Author Topic: Production starting soon  (Read 1417 times)

FreepZ

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Production starting soon
« on: November 06, 2012, 02:57:02 PM »
Only about a week before Brammo goes into full Empulse production. Judging from the pictures of the production line, it looks like they are well on their way to putting out some product.

At the TTXGP Final, I had a pretty long conversation with Joe Wisman (the gentleman in the green shirt to the left in the picture below), who was responsible for the developing the Empulse production line (and also for raising Brian Wismann - That's Brian's dad!).



Something he told me that I found surprising (and I hope isn't a secret) is that building the battery on site was preferred over getting that outsourced somewhere where labor was cheaper. I thought that putting the battery together would be somewhat low-skilled, but labor intensive. It turns out that battery assembly is less labor intensive than I thought, and can be done very efficiently by the Brammo workers at the factory.

I'm really looking forward to getting my Empulse. It would be very nice if I had some was some way to find out what my actual number is in the queue, and then I could entertain myself with trying to figure out exactly when my bike would be coming off the production line. If I lived a lot closer, I would love to visit the factory and see my bike (or at least my bike's sibling). Sadly, Florida is a bit too far from Ashland for a quick visit like that.

In the past, when Brammo was building Atoms, they used to allow customers to visit the factory and even take photographs of their car on the production line. They ended up getting in a bit of trouble when a customer posted a picture of his car with the production schedule in the background! Oops.
Richard #935 #595 #44

Gavin

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Re: Production starting soon
« Reply #1 on: November 06, 2012, 03:03:28 PM »
Nice photo....

Joe is great...easy to talk to, very nice, smart....


Brian...intimidates the heck out of me...we shared about 5 words...and it was like talking to the wizard of oz before toto pulls open the curtain....


Gavin

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Re: Production starting soon
« Reply #2 on: November 06, 2012, 05:18:18 PM »
Wow this is exciting! Its great to see the actual production on the line. This is what America is all about. Invention and design. I live for this stuff.  I live in the Puget Sound area. I wouldn't mind going down there and picking mine up myself if that is possible.


oml

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Re: Production starting soon
« Reply #3 on: November 06, 2012, 05:43:52 PM »
At the TTXGP Final, I had a pretty long conversation with Joe Wisman (the gentleman in the green shirt to the left in the picture below), who was responsible for the developing the Empulse production line

Ah, so they got someone with some experience behind the production line - I've always wondered about that, you dont raise something like that just out of the ground like nothing.
Sometimes I even wondered if thats a smart move at all, but US-Citizens seem to be quite patriotic about that o.O
Still I assume that ordering 300 Empulses from Flextronics wouldve brought them into customer hands much, much more quickly, giving the Empulse some time to spread before the 2013 Zeroes hit the street.

Assuming that building them externally would mean higher rate of production and about 2 months less delivery time - do you still think "Made in the USA" is worth it? Just marveling.


Another question @ BrammoBrian: Are those building blocks, I mean the pre-build handlebar&display, pre-assembled cooling etc also build by Brammo or did you already get supply firms / subcontractors?
And how is that with the European bikes which are / will be (afaik) assembled @ Flextronics?

implovator

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Re: Production starting soon
« Reply #4 on: November 06, 2012, 08:27:06 PM »
Another question @ BrammoBrian: Are those building blocks, I mean the pre-build handlebar&display, pre-assembled cooling etc also build by Brammo or did you already get supply firms / subcontractors?
And how is that with the European bikes which are / will be (afaik) assembled @ Flextronics?

I think they are. In that huge batch of photos, there were several where you could see the station on the bottom left that appeared to be producing them.

BrammoBrian

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Re: Production starting soon
« Reply #5 on: November 07, 2012, 03:57:55 AM »
Ah, so they got someone with some experience behind the production line - I've always wondered about that, you dont raise something like that just out of the ground like nothing.
Sometimes I even wondered if thats a smart move at all, but US-Citizens seem to be quite patriotic about that o.O
Still I assume that ordering 300 Empulses from Flextronics wouldve brought them into customer hands much, much more quickly, giving the Empulse some time to spread before the 2013 Zeroes hit the street.
Assuming that building them externally would mean higher rate of production and about 2 months less delivery time - do you still think "Made in the USA" is worth it? Just marveling.
Another question @ BrammoBrian: Are those building blocks, I mean the pre-build handlebar&display, pre-assembled cooling etc also build by Brammo or did you already get supply firms / subcontractors?
And how is that with the European bikes which are / will be (afaik) assembled @ Flextronics?

You know what happens when you assume... ;) Technically, the bike cannot be labeled as "Made in the USA" due to the content from overseas suppliers, but can be labeled as "Assembled in the USA" or to take a play from Apple "Designed and Assembled in Oregon" or something like that.  The production team we have building Empulse is the best Brammo has had yet.  The efficiency of the battery assembly facility is nothing short of amazing.

Yes - all subassemblies are built up on the production "feeder" lines - which feed the main assembly area. There is always a desire within production to push more and more subassembly build up the chain to suppliers, but at the start it is important to have a very tight control of quality - which means we do the vast majority of the work content ourselves.

FreepZ

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Re: Production starting soon
« Reply #6 on: November 07, 2012, 11:27:22 AM »
Joe is great...easy to talk to, very nice, smart....

Everybody that I talked with on the Brammo race team were really very easy to talk to. I even got to talk with Brian about the Empulse, my concerns about range, and if the bike's seat would be too high for me (he's about the same height/build as I am, and the bike fits him very well, so I figure it should be fine for me too).

Joe was exceptionally welcoming to me, and I appreciate that very much. On the first day that I got there, I spent about an hour or two talking with him about Brammo and the Empulse. He's very considerate. For example, when we were talking with Rupal Patel (the organizer for the TTXGP who seemed to be keeping everything running smoothly) and she mentioned that she hadn't had time to stop for a drink, Joe reached into the Brammo cooler and got her a bottle of water.

Meeting the Brammo team in person showed me what kind of people were going to be building my bike. Considering that I will be entrusting my safety to that bike, I was delighted to see how competent they are.
Richard #935 #595 #44

protomech

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Re: Production starting soon
« Reply #7 on: November 17, 2012, 05:57:17 PM »
Brammo EICMA video:


"Now shipping in the United States, the Empulse R will be available in Europe next summer."
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EmpulseRider

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Re: Production starting soon
« Reply #8 on: November 17, 2012, 10:44:02 PM »
That is honestly one of the sickest promotional videos I have ever seen. Holy shit!

Shipping NOW in the US! OMG OMG... *jumps up and down shaking hands wildly*

FreepZ

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Re: Production starting soon
« Reply #9 on: November 19, 2012, 10:05:00 AM »
It's been almost a week since production is presumed to have started on customer bikes over in Ashland. That should be at least a truckload of bikes ready to go. Could it be that nobody on this forum is high enough on the list to get a bike from that first load? Or perhaps the production pipeline is very long? Or delivery is taking a while? Or did somebody get their bike, and they are having too much fun riding it to tell us about it?

I hope we'll start hearing some exciting news this week (although with Thanksgiving, bike production and delivery are going to slow down a bit), or at least before the end of the month.

I wonder who the first person in this forum of post about riding their own Empulse will be!

I can hardly wait!
;D
Richard #935 #595 #44

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Re: Production starting soon
« Reply #10 on: November 19, 2012, 12:01:05 PM »
I am very excited to hear about first deliveries too. I thought Brammo was going to make an announcement last week at the EICMA event. Well, here's to hoping we hear something new this week. :)

flar

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Re: Production starting soon
« Reply #11 on: November 19, 2012, 03:07:52 PM »
Craig's Facebook status was a short note about losing his mom.  Such a terrible tragedy to hit just as they are finalizing production, so I wouldn't be surprised if there may be some delays.  On the one hand, the last stages are probably a done deal by now, but I don't think the company would want to cut the ribbon on the supply chain when the CEO is busy with some final arrangements for a family member.

Time will tell...
Current bikes: 2013 Brammo Empulse R, 2005 BMW R1200RT
Prior bikes: 1988 Honda Hawk GT, 1997 BMW F650