Anyone else been stuck in Quality Check for a week or more?

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DJCoopster said:
I'll just throw this out there. I'm in the automotive industry as an IT manager for a Tier 1 supplier to one of the Big 3 in the US. I know how the build data flows, and how our customer runs their lines at the 2 plants we supply. Most auto factories are similar.

There is a chance they had an issue and built cars up to a point missing a component then parked them for completion later. It's low, but we've seen it happen in the past 2 years. Sometimes they'll let those cars sit and run the factory normally until a shutdown then have teams volunteer for extra hours to complete the partial cars.

I really don't think that's the case here due to data points on the spreadsheet showing cars moving through the process before/during/after our build dates so it seems like a small number of cars.

I'm leaning more toward a data issue, but even that we're just guessing. We'd literally have to talk to an IT person at Mini Oxford or BMW corporate to get a real answer.
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Thanks - that's helpful but maybe a little worrisome - I would think that they would prioritize the parts for cars that have been sitting off to the side....

The data issue is also somewhat troubling insofar as we can't get an answer. So far I have spoken with my MA, emailed Mini directly, and now the twitter exchange - all fo which have been the same message. I get it and am not really surprised or upset about the delay - more frustrated becuase I was able to track the initial progress and then it all came to a screeching halt. I got used to the transparency and in the absence of new information tend to fill in the blanks with worst case scenarios....
 
The person running their Twitter account is so far removed from the IT people (like me) that actually have access to look up something that it's pointless asking IMO. There wouldn't be an answer unless there is a widespread issue which doesn't appear to be the case.

A small number of incomplete vehicles is lower priority than running an assembly line at 'rate'. You have to have all the stations manned properly to keep it all moving along, so taking 20 people off the line to go finish cars (you have to have logistics, production, quality personnel at a minimum) to finish some cars but dropping your jobs/hour 10% just isn't the right decision to make.

But, again, this is all just conjecture about this situation, though Ford did it last year. This was just one location in Kentucky with Ford Super Duty trucks parked about 45 minutes from their truck plant in Louisville. It was worth it to them to transport the trucks there, keep it semi-secure (there were a lot of parts thefts), send teams to complete them, then transport back in order to keep the plant running efficiently.

Sea-of-Ford-F-150-pickups-Getty-3.jpeg
 
Something else that crossed my mind is maybe the VINs we had assigned are no longer valid, like they had some body in white issue with welds or whatever and had to scrap those to build others which we're not aware of. I asked my MA (TIL MA stands for motoring advisor) to check if that's still the VIN for me just for giggles.
 
I had my MA check, yes the same VIN is mine.

I dug into the tracking spreadsheet a bit more and my car **should** be on Orion Highway based on the build date, destination, and others' cars being on it. Maybe it will hit Baltimore late next week.

If it's not and I don't hear something otherwise by then, I'll just have to take up sniffing glue or something to pass the time.
 
Orion Highway is on the way to Baltimore, tentative arrival date a week from tomorrow. If my care isn't on it, I'll be very surprised because @rickuski's is and was built a day after mine.

More waiting.

And yes, it still shows in Quality Check.
 
wally3 said:
Unbelievable. Hoping @DJCoopster is correct and we are on ships headed this way.
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I hope so too, but previous people stuck in QC still went through the the normal tracking process once released. I would also think our cars would still show up as being on a boat, as the ship company sends the info back to mini once they are on board, which is usually a two day delay to show up on line. Again - would be happy to be wrong :)
 
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My original salesperson left the dealership so the sales manager handled my order/allocation then passed me to another MA. I decided to e-mail her along with my MA:

Do either of you have any other tools/avenues to get an update on my car? Track My Mini has it at Quality Check still after 3 weeks. I know there are people in Indy and a couple other places that had cars built the same day or later whose cars show being on a ship on the way to Baltimore arriving this weekend. One forum member's was built the day before mine and is at the dealership already in Mass, but probably got lucky to get on a ship quickly.

Like I've mentioned, I am in management for a Tier 1 supplier so I have a decent idea of how things go and 3 weeks for QC is either wrong or the car is sitting in a lot waiting for a component, and I'd think there is a way to find that out?

Sorry to be a bother.
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She responded pretty quickly:

I am emailing my Sales Operations Specialist contact at MINI USA right now to request a detailed explanation of the delay. I apologize for the frustration and appreciate your continued patience, I will email you with more information as soon as he gets back to me.

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Might as well ask, right?
 
DJCoopster said:
My original salesperson left the dealership so the sales manager handled my order/allocation then passed me to another MA. I decided to e-mail her along with my MA:

Do either of you have any other tools/avenues to get an update on my car? Track My Mini has it at Quality Check still after 3 weeks. I know there are people in Indy and a couple other places that had cars built the same day or later whose cars show being on a ship on the way to Baltimore arriving this weekend. One forum member's was built the day before mine and is at the dealership already in Mass, but probably got lucky to get on a ship quickly.

Like I've mentioned, I am in management for a Tier 1 supplier so I have a decent idea of how things go and 3 weeks for QC is either wrong or the car is sitting in a lot waiting for a component, and I'd think there is a way to find that out?

Sorry to be a bother.
​
She responded pretty quickly:

I am emailing my Sales Operations Specialist contact at MINI USA right now to request a detailed explanation of the delay. I apologize for the frustration and appreciate your continued patience, I will email you with more information as soon as he gets back to me.

​
Might as well ask, right?
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Well-written query. May you be the first to penetrate MINI's iron veil!
 
Reached out to my MA again - response was 'You have access to the same information I do. This is all perfectly normal. I'll be out the rest of the week.'

23 days in QC - so far.....
 
wally3 said:
Reached out to my MA again - response was 'You have access to the same information I do. This is all perfectly normal. I'll be out the rest of the week.'

23 days in QC - so far.....
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Your MA must consider waiting on parts as “perfectly normal”. I have a BMW on order. It was in QC from 5/11-6/4, so about the same duration as yours. Seems that our Week 19 builds were pulled off the assembly line while awaiting missing parts. Then some Week 20s moved first when the parts came in. Not a FIFO process. Unfortunately we’re at the mercy of production process…
 
wally3 said:
Reached out to my MA again - response was 'You have access to the same information I do.
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I don't think that's true. @DJCoopster's MA is contacting a MINI Sales Operations Specialist. I'm sure alarm klaxons would start sounding at MINI headquarters if the Sales Operations Specialist's phone number was leaked to the head-scratching customers and the volume of calls broke their switchboard (yeah, I know switchboards don't exist anymore).

Where does 866-Ask-MINI get their information? Why isn't the same information available on My Garage?
 
@DJCoopster Is it still crickets from the MINI Sales Operations Specialist? I would have expected the standard boilerplate supply chain issue response by now lol
 
abrandt said:
@DJCoopster Is it still crickets from the MINI Sales Operations Specialist? I would have expected the standard boilerplate supply chain issue response by now lol
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The sales manager just sent this over a bit ago, so maybe they are on the radar at least.

"Below is the response I just recieved from MINI USA. I will stay on top of it and update you as I recieve more information. ~Thanks

We have reached out to ask about this car, but no response yet. I believe this car is awaiting parts to finish with its production process. I do not have an estimated timeline on when this will be completed, so I do not want to give false expectations. We hope to have good news to report on these delayed cars soon."
 
DJCoopster said:
The sales manager just sent this over a bit ago, so maybe they are on the radar at least.

"Below is the response I just recieved from MINI USA. I will stay on top of it and update you as I recieve more information. ~Thanks

We have reached out to ask about this car, but no response yet. I believe this car is awaiting parts to finish with its production process. I do not have an estimated timeline on when this will be completed, so I do not want to give false expectations. We hope to have good news to report on these delayed cars soon."
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Well thats the most communication we hav gotten so far! Thanks
 
So if that's true, and based one what @ristretto said above we were just victims of bad luck. Hard to believe that they would have these vehicles off to the side for so long while others keep flowing through. If it's any consolation to the rest of you, this kind of thing happens to me all the time so I may have jinxed you. I am the type of guy that if a group goes out to dinner, mine is the one order that is somehow screwed up.
 
From google search results I see this happens quite frequently with BMWs and again no communication. Parts shortage I understand, but just leaving our cars off to the side and other cars flying right past them and sailing halfway across the Atlantic by now is annoying.
 
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