Confessions from quality control - The Frontera factory
Discussion
If robbo wanted a holiday he'd call all the shop floor out on strike ...
I do recall once we went to the Delco Factory in Kikby, we were contractors so on site on a weekly basis, sometimes more.
We have some ultra sonic cleaning equipment and fluid, stank and has warning labels all over the place on the cans.
My old man took the stuff into the maintence department in order to start work, the guy in charge was going ballistic and going on about COSHH.
My old mans response and he was old school, COSHH WTF is that I use a cash for battering people, now let me get on.
Nearly brought the section out on strike Lol
I do recall once we went to the Delco Factory in Kikby, we were contractors so on site on a weekly basis, sometimes more.
We have some ultra sonic cleaning equipment and fluid, stank and has warning labels all over the place on the cans.
My old man took the stuff into the maintence department in order to start work, the guy in charge was going ballistic and going on about COSHH.
My old mans response and he was old school, COSHH WTF is that I use a cash for battering people, now let me get on.
Nearly brought the section out on strike Lol
Edited by anothernameitist on Thursday 21st July 12:33
I worked at Aston Martin on the first DB7 in late 1994 - what an absolute shambles that was.
Some old boys from Newport Pagnell had to come down to rectify problems, and their attitude towards the DB7 is barely printable.
"the tail lights come from Toyota" says I.
"shame the rest of this f
king heap doesn't" replied Old Boy.
Some old boys from Newport Pagnell had to come down to rectify problems, and their attitude towards the DB7 is barely printable.
"the tail lights come from Toyota" says I.
"shame the rest of this f
king heap doesn't" replied Old Boy.The Crack Fox said:
OldGermanHeaps said:
When will the digital copy be available? I'm going on holiday next week it would be good to have a decent read on the plane.
After the kickstarter ends (5th August IIRC), sorry it can't be sooner!Pledged!
Reminds me, a pal of mine, "G" used to work in the paintshop at Longbridge, on maintenance.
The paint machine could spray whatever colour the car was supposed to be, unless it was a green 'un. If it was a green car (actually Dark British Racing Green that Rover presented some of their range in) the solvent would spray but the pigment wouldn't flow initially, when it eventually did the paint machine was half way-ish along the car so every green car was like it was gradient tinted, primer coloured at the front and dark BRG at the rear. So "G" was constantly fiddling, fettling, kicking and cajoling this machine to paint green cars. Of course this would have to wait until the end of the shift......
One day when the shift ended "G", after having had another batch of gradient tint BRG cars go through dropped the paint head of the machine into the maintenance position, i.e. at a comfortable working height. Unbeknown to him some QC reject cars had been put back on the line, which was restarted and were coming down, inexorably to the paint machine that "G" was working on.......
He pressed the emergency stop button but it was too late, the car collided with the paint head, accompanied by a nasty crunching noise as the machine's gearbox was rapidly reduced to shrapnel. Just to explain things a little, this paint machine was designed to articulate so that the paint was always delivered from a constant distance and perpendicular to the curvature of the bodywork that it was spraying at that particular moment. Until it got broken! Of course the machine would no longer go up and down or alter the angle at which it sprayed.
A couple of engineers came down, looked at the machine and decided the best course of action was to bang a piece of timber into what was left of the gearbox, and leave the paint head so that it stayed at the same height spraying vertically down on the car that was passing underneath at the time.
Needless to say he told us not to buy anything from Austin Rover until the problem was sorted...... Unless it was a green one, they all got hand sprayed in the Fault Rectification Department!
Vaud said:
And due to quality control issues, early digital versions are just plain white pages as they ran out of digital thingies.
They sometimes jam up in the sub ether!Reminds me, a pal of mine, "G" used to work in the paintshop at Longbridge, on maintenance.
The paint machine could spray whatever colour the car was supposed to be, unless it was a green 'un. If it was a green car (actually Dark British Racing Green that Rover presented some of their range in) the solvent would spray but the pigment wouldn't flow initially, when it eventually did the paint machine was half way-ish along the car so every green car was like it was gradient tinted, primer coloured at the front and dark BRG at the rear. So "G" was constantly fiddling, fettling, kicking and cajoling this machine to paint green cars. Of course this would have to wait until the end of the shift......
One day when the shift ended "G", after having had another batch of gradient tint BRG cars go through dropped the paint head of the machine into the maintenance position, i.e. at a comfortable working height. Unbeknown to him some QC reject cars had been put back on the line, which was restarted and were coming down, inexorably to the paint machine that "G" was working on.......
He pressed the emergency stop button but it was too late, the car collided with the paint head, accompanied by a nasty crunching noise as the machine's gearbox was rapidly reduced to shrapnel. Just to explain things a little, this paint machine was designed to articulate so that the paint was always delivered from a constant distance and perpendicular to the curvature of the bodywork that it was spraying at that particular moment. Until it got broken! Of course the machine would no longer go up and down or alter the angle at which it sprayed.
A couple of engineers came down, looked at the machine and decided the best course of action was to bang a piece of timber into what was left of the gearbox, and leave the paint head so that it stayed at the same height spraying vertically down on the car that was passing underneath at the time.
Needless to say he told us not to buy anything from Austin Rover until the problem was sorted...... Unless it was a green one, they all got hand sprayed in the Fault Rectification Department!
The Crack Fox said:
Love that!
I was there once. It was a shambles.
It sure was. I got fired as well on some jumped up disciplinary. It was an awful place to work - TWR smartarses, jaded 'could't give a fI was there once. It was a shambles.
k' Jag Coventry drones and six fingered local bumpkins. Plus some pretty unpleasant Ford people.The Crack Fox said:
mattlad said:
They sometimes jam up in the sub ether!
Reminds me, a pal of mine, "G" used to work in the paintshop at Longbridge, on maintenance.
The paint machine could spray whatever colour the car was supposed to be, unless it was a green 'un. If it was a green car (actually Dark British Racing Green that Rover presented some of their range in) the solvent would spray but the pigment wouldn't flow initially, when it eventually did the paint machine was half way-ish along the car so every green car was like it was gradient tinted, primer coloured at the front and dark BRG at the rear. So "G" was constantly fiddling, fettling, kicking and cajoling this machine to paint green cars. Of course this would have to wait until the end of the shift......
One day when the shift ended "G", after having had another batch of gradient tint BRG cars go through dropped the paint head of the machine into the maintenance position, i.e. at a comfortable working height. Unbeknown to him some QC reject cars had been put back on the line, which was restarted and were coming down, inexorably to the paint machine that "G" was working on.......
He pressed the emergency stop button but it was too late, the car collided with the paint head, accompanied by a nasty crunching noise as the machine's gearbox was rapidly reduced to shrapnel. Just to explain things a little, this paint machine was designed to articulate so that the paint was always delivered from a constant distance and perpendicular to the curvature of the bodywork that it was spraying at that particular moment. Until it got broken! Of course the machine would no longer go up and down or alter the angle at which it sprayed.
A couple of engineers came down, looked at the machine and decided the best course of action was to bang a piece of timber into what was left of the gearbox, and leave the paint head so that it stayed at the same height spraying vertically down on the car that was passing underneath at the time.
Needless to say he told us not to buy anything from Austin Rover until the problem was sorted...... Unless it was a green one, they all got hand sprayed in the Fault Rectification Department!
That is fantastic! I ought to include it!Reminds me, a pal of mine, "G" used to work in the paintshop at Longbridge, on maintenance.
The paint machine could spray whatever colour the car was supposed to be, unless it was a green 'un. If it was a green car (actually Dark British Racing Green that Rover presented some of their range in) the solvent would spray but the pigment wouldn't flow initially, when it eventually did the paint machine was half way-ish along the car so every green car was like it was gradient tinted, primer coloured at the front and dark BRG at the rear. So "G" was constantly fiddling, fettling, kicking and cajoling this machine to paint green cars. Of course this would have to wait until the end of the shift......
One day when the shift ended "G", after having had another batch of gradient tint BRG cars go through dropped the paint head of the machine into the maintenance position, i.e. at a comfortable working height. Unbeknown to him some QC reject cars had been put back on the line, which was restarted and were coming down, inexorably to the paint machine that "G" was working on.......
He pressed the emergency stop button but it was too late, the car collided with the paint head, accompanied by a nasty crunching noise as the machine's gearbox was rapidly reduced to shrapnel. Just to explain things a little, this paint machine was designed to articulate so that the paint was always delivered from a constant distance and perpendicular to the curvature of the bodywork that it was spraying at that particular moment. Until it got broken! Of course the machine would no longer go up and down or alter the angle at which it sprayed.
A couple of engineers came down, looked at the machine and decided the best course of action was to bang a piece of timber into what was left of the gearbox, and leave the paint head so that it stayed at the same height spraying vertically down on the car that was passing underneath at the time.
Needless to say he told us not to buy anything from Austin Rover until the problem was sorted...... Unless it was a green one, they all got hand sprayed in the Fault Rectification Department!
Going back to Aston at Bloxham, I recall Nick Fry appearing once or twice, a big cheese within the organisation. Rather than being sat on his arse delegating, Nick could be found on the factory floor sweeping up and assembling trim parts. The fact that the DB7 was turning into a gigantic fk up was not lost on him - a real gent.
I wish I could recall the name of the Ford ahole that fired me. On a Thursday, I was asked to go around the factory with a list of uncompleted cars in December 1994 - that'll be all of them then. Fit a bracket, tighten two screws. A workshop foreman told me to be extra careful because the atmosphere in the factory was not good and things were afoot. So with the list, every car was found, the bracket was fitted and trust me, both screws were good and tight. 2 hours later, the job was done and checked again in reverse order.
And of course the following morning, Ford ahole summoned me where he informed me that brackets were loose, and so was I. P45 and down the road there and then, escorted off the premises a week before Xmas. Now, at the time there were press reports about the DB7's production difficulties and management needed someone to fire - because I'd written a couple of articles for a minor classic car mag in 1993/4, I was obviously the 'mole'.
tts.
k up was not lost on him - a real gent.I wish I could recall the name of the Ford a
hole that fired me. On a Thursday, I was asked to go around the factory with a list of uncompleted cars in December 1994 - that'll be all of them then. Fit a bracket, tighten two screws. A workshop foreman told me to be extra careful because the atmosphere in the factory was not good and things were afoot. So with the list, every car was found, the bracket was fitted and trust me, both screws were good and tight. 2 hours later, the job was done and checked again in reverse order.And of course the following morning, Ford a
hole summoned me where he informed me that brackets were loose, and so was I. P45 and down the road there and then, escorted off the premises a week before Xmas. Now, at the time there were press reports about the DB7's production difficulties and management needed someone to fire - because I'd written a couple of articles for a minor classic car mag in 1993/4, I was obviously the 'mole'.t
ts. 
I shall donate an entire ten pounds when I get to my desk at lunchtime, Kickstarter website is being a bit crap on my phone.
^^
Yep, I'm in too.
Would be good to have an e-version alongside the hard copy if possible? Also PDF can be a faff on e-readers but if you'd like I can probably help with converting to the most common formats such as MOBI and epub which allow things like text reflow etc.
Give me a shout if I can be of assistance.
Would be good to have an e-version alongside the hard copy if possible? Also PDF can be a faff on e-readers but if you'd like I can probably help with converting to the most common formats such as MOBI and epub which allow things like text reflow etc.
Give me a shout if I can be of assistance.
The Crack Fox said:
Funk said:
Yep, I'm in too. Would be good to have an e-version alongside the hard copy if possible? Also PDF can be a faff on e-readers but if you'd like I can probably help with converting to the most common formats such as MOBI and epub which allow things like text reflow etc.
Give me a shout if I can be of assistance.
Ta! You can order an e copy for £3 in addition to the print version, you don't get that for free, I need to keep admin simple my end. PDF works for me because I can create unique copies for each reader quite easily. Thanks for the offer of help with epub and whatnot, it might be best if readers convert the PDF to another format themselves if they really need it. I'll be inundated with technical requests if I start to offer different formats. So - It's £3 for a PDF. Hope you follow my logic. Give me a shout if I can be of assistance.
As you say, PDF can be converted to other formats but it doesn't re-flow the text etc which can make it a pain to read on an e-reader. I can understand why you don't want the hassle for a relatively small number of users though.
Look forward to receiving the book!
Funk said:
The Crack Fox said:
Funk said:
Yep, I'm in too. Would be good to have an e-version alongside the hard copy if possible? Also PDF can be a faff on e-readers but if you'd like I can probably help with converting to the most common formats such as MOBI and epub which allow things like text reflow etc.
Give me a shout if I can be of assistance.
Ta! You can order an e copy for £3 in addition to the print version, you don't get that for free, I need to keep admin simple my end. PDF works for me because I can create unique copies for each reader quite easily. Thanks for the offer of help with epub and whatnot, it might be best if readers convert the PDF to another format themselves if they really need it. I'll be inundated with technical requests if I start to offer different formats. So - It's £3 for a PDF. Hope you follow my logic. Give me a shout if I can be of assistance.
As you say, PDF can be converted to other formats but it doesn't re-flow the text etc which can make it a pain to read on an e-reader. I can understand why you don't want the hassle for a relatively small number of users though.
Look forward to receiving the book!
omgus said:
If you have a kindle or use the kindle app then you can email a PDF to <kindle-username>@kindle.com and it does the conversion automatically.
You're right about it being on the device but it doesn't re-flow the text like this:MOBI, small text: http://i.imgur.com/5Md0b9C.png
MOBI, big text: http://i.imgur.com/3fEujJl.png
PDF, full page: http://i.imgur.com/1qR9QJy.png
PDF, zoomed for larger text: http://i.imgur.com/AhC7cOT.png
PDF isn't a good format on e-readers.
However, I'll stop derailing the thread as TCF doesn't want it in other formats and as it's his book what he says goes!
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