Tesla is now gearing up for its third (Model 3) production shutdown this year and that too for a Model that has been in production for less than a year. Tesla’s first Model 3 rolled out of production line in June last year.
First Shutdown: Feb 20 to Feb 24,2018
“Our Model 3 production plan includes periods of planned downtime in both Fremont and Gigafactory 1,” a Tesla spokesman told Bloomberg. “These periods are used to improve automation and systematically address bottlenecks in order to increase production rates. This is not unusual and is in fact common in production ramps like this.”
Second Shutdown: April 2018, (Five days)
Tesla had to shutdown again in April as too much automation in the production line created bottlenecks. Musk blamed himself for the mistake.
Third Shutdown: May 26 to May 31,2018
Tesla is yet to give a clear reason for the shutdown but expect some form of statement from Tesla spokesmen over the next few days.
Shutting production for process improvement is not unusual in the manufacturing industry, but the frequency of Tesla’s shutdown is certainly unusual. The transition from a small manufacturing company to a large manufacturing company has brought its own set of troubles for Tesla. And it looks like Tesla is learning on the job.
