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By our Northern Correspondent
Page 26
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Eric Strongitharm Oswaldtwistle.
Spagthorpe Motor Company's attempts to oiler a management consultancy service have had mixed results: three months into his secondment to Spanish truck builder Hermanos Eustachio Y Alberto Puig, SMC engineer Henry Sucksqueeze is utterly disenchanted.
"It were bad enough 'aving to eat the food— that paella's got no pie in it, for one thing—but them castanets don't 'alf chafe yer thumbs." And Henry's complaints extend to HEAP, his temporary employers: "They've no idea how to run an efficient factory—there's not a shoe-polish inspector in the whole place! And how you're expected to roll a decent cigarette without an elbow-rest on your lathe..."
But the Latin firm has embraced the latest manufacturing concepts: its factories in Seville and Barcelona have been converted to production line working, and this has transformed productivity. Models such as the HEAP Alhambra ("Deliver the goods in Moorish splendour!"), the Prado ("It's a trucking work of art!") and the Mai-lana ("Out of order—come back tomorrow!") are pouring out of one plant—then driving a thousand kilometres to the other. Due to the phenomenally efficient chassis-building process in Barcelona, and the high-quality cabbuilding process in Seville, it has become necessary to split production, with only a six-day break while the bare rolling chassis are driven across the mountains of the Sierra Nevada (see left).
HEAP's new 'Just In Time" system is a little awkward, and Sucksqueeze admits to problems in keeping production flowing ("January was tricky—we lost half the early shift to black ice") but the idea has a bonus. After such a thorough workout, the trucks lose at least 40% of their value, and subsequent depreciation is minimal— contract hire rates have never been lower!