Tesla tries to replicate Giga Shanghai’s success in the US with Chinese engineers

[beijingwalker]

Tesla tries to replicate Giga Shanghai’s success in the US with Chinese engineers​

Fred Lambert
- Nov. 1st 2022 3:02 pm PT

Tesla is looking to replicate the massive success that it achieved at Gigafactory Shanghai in the United States by bringing some of its Chinese engineers to help improve production at the Fremont factory.

It’s hard to overstate the success that has been Tesla Gigafactory Shanghai.

Tesla was extremely successful in ramping up production at Gigafactory Shanghai, which became the most productive electric vehicle factory in the world at an incredible pace.

The automaker went from breaking ground in 2019 to starting production by the end of the year — something virtually unheard of.

Now the factory already has a production rate of 1 million vehicles per year, and it’s the largest electric vehicle factory in the world by volume.

On top of the impressive output achieved over such a short period of time, Giga Shanghai is producing industry-leading gross margins and costs.

CEO Elon Musk has often praised Tesla’s China team for the incredible success at the plant, which resulted in Tesla greatly expanding in the important Chinese EV market.

Now Tesla is reportedly looking to replicate the success of the factory in the United States by bringing some of its engineers from Giga Shanghai to the Fremont factory in California.

Bloomberg reported:

The Elon Musk-led carmaker will dispatch staff — in particular automation and control engineers — to assist efforts to increase output in Fremont, where Tesla produces the Model S, X, 3 and Y vehicles, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. About 200 people will head to California on assignments that will last at least three months, one of the people said. The first workers are setting off as soon as this month, the person added.

Tesla Fremont factory is producing vehicles at a rate of over 600,000 units annually, but Musk has recently said that he believes there’s still room to grow at the plant, despite the fact that it’s the highest production rate that the factory has reached in 30 years.

Electrek’s Take​

People like to undermine China’s manufacturing success by saying that it’s all about cheap labor. To be fair, that’s certainly part of it, but you can’t ignore Chinese manufacturing engineering talent.

In 2020, China produced 1.38 million engineering bachelor’s degrees. In comparison, the United States only gave out 197,000 engineering degrees (including computer science).

The country is producing engineers at an incredible rate, and with decades of building a strong manufacturing industry, a lot of engineering talent in China is going to manufacturing instead of flashier engineering fields.

This is a smart move for Tesla to bring some of that talent to the United States – even if it’s just for a short period of time.

You can bet that if this approach is successful, those same engineers are also going to take trips to Texas and Germany soon.

Tesla tries to replicate Giga Shanghai’s success in the US with Chinese engineers

Tesla is looking to replicate the massive success that is Giga Shanghai in the US by bringing some of its Chinese engineers to the country.

electrek.co

 

[beijingwalker]

Elon Musk praises Chinese workers, says Americans ‘trying to avoid’ work​

By Thomas Barrabi
May 11, 2022

Elon Musk hailed Chinese workers during an event this week – praising their talent and work ethic even as he took a jab at some members of the American labor force.

When asked to reveal which electric vehicle startups have impressed him the most, Musk first pointed to Volkswagen as a burgeoning competitor to his market-leading Tesla.

Next, he pivoted to China, stating that he expected some “very strong companies” to emerge from the country and provide more competition in the years ahead.

“There’s just a lot of super-talented, hard-working people in China that strongly believe in manufacturing and they won’t just be burning the midnight oil, they’ll be burning the 3 am oil,” Musk told the Financial Times.

“They won’t even leave the factory, type of thing, whereas in America, people are trying to avoid going to work at all,” he added.

Tesla already has one major manufacturing plant in Shanghai and the company indicated earlier this month that it plans to build a second facility in the area. Once the second plant is complete, Tesla will have the capacity to build as many as two million cars per year out of Shanghai.

Tesla has a manufacturing plant in Shanghai.REUTERS

But the original Shanghai plant has contended with issues in recent weeks – including supply shortages and renewed COVID-19 lockdowns in China that led to workers sleeping at the factory, according to Bloomberg.

Musk told the FT that he expects pressure from the China lockdowns to ease in the days ahead.

‘I’ve had some conversations with the Chinese government in recent days, and it’s clear that the lockdowns are being lifted rapidly, so I would not expect this to be a significant issue in the coming weeks,” Musk added.

Musk’s own work ethic has drawn headlines. When Tesla was struggling to ramp up production of its Model 3 sedan in 2018, Musk told CBS that he had taken to “sleeping on the factory floor” because he lacked the time to go home.

Tesla plans to build a second facility in Shanghai.Future Publishing via Getty Imag

While Tesla is betting heavily on China to meet demand for its vehicles, the company has clashed with workers and labor advocates in the U.S. The state of California filed suit against Tesla earlier this year over claims of alleged racial bias and discrimination at one of its factories within the state.

In March, Musk said he would welcome United Auto Workers to hold a union vote at Tesla’s California manufacturing plant – asserting the company’s workers are already well-treated and compensated.

Meanwhile, Musk is moving forward with his effort to acquire Twitter. The billionaire sparked a debate Tuesday after he said he would overturn former President Donald Trump’s permanent ban from the platform.

Elon Musk praises Chinese workers, says Americans ‘trying to avoid’ work

Billionaire Elon Musk heaped praise on Chinese workers during an event this week – praising their talent and work ethic even as he took a jab at some members of the American labor force.

nypost.com

 

[Menthol]

Now that is the so-called friendship and cooperation!

Ups, nope!

It's called stealing!


Btw, what Elon Musk saw and experienced are just Chinese factory workers.

He hasn't seen Chinese scientists and government officials.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

Now that is the so-called friendship and cooperation!

Ups, nope!

It's called stealing!


Btw, what Elon Musk saw and experienced are just Chinese factory workers.

He hasn't seen Chinese scientists and government officials.

Tesla already went through an expensive 10 month expansion at Giga Shanghai that finished in September. Considering demand is so high they don't want any delay in expanding their fremont factory and have brought in some of the people that already went through it.

Sep 20, 2022

Tesla completes capacity expansion project at Shanghai plant

Tesla will increase capacity by increasing the number of employees and improving the frequency of material turnover, with an estimated 4,000 new employees after the production line optimization is completed.

cnevpost.com

Tesla completes capacity expansion project at Shanghai plant​

This is the Tesla production line optimization project that began on December 21, 2021, with a total investment of RMB 1.2 billion, including an environmental investment of RMB 85 million, or 7.08 percent.

The production line optimization project is an expansion of Tesla's existing plant, mainly to expand capacity by increasing production pace, according to the document.

The upgrade involves the expansion of the press shop, body shop, paint shop, final assembly shop and logistics operations center.

---

Many of the Fremont people are in Texas dealing with the new Austin factory opening/ramp up.

Sep 17, 2022

Tesla Gigafactory Texas has produced 10,000th Model Y electric SUV

Tesla announced that Gigafactory Texas has produced its 10,000th Model Y electric SUV as it ramps up production.

electrek.co

 

[beijingwalker]

Tesla's Transformation Into A Chinese Company Seems Unstoppable (NASDAQ:TSLA)

What Tesla story does everyone – the analysts, the journalists, the investors – have completely backwards? The Tesla in China story.

seekingalpha.com

 

[etylo]

Why should Chinese enginers go to US that has serious racial hatred and discriminations against Chinese to work maybe as hardworking "slaves" to help American company succeed ? Chinese gov should stop this brain drain that is against Chinas competitiveness and industry just as Americans are banning their scientists contacts and cooperations with Chinese agencies and companies.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

Tesla's Transformation Into A Chinese Company Seems Unstoppable (NASDAQ:TSLA)

What Tesla story does everyone – the analysts, the journalists, the investors – have completely backwards? The Tesla in China story.

seekingalpha.com

LOL! you love posting this April 2020 article over and over and over and over which was before they opened the Austin and Berlin factories.

It isn't even applicable anymore. You love "talking about the past".

Elon Musk unveils the largest factory in the world with Tesla’s Gigafactory Texas

Tesla’s Gigafactory Texas was unveiled to the public in the company’s spectacular Cyber Rodeo keynote event held in the very building.

www.biznews.com

Elon Musk unveils the largest factory in the world with Tesla’s Gigafactory Texas​

The Chinese members completely refuse to acknowledge that there have been other new factories built other than Shanghai. It's all "the world will rely on China for building Tesla cars!!!!!!!!!".

Here is the new one in Berlin

 

[beijingwalker]

LOL! you love posting this April 2020 article over and over and over and over which was before they opened the Austin and Berlin factories.

It isn't even applicable anymore. You love "talking about the past".

Elon Musk unveils the largest factory in the world with Tesla’s Gigafactory Texas

Tesla’s Gigafactory Texas was unveiled to the public in the company’s spectacular Cyber Rodeo keynote event held in the very building.

www.biznews.com

Elon Musk unveils the largest factory in the world with Tesla’s Gigafactory Texas​

Even more now actually

Tesla disclosed the direct sources for its batteries, most of which were in China

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

Even more now actually

Well pretty much all Chinese cell phone makers (other than Huawei) are American because they all use Qualcomm chips. All your PC makers are American too because they rely on 8086 chips. Your Comac 919 is Western because they need to use Western engines.

We can use your logic that way too.

 

[beijingwalker]

Well pretty much all Chinese cell phone makers (other than Huawei) are American because they all use Qualcomm chips. All you PC makers are American too because they rely on 8086 chips. Your Comac 919 is Western because they need to use Western engines.

We can use your logic that way too.

Depends on the parts value to the finished products, otherwise we can claim F-35 can't fly without Chinese parts. Tesla's dependence on China is a well known fact, even Musk admitted it.

 

[Menthol]

Tesla's Transformation Into A Chinese Company Seems Unstoppable (NASDAQ:TSLA)

What Tesla story does everyone – the analysts, the journalists, the investors – have completely backwards? The Tesla in China story.

seekingalpha.com

I think, it can be 50-50.

50 is the negative aspect mentioned above.

Another 50 is the positive aspect.

For example, I want to design a better product (a third-world country), so I set up a design studio in Japan (a first-world country).

The requirement for the investment is to have local Japanese designers.

It sounds unfair, but that is actually what I want in the first place, Japanese designers to design my product.

There are many benefits to Tesla by investing in China, it's probably saving Tesla.

China is no longer a backwater country, not a small player in EV, by using China, will make Tesla great.

 

[Nan Yang]

LOL. During the late 1990s I and several manufacturing guys from Malaysia were send to US to help them pass the European Manufacturing Standards since all the site in Asia had already passed.

Here is what we found in the test operation. No standardization. Each tester were configured differently. So if one tester goes down you cannot just swap it out with another. The Engineers sat upstairs while the manufacturing is downstairs. Out of sight is out of mind.
I found lots that failed quality or yield that were put on hold for more then a year.
In the assembly Mold and Trim&Form operation. Broken die set line up all along the sidewall.

One business group even decide to setup a test operation by themselves. LOL they use office space for test operation. No environmental or ESD control at all.

Housekeeping was terrible. My colleague notices the floor was messy and ask why nobody clean the floor. They point him to a vacuum cleaner and when he tried to use it he found out it was jammed with dirt.

And they allow operators to use Walkman while running the equipment. We banned it and created a storm of complaints.

Mind you, the volume were not even close to the mass volume we had in Malaysia.