Porsche 911 build start to finish
 

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fascinating but doesn't inspire the soul. Just another factory production line. Might as well have been washing machines.

The robotics interest me more than new Porsches do.

Wow, all abb machines.

I agree. I enjoy these types of videos. Love taking a peak behind the curtain. The robot that filled/covered all of the chassis seams with an adhesive sealant of some sort, was cool!

Some nice looking Fräuleins in that factory;):D

I was waiting to see the dip into the galvanized bath like the old air cooled ones used to get. They either don't do it or they skipped that in the video.
It would be interesting to be an automated robot designer... Not so much an assembly line worker. It looks like a science fiction movie from not too long ago. The humans might as well be shelling crabs.

I prefer robots to soul. Manufacturing houses move to automation whenever possible because machines have predictable behaviors and more importantly, failure modes: They don't come to work hungover, angry or tired and they aren't unionized.

You can plan a Six Sigma around machines. I found the video excellent in that it showed the accuracy of the jigs, the placement of welds and other applicants. Also interesting was the human quality control points.

I have worked in a number of aviation production environments and the "hands on" nature of helicopter manufacturing drove huge inefficiencies: I spent a lot of time and effort on Kaizan Events at the Sikorsky Factory in CT. (a very labor intensive factory due to the nature of helicopter airframe production) and without question the largest cost variable was human inefficiency.

We looked hard at automating as much of the airframe production as possible (dynamic component manufacture was becoming more automated) but there was little advantage to automation with riveting complex structures.

One of the guys I went through flight school with and lived with during our first squadron tour in San Diego got out early and became a production expert with Toyota. He retired from Toyota and has his own consulting firm.

The nature of manufacturing at scale is to drive out inefficiencies, establish repeatable processes and tolerances and automate as much as possible. Toyota opened a plant in Mexico (my friend did the "green field") because the level of automation is so great the skill level requirements (and wages) of most workers is low.

It is simply the way of the world. Cars are so much better today (reliability, performance, efficiency) than even 10 years ago because of manufacturing process improvements: My cherished 1971 2002Tii is a rock with wheels compared to the baseline econobox of every manufacturer on the planet today. It is laughable.

Soulful? Yes.

I am sure in 1913, the purists were complaining that the new assembly line built Model-T's didn't have soul like the 1912's did.

Do you also prefer robots to jobs?

I agree that robotics have been responsible for major advances in the quality and reliability of the products they help build, but sometimes I wonder if it would be better for the greater good if we could accept a little less perfection and sterility in our world so that more people might have an opportunity to earn a living for themselves. All these efficiently-built products won't be doing us any good at all if no one has the money to buy them.

The Bank of England believes that machines might take over 80 million American and 15 million British jobs over the next 10 to 20 years, CNN Money reports, or 50% of the workforce in each of the two countries.

“These machines are different,” the bank’s chief economist Andy Haldane said. “Unlike in the past, they have the potential to substitute for human brains as well as hands.”

A recent Oxford University study quoted by Yahoo says that the jobs at risk of being replaced by robots include loan officers, receptionists, paralegals, salespeople, drivers, security guards, fast food cooks, bartenders.

Other jobs including marketers, journalists and lawyers might also be added to the list in the future, founder of Webbmedia Group Amy Webb said at the Milken Global Conference this year.

I so often wonder how people make certain leaps in logic...while you are at it, I have some buggy whip stock I'd like to sell you: I bundled it with the Horse Farrier LLC I started.

Industries change and people must adapt. Here is a link to the 2015 CAR Report.

http://www.autoalliance.org/files/dmfile/2015-Auto-Industry-Jobs-Report.pdf

The industry is very healthy and employs a wide range of talents and skills.

This is the complete opposite of the pics I have seen in the UK where car production workers in the 1930's are wearing ties.....

You should watch the companion video where they assemble the engines. Lots of love.

Couple of things; it was interesting that the paint wasn't shown, but it seems that I recall that Porsche has a very expensive proprietary system that has very little waste. Maybe they just don't want everyone to see that?

Number two, I like all the love lavished on the dashboard leather, and the leather work in general!

Good video. Fun to see.

So I did some more homework (it is 20 degrees outside and the heater at my shop can't keep up):

Here is a really interesting, tightly written report, slanted towards unions but on the whole paints a picture of how the auto industry has/is adapting:

The Decline and Resurgence of the U.S. Auto Industry | Economic Policy Institute

The BLS has some reports and most show that the economy has a far great impact on employment than robotics.

From 2015

Automotive Industry: Employment, Earnings, and Hours

There are some really fascinating graphs in this link. Older stuff but insightful.

Automobiles: BLS Spotlight on Statistics

Engines:

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Everyone's a comedian. Talk about a leap in logic...

Once again for the hard of hearing: I'm not advocating that we go back to the horse & buggy days at all, but merely saying that the breakneck speed at which automation and technology are being advanced might not bode well for everyone in the not-to-distant future.

Easy for you to say. You seem to be an accomplished fellow who's been able to make his way in the modern world quite easily. Unfortunately, many aren't capable, or simply aren't smart enough, to adapt the way you have. Nearly gone are the days when someone lacking the desire, the financial means, or the brain power needed for college, could get a medium-skilled job and maybe earn enough to maintain a foothold in the middle class. What becomes of these people when more & more of these jobs are replaced by automation? Many who can't adapt will likely be lining up for a share of the $150B that the government is already spending to help those who can't fully participate in today's increasingly tech-driven workforce . I'm not saying that robotics is solely responsible for the disappearance of lower-skilled jobs, but it certainly is a factor.

Maybe so...at least for now. Automation will eventually be affecting far more than just the auto industry, especially once AI is fullly integrated with robotics to produce machines that can "think" as well as preform manual tasks.

Automation is a huge booming industry. While it may replace unskilled labor ^^, it's replacing it with highly skilled techs. My BIL is partner in a corp. that deals with drives that run all those robots. A six figure job just turning on a new drive. I kid you not. I should have done electrical engineering.
At the same time I know a mine that will pay you 40k a year to make sure that the coke chute is clear. haha life is what you make of it.

The dip process was shown briefly in:
Ultimate Factories: Porsche 911 Featured on National Geographic (VIDEO).
(actually the Porsche factory looked better than Ferrari, and especially better than Lamborghini.)

Have not watched yet, but this vid might have more info:
Porsche

Cool video- but I when I saw the transmission dropped ONTO the rear suspension frame and THEN lifted into the car as an assembly, it just reconfirmed the sinking reality that these aren't going to be DIY cars like old 911's and such. Not that it was ever in doubt, but what a PIA.

It was cool seeing the similarities/differences between the 991 tub and thinking about all the old 911 tubs I've known and loved before.

I wonder what this website will look like 40 years from now, assuming cockroaches don't rule the world- someone welding new rockers onto that frame and such. "Hey, the Nano-robots I found at Harbor Freight welded up the new pan just fine...." Geessh!

About as emotionless as their cars.

Cool video. but then, I'm not one of the luddites that prefers to feel the Beetle heritage...