Ferrari Mailing List: Re: I visited THE factory

[LS (lashdeep]

Awesome post...

Any top secret pics???

:)

I would love to see what's in their trash dumpster.

LS



----- Original Message ----
From: "mysavard [at] videotron.ca" <mysavard [at] videotron.ca>
To: LS <lashdeep [at] yahoo.com>
Cc: The FerrariList <ferrari [at] ferrarilist.com>
Sent: Friday, July 17, 2009 12:12:10 PM
Subject: [Ferrari] I visited THE factory


   July 15th  will always be a special anniversary for me. This is the
   date I visited THE factory. Below is a long account of my 3 hours and
   30 minutes visit. They gave us a notebook to write a few notes as the
   guide was talking and as we listened to the audio. I' m writing this
   as I'm reading my notes. No camera allowed.
   Here it is:
   Don't forget as you read my numbers that the factory has 1 8-hour
   shift. 5h00 pm comes and EVERYBODY leaves at the same time. No weekend
   shift and plenty of vacations for everybody.

   14h30 GALLERIA visit: I've been there 5 times now and they ALWAYS have
   something new. It's worth going in.
   15h15 ENGINE DEPARTMENT: 70 engines a year. 40 Maserati and 30
   Ferrari. Lots of plants and trees inside, temperature and humidity is
   computer controlled. 75 db, is a bit noisy though. 25% V-12 and 75%
   V-8. It takes 35 days to built 1 crankshaft. Place is amazingly clean.
   Only 70 people work here. Lots and lots of robots and computers.
   15h55 PAINT SHOP: 70 (40 Maseratis, 30 Ferraris) cars a day are
   painted. First by humans to make sure all the little holes and corners
   are done. Then the car moves forward and robot-arms do their job. When
   I was there, they were doing a black car (don't remember which model),
   and the very next one was a red California. They can switch paint with
   the same robot-arms just like that in a minute. 130 employes. Most
   popular colors are red 45%, black, silver, yellow and right now white
   is becoming very popular.
   HISTORICAL ASSEMBLY LINE (OLD PRODUCTION LINE): Before you get to the
   line, on the right they have the engine testing section. Each V-8 is
   tested for 40 minutes and the V-12 for 1 hour, Ferrari and Maserati
   engines. Of course they have modernized it. But it's a very tight
   place. As we walked along the line, it was fantastic to see the
   workers assembling the cars, the real stuff. A V-8 car takes 4 days to
   assemble with the line moving forward every 40 minutes on 45 stations,
   there is a clock that tells the employes how much time they have left
   to finish their job.U.S. market is 27%, Italy and Germany 11% each,
   they have 52 markets around the world. Employes might switch jobs
   (stations) 7-8 times a year. So, they don't do the same thing over and
   over again for a whole year. Each car is tested for 50 km, they have
   10 test drivers.
   UPHOLSTERY-LEATHER DEPT: 60 employes, 12 color options, 75% of work
   made by hand. Mostly women, we actually saw them stitching leather and
   putting leather on dashboards.
   NEW ASSEMBLY LINE: Absolutely very high-tech. Cars are hung in the air
   by some sort of a crank and lowered onto work stations that
   adjust themselves so the employes don't have to stretch and bend to
   work. As you walk the line, suddenly the whole floor (red) besides you
   moves forward every 30 minutes, 50 stations, 15 cars a day. 3
   days to complete a car. Containers on wheels are brought to the
   mechanics on the moving floor and when they are empty of parts,
   another one is brought in. 8-hour a day shift. Another section in the
   same dept. was for the assembling and testing of dashboards.
   AGV Automatic Guided Vehicle: There are lots of them. They are like
   giant inflated mattresses moving around following a laser under the
   floor. So you never see a human actually moving it. They use them to
   put the engine\transmission\driveshaft\4 corners, etc together and
   then that thing moves by itself to go under a car that's waiting on
   the next assembly line. It was 5h00 pm as we finished there, so we saw
   all the employes leaving at the same time with us.
   RACING DEPARTMENT: We walked through the engine assembly garage. A
   mechanic was actually putting a Formula 1 engine together. First thing
   I notice they are very small, 2.4 L V-8, 100 kg, 18000, 750hp. Ferrari
   has around 2,800 employes, F1 alone has 900 employes. That's basically
   900 people for 2 cars. They'll make about 100 engines for the year.
   They supply Torro Rosso and Force India.
   Next was the car assembly bays. Felippe Massa's car was there, he had
   finished 3rd in Germany. It had been dismantle a lot by the mechanics.
   No wheels, no A-arms, no wings, just the body. Same with Kimi's car.
   It takes about 3 days to assemble one F1. We saw lots of sidepods,
   wings. They'll built 6 to 8 cars in a season and will sell them to
   special clients after the season. At the end I saw a mechanic working
   on those wheel covers that all F1 teams have now. I finally figured
   how it was made. It was about 10 inches from me.
   17h30 F1 CLIENTI: It's just by the Fiorano track (3km long). Since
   1970, Ferrari has sold about 200 racing cars. Over 60 Formula 1 cars
   were in this garage. Awesome display. There were 3 3-seat Formula 1
   cars. Yes, that's right 3 seats on a F1. Normal position for the
   driver with 2 other seats where the sidepods are, just a bit behind
   the driver on each side. These are owned by Philip Morris and are used
   ONLY on the Fiorano track for their clients. One F1 had a sticker
   DUBAI STORE. All red, no publicity on it.
   17h45 FXX PROGRAM: There were 13 out of the 29 made in that garage.
   Michael Schumacher's #30 was there. I wonder if he paid for it. Now
   they have 860 hp.
   18h00 Finally, we finished at the FERRARI STORE where we all got a 10%
   discount.
   Ferrari gets about 12,000 visitors a year, they can have 4 groups a
   day sometimes. Very busy between March and July, September to
   November. Owners visit, but also people from their sponsors
   We had a group of 18. I don't know why most people stay in Modena and
   even as far as Bologna. I've always stayed in Maranello itself. Plenty
   of good hotels, never had to make a reservation either. Right now I'm
   in a Best Western Hotel Domus in Piazza Liberta for 52 Euros a day.
   Plus, you live with the locals and all day long you meet real employes
   from the factory. Plenty of restaurants too. All day long you see
   Ferraris in an endless parade. Don't forget that you also see the ones
   been tested.

   Hope you enjoy this long reading!

   Michael Savard 1981 308 GTSi