Confessions from quality control part 3 - Dagenham!
Discussion
The Crack Fox said:
Lots of people buying it, I am really, honestly, amazed.
Here's the little chapter on Peugeot, Coventry, for those who might be interested. I haven't posted this online before
Peugeot, Coventry, UK
This plant was, according to someone in their management, the most cost-effective plant that Peugeot had anywhere in Europe. You don’t have to be an expert financial analyst to work out that this actually meant they made a lot of cars but spent nothing on infrastructure. Rootes built the Ryton-on-Dunsmore factory near Coventry during the war, it was then sold to Chrysler and finally to PSA (Peugeot). I could see no trace of investment of any these companies when they were making the 306 in the mid Nineties. It was threadbare.
Nearly all car modern car factories transport the cars down the production line in a kind of ceiling hung cradle. This enables the body to be articulated for ease of attaching components. Cars are presented to the component, saving workers from wasting seconds by stretching, and ensuring perfect alignment of assemblies. At Ryton the cars were attached to a cable drawn conveyor system on the floor and unceremoniously dragged along the ground from workstation to workstation. Management was often French, surly and aloof. They didn’t want to come down to the factory floor to troubleshoot, and production line workers were unionised blokes from Coventry in trouble that needed shooting. The trouble needed shooting. Not the workers. You get the idea.
The French imported QA equipment from France and nobody on the shop floor wanted to use it because the instructions were in French. It wasn’t like those instruction manuals you get for a new telly, printed in everything from Magyar to Mongolian but with English in there somewhere. There were no English instructions at all. Even the readouts and displays were En français.
We did a deal with their Management (which I never quite understood) which meant we ended up with the beautiful, if sullen, daughter of a senior Peugeot Manager from France doing some “work experience” with us. Sometimes she would be at the Ryton plant, other times she would sit at a desk in our office looking bored. She was a well-educated, sophisticated but quite dull young lady. She was also a snob who clearly didn’t want to be in our little office listening to us lot trying to set fire to each other for a laugh.
I felt a bit sorry for her. One day she came to work in her left hand drive, French registered Peugeot 205 Roland Garros (the posh one). It was green. The fact that I can clearly remember the car but not her name tells you something. She told us, in her aloof manner, of her family holiday home in Antibes and that she missed the sea. I offered to take her to the beach and instantly regretted it because she agreed and I was supposed to be doing some real work. She came in the next day, as planned, and brought a picnic basket and a bag of bathing stuff, parasol, beach ball, the lot. Perfect for a day on the Côte d'Azur. I took her to Skegness.
For readers who don’t know where Skegness is, it’s an impoverished seaside town on the East Coast of England, built to entertain Victorian-era coal miners, and has been in steady decay ever since the kiss-me-quick crowd discovered cheap package holidays in the sun abroad. I had relatives who lived there once. Skegness is so ugly the seagulls fly over it upside down so they don’t have to look at it. We drove up the main street and Mademoiselle looked out of the window and said “No! Take me ‘ome! Now!” She soon returned to France. I don’t think the Peugeot people ever were comfortable in England.
In later years Ryton made the Peugeot 206, a particularly shonky model that was once voted second worst car in Britain, and then Peugeot announced they were going to close the plant. Workers went on strike, asking their French comrades to join them in solidarity. They didn’t.
The Ryton plant was eventually pulled down in 2007.
Just want to say....Here's the little chapter on Peugeot, Coventry, for those who might be interested. I haven't posted this online before
Peugeot, Coventry, UK
This plant was, according to someone in their management, the most cost-effective plant that Peugeot had anywhere in Europe. You don’t have to be an expert financial analyst to work out that this actually meant they made a lot of cars but spent nothing on infrastructure. Rootes built the Ryton-on-Dunsmore factory near Coventry during the war, it was then sold to Chrysler and finally to PSA (Peugeot). I could see no trace of investment of any these companies when they were making the 306 in the mid Nineties. It was threadbare.
Nearly all car modern car factories transport the cars down the production line in a kind of ceiling hung cradle. This enables the body to be articulated for ease of attaching components. Cars are presented to the component, saving workers from wasting seconds by stretching, and ensuring perfect alignment of assemblies. At Ryton the cars were attached to a cable drawn conveyor system on the floor and unceremoniously dragged along the ground from workstation to workstation. Management was often French, surly and aloof. They didn’t want to come down to the factory floor to troubleshoot, and production line workers were unionised blokes from Coventry in trouble that needed shooting. The trouble needed shooting. Not the workers. You get the idea.
The French imported QA equipment from France and nobody on the shop floor wanted to use it because the instructions were in French. It wasn’t like those instruction manuals you get for a new telly, printed in everything from Magyar to Mongolian but with English in there somewhere. There were no English instructions at all. Even the readouts and displays were En français.
We did a deal with their Management (which I never quite understood) which meant we ended up with the beautiful, if sullen, daughter of a senior Peugeot Manager from France doing some “work experience” with us. Sometimes she would be at the Ryton plant, other times she would sit at a desk in our office looking bored. She was a well-educated, sophisticated but quite dull young lady. She was also a snob who clearly didn’t want to be in our little office listening to us lot trying to set fire to each other for a laugh.
I felt a bit sorry for her. One day she came to work in her left hand drive, French registered Peugeot 205 Roland Garros (the posh one). It was green. The fact that I can clearly remember the car but not her name tells you something. She told us, in her aloof manner, of her family holiday home in Antibes and that she missed the sea. I offered to take her to the beach and instantly regretted it because she agreed and I was supposed to be doing some real work. She came in the next day, as planned, and brought a picnic basket and a bag of bathing stuff, parasol, beach ball, the lot. Perfect for a day on the Côte d'Azur. I took her to Skegness.
For readers who don’t know where Skegness is, it’s an impoverished seaside town on the East Coast of England, built to entertain Victorian-era coal miners, and has been in steady decay ever since the kiss-me-quick crowd discovered cheap package holidays in the sun abroad. I had relatives who lived there once. Skegness is so ugly the seagulls fly over it upside down so they don’t have to look at it. We drove up the main street and Mademoiselle looked out of the window and said “No! Take me ‘ome! Now!” She soon returned to France. I don’t think the Peugeot people ever were comfortable in England.
In later years Ryton made the Peugeot 206, a particularly shonky model that was once voted second worst car in Britain, and then Peugeot announced they were going to close the plant. Workers went on strike, asking their French comrades to join them in solidarity. They didn’t.
The Ryton plant was eventually pulled down in 2007.
I've read but a small proportion of this thread and this post alone just made me buy the book. Looks like it'll be a tremendous read
The Crack Fox said:
Palmball said:
Just want to say....
I've read but a small proportion of this thread and this post alone just made me buy the book. Looks like it'll be a tremendous read
Thank you! I hope you enjoy it. Feedback most welcome.I've read but a small proportion of this thread and this post alone just made me buy the book. Looks like it'll be a tremendous read
I'll start a new thread about the next book, as it is now 99% finished (hurrah!). I went from racing rental cars to getting paid to make little films for telly, and the book is about the many scrapes I've had and the loopy people I encountered. Those who enjoyed the "Cowley to Casablanca by Rover Metro" chapter of the last book will enjoy this one. It's 47 chapters of light-hearted, self-deprecating automotive adventures.
This new book has 62262 words, with 26 uses of the word 'arse', 31 of 'Maserati', 3 of 'Bahar', 13 of 'crash', 38 of 'Police', 4 of 'bollocks' and 1 of 'frenulum'. I might post up some snippets if there's sufficient interest.
Edited by The Crack Fox on Monday 2nd January 14:20
The Crack Fox said:
An amusing anecdote, following this book. I was told at the weekend that the character "Mr Tefal" (a screaming psycho who once ran a QA department at Dagenham) was recently gifted a copy by someone at Ford, I do hope my lawyer is up to scratch because I doubt, very much, he'll appreciate my description of him 
Brilliant 
The Crack Fox said:
An amusing anecdote, following this book. I was told at the weekend that the character "Mr Tefal" (a screaming psycho who once ran a QA department at Dagenham) was recently gifted a copy by someone at Ford, I do hope my lawyer is up to scratch because I doubt, very much, he'll appreciate my description of him
He may be thrilled that his "screaming psycho" act has finally provided him with the fame he so craved. Or maybe he'll just find you and kill you. Either way.
The Crack Fox said:
An amusing anecdote, following this book. I was told at the weekend that the character "Mr Tefal" (a screaming psycho who once ran a QA department at Dagenham) was recently gifted a copy by someone at Ford, I do hope my lawyer is up to scratch because I doubt, very much, he'll appreciate my description of him
Probably my favourite character from the book! 
You've reminded me-I loaned my copy to a friend who has never given it back and I fancy another read. Must bug him for it!
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