Manufacturing team makes it happen

Our most reliable vendors are our own crew

 

While our intent was never to become vertically integrated and have all of our sub-components manufactured in house, we have recognized over the years that our guys get the job done better and more efficiently than many of our vendors.
 


Nate (in red) manages the Molding Crew (left to right: John, Clint, Mark, Nate, Kyle, Jerry, Jimmy and Evan)
 
While companies flock to outsource their production processes, we ‘re proud to be manufacturing right here in the United States.  The bottom line is that we could easily find cheaper labor – what we’ll never find is a more dedicated and hardworking group of individuals who are intensely focused on delivering the highest quality products worldwide.
 


Colby (in red hat) leads the most talented welding group on the planet (left to right: Brian R., Kris, Colby, Brian Z., Phil, Tim, Kevin, Chad, Kris, Joe, and Tony)
 

We’ll start out by walking you through welding.  It is truly unbelievable to contemplate all of the things that these guys are doing on a daily basis.

We’re talking about 3 to 4 chassis per day, plus all of the other welded, bent and fabricated steel components that go into each kit.  In addition, these guys are responsible for making sure that all of the optional parts are available and ready for shipping.
These boards list all of the parts the welding team must complete on a weekly basis
 

We’ll tack-weld all of the steel components in place in a
positioning jig
15 Roadsters per week, plus the FFR aftermarket needs means loads of side exhaust are made weekly
 

Each joint where a tube meets another tube or a plate need
to have a seam welded all the way around the joint
We finish all of the seam welds on “spin jigs” – our
terminology for a frame rotisserie
 


While all the tube and plate steel pieces are laser cut as part of
our CNC processes, there are a few parts which need to be
customized

 

We’re investing heavily in technology to streamline
production, cut costs and improve throughput
The robot welder will free up our guys for bigger projects in the future, but requires programming and re-engineering in the short term
 

Since the technology behind fiberglass and the molding processes tends to be fairly antiquated, we’re focusing much of our technological advances in this area.  In general, fiberglass molding is fairly similar regardless of where the products are manufactured – it’s a dirty, messy and labor intensive process.  We have already made significant strides toward improving these processes for our guys, and we have many more improvements planned for the near future.
 

Clint and Evan lay fiberglass down and roll out any air voids
John is a master shaper, and has his hands full on new development projects
 

A robotic 5-axis mill trims all fiberglass panels as well as
performs optional Body Cut-Outs on Roadster shells
(that makes the $120 option a “no brainer”)
Clint sand down a rough edge on a Roadster body
 

A cutting table cuts out all fiberglass cloth for the
molders, as well as carpeting and interior components
A computer program nests all the shape and the
cutting table cuts them out as designed
 

Jerry programs, runs and maintains the cutting table and the
robot trimmer
Fiberglass components stacked up and ready for the Packaging/Assembly areas
 
There are so many more things to see in our Manufacturing area, and we would be happy to address any questions that you have regarding this or any other area within our facility.  If you don’t have any questions, lets head back to the showroom and look at the cars some more.