TRIUMPH THAILAND FACTORY VISIT
P100
Feature
about ensuring they can't be criticized for
sacrificing quality by concentrating Triumph
production in Thailand with a consequent
saving in labor costs vs. the UK.
So, for example, the task of processing
six-meter lengths of steel tubing in Factory
3 into component parts for manufacturing
chassis, swingarms and subframes via the
pair of five-axis laser cutters and two tube
benders entails a QC inspection for the first
component produced on each shift, and
then a random one-in-five check thereafter,
unless the process has an element of varia-
tion, in which case there's a 100% check
of every component, says Quality Manager
Mark Pirie. Same thing with the stainless
steel parts for handlebars or exhausts, the
double-skinned exhaust headers of the
T120 Bonneville are very difficult to make
and entail a manufacturing technique devel-
oped in Thailand, which does require a 100
percent check, and likewise the installation
of the catalysts supplied by BASF Asia.
Same thing with frame construction
which takes place in one of the three dif-
ferent fabrication cells—at the time of my
visit these were housing manufacture of
Thruxton, Bobber and Street Twin chassis,
each of which has to pass an average of
60-70 different QC checks after assembly.
If one fails, they don't try to rescue it—it's
scrapped. A Tiger frame has over 300
welds, for instance, hence the in-depth
QC. All frame assemblies are TIG-welded
or brazed manually (robots were used pre-
viously, but jettisoned in favor of people),
with each welder trained for two months
before being allowed on the production
line, where he must provide three valid
welding samples of each new assembly
These guys,
Neil Jones
(right) and
Bob Blair, are
responsible
for making
sure every
part is up to
snuff.
TRIUMPH
THAILAND
