Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/872564
TRIUMPH THAILAND FACTORY VISIT P98 Feature made products being levied, as well as tax- free in all the other Asian countries with which Thailand has a free trade agreement, including the world's four largest PTW markets in India, China, Indonesia and Vietnam. But it was to serve his customers in devel- oped markets that in May 2002 John Bloor established the 205,000 square-foot Factory 3 (Triumph's first in Thailand, but third overall after its two existing factories in the UK), initially as a source of components including frames, fuel tanks, exhausts, swingarms and assorted covers, to be shipped to Britain for use on the Hinckley assembly lines. However, Bloor and his management team swiftly realized the potential offered by the proven ability of Fac- tory 3's 250-strong Thai workforce to work to high standards of quality and flexibility. So the much larger 377,000 square-foot Factory 4 was opened in 2006 by British industry's overseas ambassador, H.R.H. Prince Andrew, to incorpo- rate not only a paint shop but also an assembly line for its 270 employees to produce complete Triumph motorcycles (to begin with, mainly Bonneville models) for the first time outside Britain. This was swiftly followed in 2007 by the still larger 538,000 square-foot Factory 5, incorporating high-pressure die-casting and ma- chining facilities, and now employing a staff of 700. Triumph's main Hinckley factory measures 323,000 square feet by comparison. So today, Triumph's three Thai plants en- compass a total of 1220 local employees—77% of them male, 23% female, and all Thai, rather than any from other neighboring countries— working under the direction of a dozen expat British managers, most of whom have put down roots in the country. I have never been in another factory with as many QC stations as these three—and it's remarkable how frequently 100% of the com- ponents are checked for a myriad of points, as opposed to a random check on one in 10 or one in 20 components or assemblies. And I noticed that at many of the QC stations, there's a majority of women undertaking the checks, on the grounds that they're just more careful, according to Sunthon, the Thai Factory Manag- er/Manufacturing. It's quite apparent that John Bloor and his management team are fanatical TRIUMPH THAILAND Huge focus on quality control (QC) was emphasized during Alan Cathcart's two- day behind- closed-doors tour of all three Triumph factories in Thailand, with frequent 100 percent inspections for all components.