It depends on your point of view. The (few) that have arrived and have been OKed by the TTC seem to work well (though they are still failing sooner than they are supposed to. (See TTC CEO Report Sept 2016, page 41). The problem is that the delays in delivery are (according to BBD) because parts made in factory A did not match up with parts made in Factory B and they failed the internal BBD testing. They may not be crap products when they (finally) arrive but ...... and THAT'S all the fault of BBD so maybe "crap company" is a better phrase.
That's why I was spouting "management gobbledygook" a few posts back.
Somewhere in the Bombardier empire, there is a drawing of what the parts of a Flexity are supposed to look like.
Some parts producer (The Mexico plant, perhaps, but possibly others) either
a) could not read the drawing, or
b) read the drawing, but couldn't produce to it
and then the parts producer either
a) didn't realise the product was off spec, and shipped it, or
b) realised it was off spec, but pushed the part out anyways, because production is all they get paid for
and then the Thunder Bay plant either
a) didn't notice the deviation, or
b) noticed the deviation, but couldn't influence the supplier to fix the problem, or
c) tried to improvise a solution that force fit things together, or
d) did nothing, in the hope the next part to arrive would be better
or e) the drawing (likely produced in a third country, possibly Germany) was crap in the first place
or
f) there weren't actually any drawings - so often construction and manufacturing is attempted before enough engineering detail has been provided,
and
some combination of the supplier and the Thunder Bay plant couldn't get anyone to issue a better drawing
(and so on) (cue the pointing fingers)
There is a whole shelf of books at Indigo dealing with this kind of thing, and lots of consultants who offer services for this. Excellent companies have detailed and structured processes to avoid each of the above scenarios - or at least to find and correct them when they arise. Bombardier hasn't managed to do that. Therefore, not excellent.
- Paul
