228electrician Posted May 20, 2010 Share Posted May 20, 2010 We have a new controller,,,, over in our welding department,, we have a machine with a bad pnumatic valve,, to keep it running, we have to swap the valve off another machine to get it running,, this valve is being shared by three machines depending on which one they need to run at that time,,, all because the controller will not authorize the purchase of a $125 valve,,,,,,, Save money by not buying parts,, but lose that money in downtime and premium shipping cost,,, just don't understand,,, somebody Dig the old man up and show him what these people are doing with his company... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michigander Posted May 20, 2010 Share Posted May 20, 2010 This must be the new way of doing things. Here at WAP we run half a machine at a time because of part shortages. Quality first is a load of shit! I know our plant is only running till Nov but come on now. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fordguy61mi Posted May 20, 2010 Share Posted May 20, 2010 That's standard operating procedure at my plant. Oh and in General Stores if a part isn't requisitioned out within a year, they throw it away and do away with the set up! So when a machine goes down they have to order one. But they saved the space of storing it for awhile. What a great savings and what a way to run a company! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mnlcoll Posted May 20, 2010 Share Posted May 20, 2010 This seems to be standard operating procedure around the system. At my location I have been fighting with mgmnt. over the purchase of parts that cost less than a couple of dollars. They cry and scream fix this and fix that but do it with salvaged parts or whatever you can find. We are one small breakdown away from catastrophe here. We are limping along hoping nothing lets go. I have even written letters to Mr. Mulally, King and Gettlefinger and anyone else who would listen. I was called into the plant Managers office and advised that this was not a good choice but no one will listen. Our general stores will not order or stock anything. They throw more out than they order. Our general stores are closed every Wed. of every week we cant even get a clean pair of coveralls if we get sprayed with hydraulic fluid oil or any other substance. These people with all these great ideas are prventing us from doing our job. It's a shame I have guys who want to work but are not supplied the parts or equipment to get the job done. Ford is saving a nickle but in the long run it will cost untold amounts of money to fix what they have done. They even ordered material from Dearborn because it was pennies cheaper and then paid a premium to have it trucked in here. Does that make sense? Who is in charge? and who is being held accountable for all this? 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fordguy61mi Posted May 21, 2010 Share Posted May 21, 2010 It's bean counters who are given full authority to do what they want as long as it cuts the bottom line without taking anything into consideration. BS. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OAC_Sparky Posted May 21, 2010 Share Posted May 21, 2010 That's standard operating procedure at my plant. Oh and in General Stores if a part isn't requisitioned out within a year, they throw it away and do away with the set up! Here too. Can you imagine having a 3 year old car and stuck on the side of the road because "Well, I didn't use the spare tire in a year so I threw it out." Morons. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triumph 7 Posted May 21, 2010 Share Posted May 21, 2010 We have a new controller,,,, over in our welding department,, we have a machine with a bad pnumatic valve,, to keep it running, we have to swap the valve off another machine to get it running,, this valve is being shared by three machines depending on which one they need to run at that time,,, all because the controller will not authorize the purchase of a $125 valve,,,,,,, Save money by not buying parts,, but lose that money in downtime and premium shipping cost,,, just don't understand,,, somebody Dig the old man up and show him what these people are doing with his company... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triumph 7 Posted May 21, 2010 Share Posted May 21, 2010 We have a new controller,,,, over in our welding department,, we have a machine with a bad pnumatic valve,, to keep it running, we have to swap the valve off another machine to get it running,, this valve is being shared by three machines depending on which one they need to run at that time,,, all because the controller will not authorize the purchase of a $125 valve,,,,,,, Save money by not buying parts,, but lose that money in downtime and premium shipping cost,,, just don't understand,,, somebody Dig the old man up and show him what these people are doing with his company... Brand new machines are used for spare parts. Talk about waste. Kids would't run a lemonade stand that way. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mnlcoll Posted May 23, 2010 Share Posted May 23, 2010 Well it finally happened I replied to this post on Thursday and on Friday we had a failure on an eight inch water line. It flooded the building, water from the shipping area all the way to the press room and into the basement. They had to shut down the pump house and halt production. It took three shifts to get it restored and turned back on. Keep pinching pennies boys. How much do you figure this one cost you? They even had the nerve to ask why we only had one pipe fitter on the shift? because you gutted us remember we don't have enough people to cover anything anymore. Unfortunately they will not learn from this thats the sad part. keep laying people off and putting them back to production. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuck734 Posted May 25, 2010 Share Posted May 25, 2010 Well it finally happened I replied to this post on Thursday and on Friday we had a failure on an eight inch water line. It flooded the building, water from the shipping area all the way to the press room and into the basement. They had to shut down the pump house and halt production. It took three shifts to get it restored and turned back on. Keep pinching pennies boys. How much do you figure this one cost you? They even had the nerve to ask why we only had one pipe fitter on the shift? because you gutted us remember we don't have enough people to cover anything anymore. Unfortunately they will not learn from this thats the sad part. keep laying people off and putting them back to production. It happened again last night at Wayne Assy. Went down hard with multiple major breakdowns. Down for over 9 hours. There is a lot of graphs and charts in the plant, do you think there is one somewhere that shows lost production since the bean counters took over FMC?? They slashed the trades O/T, weekend work, and parts buying. Somebody needs to hold the bean counters responsible. This was very rare in the past but so common now it is unbelievable. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justnthrmushroom Posted May 26, 2010 Share Posted May 26, 2010 Same story at STAP. Little to no parts available in stores and running out of salvageable parts. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FiredMotorCompany Posted May 26, 2010 Share Posted May 26, 2010 Well it finally happened I replied to this post on Thursday and on Friday we had a failure on an eight inch water line. It flooded the building, water from the shipping area all the way to the press room and into the basement. They had to shut down the pump house and halt production. It took three shifts to get it restored and turned back on. Keep pinching pennies boys. How much do you figure this one cost you? They even had the nerve to ask why we only had one pipe fitter on the shift? because you gutted us remember we don't have enough people to cover anything anymore. Unfortunately they will not learn from this thats the sad part. keep laying people off and putting them back to production. Modern airliners can fly point to point without in-flight pilot inputs. So, why don't the airlines eliminate them? Because, what do you do with a tin can with 300 people aboard that has a failed computer? You invest in pilots. You bought a home. You have never had a flood. So, why buy flood insurance? Because that costs less than the damage suffered if a flood occurs. You never had a major auto accident. So, why buy insurance (legal obligations not withstanding)? Because the medical and liability risks are far more expensive than the premiums paid. How about firefighters? They don't need 30 firefighters in your community if there is no fire. So, do you "fire" (sorry, bad pun) them? No, you keep them ready to respond to the unexpected. Ford beanie-hats think if you can operate for 6 months with 1 pipe fitter per shift, they can justify the loss of production. Hmmmmm? Exactly how much does an hour of lost production cost? How's that workin' out for ya, Ford? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grim Reaper Posted May 26, 2010 Share Posted May 26, 2010 (edited) Modern airliners can fly point to point without in-flight pilot inputs. So, why don't the airlines eliminate them? Because, what do you do with a tin can with 300 people aboard that has a failed computer? You invest in pilots. You bought a home. You have never had a flood. So, why buy flood insurance? Because that costs less than the damage suffered if a flood occurs. You never had a major auto accident. So, why buy insurance (legal obligations not withstanding)? Because the medical and liability risks are far more expensive than the premiums paid. How about firefighters? They don't need 30 firefighters in your community if there is no fire. So, do you "fire" (sorry, bad pun) them? No, you keep them ready to respond to the unexpected. Ford beanie-hats think if you can operate for 6 months with 1 pipe fitter per shift, they can justify the loss of production. Hmmmmm? Exactly how much does an hour of lost production cost? How's that workin' out for ya, Ford? I think the trades should keep a running total of down time. Every minute down costs $$. Capture the minutes down and show the PM that are not getting done on weekends and expose the irresponsable parties to their boss. If no action from their boss keep climbing the ladder. These people must be exposed. We have a letter in the agreement on total cost and this should be addressed as such. A total cost savings. Edited May 26, 2010 by Grim Reaper 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StapRoboSitter Posted May 27, 2010 Share Posted May 27, 2010 I think the trades should keep a running total of down time. Every minute down costs $$. Capture the minutes down and show the PM that are not getting done on weekends and expose the irresponsable parties to their boss. I like your idea in Theory... wait.. Weekends..? What are those?? I'd been at home with my Family for almost my entire 7 year apprenticeship! (NO weekends for anyone) at STAP we have been on a shoestring budget for... well, my entire life here in the Trades... 20 year old Robots (run for 20 years 20 hours a day until recently) that by some Miracle are still hanging in there! when valves go, the only supply is a bunch of Portable Weld Gun timers that have been "stored" outside for 2 years... must admit I've enjoyed watching the pipefitters brave the foot of snow to go out and grab one At the end of the day? The plant produces cars without all these parts that would make our job easier... so budgets will be cut because we always find a way to make it work... We seem to be luckier than most (NOTE.. most, not all) critical parts have been properly flagged in Stores so they will never expire (many parts that have been on the shelf for 10 years, without which the plant would come to a standstill) anything else? There always ends up being a way around it... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maislebandit Posted June 2, 2010 Share Posted June 2, 2010 We have a new controller,,,, over in our welding department,, we have a machine with a bad pnumatic valve,, to keep it running, we have to swap the valve off another machine to get it running,, this valve is being shared by three machines depending on which one they need to run at that time,,, all because the controller will not authorize the purchase of a $125 valve,,,,,,, Save money by not buying parts,, but lose that money in downtime and premium shipping cost,,, just don't understand,,, somebody Dig the old man up and show him what these people are doing with his company... You speak the truth 228, this is commonplace here anymore. The good news is everything in the plant is getting older and the longer they wait to start doing things right, the more drastic the change. Pay now or pay more later. Another one that leaves a bad taste is running production with no trade support. While all areas have done it, the annex is famous for it. Bad. They are gambling with company money. Or worse, a production worker with good intentions gets hurt or killed. This is not good business. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
228electrician Posted June 4, 2010 Author Share Posted June 4, 2010 (edited) Alright, i work with engineers alot, and they have so many meetings now that they have no time to work on problems on the machines, and are forced to call in vendors to assist with certain issues that we would work on together,, and these vendors cost usually $150 an hour with usually an 8 hour minimum charge,,,,, While on the vendor issue,,, we have a snake in the grass vender by the name of Bruce Robinson, use to work for ABB but was let go and now has his own company of supporting the engineers of this plant,, he snakes around in the plant, he sets up jobs for weekend work instead of our leaders do,, and i belive most of his jobs he is suppose to supply parts but he rides around the plant looking for parts and still charges the plant as if he supplied them,,, in and out of panels looking for work and trying to fix stuff and whoreing himself out for work while at the same time stabbing tradesmen in the back by bad mouthing tradesmen in meetings,,, his mistake a couple weeks ago was to put this bashing in an email and send it out to everyone, including our union represented engineers that forward this info to the electricians and our representation,, they gave him a talking to with a warning,, they should given him the shaft and the boot outta here for good. He has his own bike, office, and access to all our critical information and no one has time to watch him so he is dangerous to the plant, making changes un supervised and i believe is causing downtime. Rumor has it that the engineers / management that allow him to roam free are getting kickbacks from this guy and thats the reason he goes unchecked on anything he wants to do.... Edited June 4, 2010 by 228electrician 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stugots Posted June 4, 2010 Share Posted June 4, 2010 You speak the truth 228, this is commonplace here anymore. The good news is everything in the plant is getting older and the longer they wait to start doing things right, the more drastic the change. Pay now or pay more later. Another one that leaves a bad taste is running production with no trade support. While all areas have done it, the annex is famous for it. Bad. They are gambling with company money. Or worse, a production worker with good intentions gets hurt or killed. This is not good business. ---------------------------------------------------------------The annex is part of Bob Hines area isn't it?-----------------------------------------------------------He notoriously disregards UAW/Ford policy.--------------------------------------------------------The guy was showing off a sheriffs badge recently.------------------------------------------------------Who does he think he is?-----------------------------------------------------------He needs to be monitored for further violations. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michigander Posted June 5, 2010 Share Posted June 5, 2010 These clowns are hired because our managment really doesnt understand maint. They are not mecanicaly or electricly trained. Most have degrees in liberal arts. They are just a pack of jackass that are told what to do by the glass house. This will hopfully catch up with them soon. And hopfully the plants can be saved or salvaged before it's to late. All we can do is hang in there till it happens. We do not seem to have any power left to do anything but watch anymore. Keep your head down and, wait. Our time will come! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldenuff2knowbetter Posted June 12, 2010 Share Posted June 12, 2010 THE BEATINGS WILL CONTINUE UNTIL MORALE IMPROVES!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoardpm Posted June 15, 2010 Share Posted June 15, 2010 I think this is standard at all ford plants. Just last week at KCAP we lost power to the whole plant do to a storm. I talked to an electrician who explained to me that the plant is powered by two feeds. The power distrabution equipment in the plant is supposed to "sence" if it looses power from one of the feeds and automaticly switch to the other. However, because of managment we have in the plant. Preventaive maintenance is a bad word and the system failed. We lost 8 hours of production. To make matters worse the managment kept us there all night while skilled traides scrammbled to get the plant on line. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
228electrician Posted June 15, 2010 Author Share Posted June 15, 2010 I think this is standard at all ford plants. Just last week at KCAP we lost power to the whole plant do to a storm. I talked to an electrician who explained to me that the plant is powered by two feeds. The power distrabution equipment in the plant is supposed to "sence" if it looses power from one of the feeds and automaticly switch to the other. However, because of managment we have in the plant. Preventaive maintenance is a bad word and the system failed. We lost 8 hours of production. To make matters worse the managment kept us there all night while skilled traides scrammbled to get the plant on line. as long as the lights are on,, why spend money to do pm opps, why did the lights go out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nswanberg Posted June 19, 2010 Share Posted June 19, 2010 "Cost accounting is your number 1 enemy in manufacturing." 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fordktp99 Posted June 28, 2010 Share Posted June 28, 2010 "Cost accounting is your number 1 enemy in manufacturing." No power + paying 100% time to do nothing to = piss poor accounting. I say ALL the bean counters need to have their asses handed to them. They go to college for 4 years or more to become more STUPID than they were to begin with. Im no accountant but common sense tells me that buying a 125.00 valve might save tens of thousands in downtime later on. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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