Elon Musk Interview: 1-on-1 with Sandy Munro

Wow so just like all the outsourcing nonsense that first started in the IT industry (and failed) and then crept into all the other industries (and are subsequently failing now) it was all done by stupid MBAs who couldn't think ahead past one quarter. The way that you explained the phenomenon makes me think that there is a business opportunity to capture customers by providing world class service. Auto companies are relearning why it does not make sense to outsource anything that a customer sees or touches. That is your profound knowledge and any supplier that is incentivized to maximize cost per unit will not care one bit about providing anything more that the minimum needed to get the contract. The customer suffers until one automaker breaks the mold and start to differentiate themselves by building in house and having a tighter feedback loop to provide the best quality. Here's how it went down at Tesla straight from the horse's mouth. I remember the skeptics thought he was crazy for bringing this in house but it seems to have worked out. [1]: [this video]

In general yes, they solved their manufacturing issues on the Model 3 line and it reached the required speeds and saved the company. See the cashflow turnaround in 2018-2019. They managed to scale that line far beyond their initial targets. However that experience did teach them that their design was flawed and for future vehicles after Model 3 they did switch to large castings anyway rather then traditional welding of stamping. If you are interested in the flaws of the initial Model 3, see this interview with Elon and Sandy Munro where the discuss this: [this video] First they had two casting in the back for the wheel area, then moved to one. Now they are moving to replace the whole front. So the new car designs will be two big castings connected by a structural battery pack (yes its removable). Here you see the changes: [link] The new design: [link] Example casting: [link] Here the first press in operation: [link] Since then they have order many of these, 8 for Berlin for example. This should support around 500k cars production. These custom made for Tesla by IDRA in Italy, they put out a lot information: [link] Even more information: [link] They are moving to even larger presses for the Cybertruck.

>For the same reason. Vehicle seat are, for better or for worse, typically model-specific. Before there was Tesla there was nobody making Tesla seats. Would anybody be surprised if they start outsourcing that soon, given that they now have enough volume to attract third party suppliers and seat manufacturing is certainly not their competitive edge? I doubt this will happen. Here is the reason they started making seats themselves as explained by the big cheese himself: [this video] Given what happened when they worked with supplier last time, I doubt they would want to give up the ability to innovate by going back to a supplier even if they are big. Furthermore, I think suppliers might not be chomping at the bit to work with Tesla anymore. When the Model 3 was being developed, that insanely large preorder volumes caused some suppliers to do whatever it took to get the order from Tesla because of FOMO. Some even stripped their margin to the bone in the hopes of establishing a long term relationship with Tesla. In the end Tesla did not deliver on the numbers they promised and this lower volume caused massive financial problems for some suppliers, especially the smaller guys. I think there were even some bankruptcies of smaller outfits. Given Tesla's reputation as difficult to work with, I don't fully think they will get preferential treatment compared to someone like Toyota or Honda (which I hear suppliers love to work with). FUN FACT: The largest Tesla skeptic subreddit /r/realTesla

Here you have Dr. Daniel Rasky, a NASA Senior scientist talking about SpaceX and Elon. Daniel Rasky was involved in specific studies that were comparing operation of NASA and private companies. He also has first hand experience from working at SpaceX and with Elon. He is expert on advanced entry systems and thermal protection materials and he was for example involved in decision to select PICA as a heat shield for Dragon, and he explains how that went with Elon. [link] Here is Elon answering questions of National Academy of Science members about Starship. He explains in detail why he pushed the team towards steel and away from carbon fibers: [link] Here you have another direct conversation with Elon: [link] Here is Elon discussing with Sundy Munro mass manufacturing and engineering. Sandy Munro is a veteran engineer from General Motors supplier and directly at Ford. Sandy Munro is now running a consultancy company that tear downs cars and suggests improvements to wide range of clients from the car industry. [this video]