On 01/06/2011 02:44, TheOneKEA wrote:
On May 31, 5:36 pm, Arthur wrote:
On 30/05/2011 11:47, Paul Corfield wrote:

There are not enough 378s around nor are there any contract options
left to be activated. I suspect that by the time comes around to
electrify the line that Bombardier will have thrown away the jigs and

People often say thrown away jigs will stop rolling stock orders, but
what does it actually mean in the contect of modern trains? Won't they
just upload computer files to a new jig-o-matic, or something?

The problem is that doing that upload translates into a substantial
lead time, since the work required to adjust the manufacturing
equipment (including the jigs) so that it turns out the correct
components and structural pieces means that it isn't cost-effective to
do so for a small order. The first couple of pieces are unlikely to be
quite right, and therefore you need to make enough of them to ensure
that you get the correct pieces for later assembly.

Don't they "put the bits together", rather than build everything from
scratch, so aren't the components already available? I find it hard to
believe they would need to throw away two new vehicles per batch.
--
Arthur Figgis Surrey, UK