our new boss has decided to increase production by five fold over the next
two years, arriving at the new level of output two years faster than previously
planned. Moreover, he has said publicly that there’s no reason your company
can’t improve factory efficiency by 100 times, a feat that would leapfrog competitors, some of which are among the largest and most well-regarded manufacturers in the
world. A major new product launch is at hand and, as the new vice president of production,
you’re taking over an operation that has experienced production, supplier, and quality prob-
Y
lems at much lower volumes.
Welcome to Peter Hochholdinger’s world.
The seasoned manufacturing executive in
June jumped into the top vehicle production
spot at electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla
Motors after a distinguished, 22-year career
at Audi AG. He arrives as Tesla and its CEO,
Elon Musk, are planning a major production
surge that will require a significant upgrade
of its manufacturing capability. With some
400,000 orders in hand for its new, lower-cost
Model 3, Tesla has said it aims to reach a production level of 500,000 vehicles--including
Model S, Model X and Model 3—in 2018.
Tesla produced about 51,000 vehicles last
year, and is currently at a run rate of about
2,400 vehicles per week.
Tesla has said it is making $2.25 billion in
capital investments in 2016 to pay for tooling, production equipment, and construction
of the Model 3 production lines as well as the
construction of its Gigafactory battery production plant near Reno, NV, and expansion
of its retail and service network. (
Hochholdinger’s responsibilities do not extend to Gigafactory production.)
But Tesla’s manufacturing ambitions don’t
MANUFACTURING
LEADERSHIP JOURNAL
...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Tesla
Reinventing
Production At
Peter Hochholdinger has taken over the electric car
maker’s vehicle production operations as the company seeks
to dramatically accelerate output and as CEO Elon Musk
predicts Tesla can leapfrog even its largest competitors
when it comes to manufacturing e;ciency.
