all know the impact that unscrupulous real estate speculators could have on the acquisition process.

 

[wizard of ahs]

.....I hope you're right, and all of this is thought through so well that it runs like water through a hose once things are up and running. It's really just the challenge of doing all this in 24 hours, as repeatedly promised, that seems like more than a stretch. 2-3 days, that I'd buy. 24 hours? Maybe not so much.

I'm sure that initially, it will NOT be a 24 hour turn around, but possibly in the second year when things are "ironed out" we will see the 24 hour turn around time become reality.

Just one man's opinion

 

[JEBar]

I still believe much will be learned between the time the options have to be added at the factory and establishment of the marshaling centers .... the time required to add the options and the types of options that most ordered will help them to know what will be required for them to adhere to their projected schedule .... much will also depend on the volume of Elios passing through the centers at any given time

 

[goofyone]

I agree. I am sure these are exactly the issues that EM will be able to work out during the first year when there is no next day delivery requirement. I am sure the goal of the Shreveport marshaling center during the first year will be to optimize work flows and operations in order to keep up with the production line which we have been told will be ramping up to production levels of several hundred vehicles each shift. During this period the marshaling center will also be able to work overtime on nights and weekends to catch up if they fall behind which is not as easy to do once retail sales begin. Hundreds of vehicles is also very likely what a busy remote marshaling center will have to be able to complete to keep up with retail orders during busy days so lessons learned during this period will directly translate to remote marshaling center operations thus the transition to retail sales using the full distribution system should go much smoother for EM.

 

[goofyone]

As for the inventory of parts which will be needed for the installation of options and accessories at the marshaling centers this is another way where the reservation system helps EM plan for retail sales. Unlike during retail sales reservation holders will be placing our orders 2-3 months in advance thus providing EM and their suppliers plenty of lead time to ensure these parts will be available to assemble our vehicles. The important part of this to EM is the fact that it provides them with real data from tens of thousands of actual sales which allows them to work with suppliers to plan what inventory needs to be within the EM distribution system and on its way to the marshaling centers during retail sales.

My bet is that reservation holders will be overly enthusiastic buyers as compared to the norm and will end up with more options than will eventually be normal for retail sales. This actually works to EM's advantage as they would rather have a bit too much inventory at first when retail orders begin than not have enough. This system will eventually work itself out as EM will be opening more stores over time thus increasing sales and more sales provide EM with more data allowing EM supplier orders and parts distribution to be refined..

The way I understand it supplier deliveries will be made primarily to Shreveport and EM will then forward these parts to the marshaling centers using essentially the same distribution system which also moves the vehicles however my guess is that this will vary depending on the exact cost. EM is essentially planning on extending the just in time approach to parts through their distribution system in order to reduce the amount of costly inventory which is sitting on the shelves in Shreveport and in the marshaling centers. The goal of this system is to get parts through the distribution system and into vehicles being sold before EM needs to pay for those parts which is frequently 30-60 days.

 

[Ty]

As for the inventory of parts which will be needed for the installation of options and accessories at the marshaling centers this is another way where the reservation system helps EM plan for retail sales. Unlike during retail sales reservation holders will be placing our orders 2-3 months in advance thus providing EM and their suppliers plenty of lead time to ensure these parts will be available to assemble our vehicles. The important part of this to EM is the fact that it provides them with real data from tens of thousands of actual sales which allows them to work with suppliers to plan what inventory needs to be within the EM distribution system and on its way to the marshaling centers during retail sales.

My bet is that reservation holders will be overly enthusiastic buyers as compared to the norm and will end up with more options than will eventually be normal for retail sales. This actually works to EM's advantage as they would rather have a bit too much inventory at first when retail orders begin than not have enough. This system will eventually work itself out as EM will be opening more stores over time thus increasing sales and more sales provide EM with more data allowing EM supplier orders and parts distribution to be refined..

The way I understand it supplier deliveries will be made primarily to Shreveport and EM will then forward these parts to the marshaling centers using essentially the same distribution system which also moves the vehicles however my guess is that this will vary depending on the exact cost. EM is essentially planning on extending the just in time approach to parts through their distribution system in order to reduce the amount of costly inventory which is sitting on the shelves in Shreveport and in the marshaling centers. The goal of this system is to get parts through the distribution system and into vehicles being sold before EM needs to pay for those parts which is frequently 30-60 days.

Once at the marshaling centers, it will not take much time to put on the optional parts. I've said it before and I'll say it here - I would be VERY surprised if Elio ships cars with parts that may have to be removed once at a marshaling center. They'll arrive without seats, radio, door sills, fenders, rear wheel cover, etc. All those things can be simply snapped into place as long as they are engineered correctly. Storing the parts at the marshaling centers will be no more expensive than storing them at the Shreveport plant or on vehicles that they don't belong to.

Using seats as an example...
Goofyone wants heated leather seats, JEbar wants stock seats... G1's Elio gets built first... would Elio ship it with regular seats installed? If so, those seats will be removed, shipped back to Shreveport, re-installed into another Elio, shipped to another marshaling center, removed, shipped back, installed, shipped to the marshaling center, removed, shipped back and FINALLY, installed in JEbar's Elio. Congratulations JEbar, your Elio has seats that are a little beat up from being installed in so many Elios...

Of course, they won't do that. I can see Elios coming off the line in Shreveport with a plastic temporary seat set in place so the line worker can drive it to the lot. Shoot, he may even have to bring his seat back in with him. The marshaling center would have temporary seats as well...

It just doesn't make sense to think they'd go through the effort of uninstalling parts, shipping them back (or storing them indefinitely... stock seats removed would NEVER see another Elio from a marshaling center as every Elio would have them already). It especially doesn't make sense when you think that installation would be as easy at the marshaling center as at the factory.

85. That's the average number of Elios that each marshaling center will have to ship to the stores every day IF Elio sells 250,000 a year. Some of those Elio orders would take place before lunch, I'm sure... Anyway, they are saying 24 hour turn around... Let's say 10 hours to load and ship the Elios to the stores... (loading can take place as other vehicles are being built so this isn't a linear operation) That leaves 14 hours to finish the builds... Each marshaling center would have a "rolling line" where they roll the Elio past several stations (wheel station, fender station, radio station, door sill station, fancy plastic crap on the exterior station, etc) You could have one or two people per station - each station could even take 2 mintues... (most likely they'd take the same 54 seconds or so that the plant runs at). This means the marshaling center could handle 1 vehicle every 2 minutes regardless of how many stations it has to roll through... That's 30 vehicles per hour... They'd need 3 hours to put all their day's vehicles together... Then, they could take an 11 hour nap, and then ship them out. Easy peasy. I wonder if Elio needs an industrial engineer to set up the Albuquerque marshaling center...

 

[Ekh]

One thing is for sure -- Paul Elio is driven to do things as efficiently and inexpensively as possible. And I'm certain that his new logistics guy -- the board member from Smart Car -- is going to weigh in with real expertise. Now if they could only get the damn prototypes built and rolling ....

 

[JEBar]

Once at the marshaling centers, it will not take much time to put on the optional parts. I've said it before and I'll say it here - I would be VERY surprised if Elio ships cars with parts that may have to be removed once at a marshaling center. ..

I understand your reservations, frankly, they make sense to me .... all I can relate is what I was told by Jerome in December .... to recap, there will be 2 differences in the Elios that roll off the line, AMT or manual transmission and color .... options ordered would be installed at marshaling centers and the OEM parts they are replacing would be shipped back to the factory on the trucks that deliver the trikes to the marshaling center .... as to if this will end up being the case, I have no clue

One thing is for sure -- Paul Elio is driven to do things as efficiently and inexpensively as possible. And I'm certain that his new logistics guy -- the board member from Smart Car -- is going to weigh in with real expertise. Now if they could only get the damn prototypes built and rolling ....

as they gain experience in handling installing options, I have no doubt that Paul will come up with the most efficient method of doing so .... what that method will end up looking like may well be very different from their earlier plans .... the only thing at matters to me is receiving ours equipped as per our order ..... I'm really not worried about how they will choose to accomplish that

 

[Kuda]

Snipped: Easy peasy. I wonder if Elio needs an industrial engineer to set up the Albuquerque marshaling center...

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