Date:         Wed, 23 Feb 2000 12:59:36 -0800
Reply-To:     Stuart MacMillan <stuart@COBALTGROUP.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Stuart MacMillan <stuart@COBALTGROUP.COM>
Organization: The Cobalt Group
Subject:      Re: Toyota Woes-now "de-contenting"
Comments: To: David Beierl <dbeierl@IBM.NET>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

David,

The switch simplification is commonly referred to as "de-contenting" in
the auto industry. This is how it works:  The engineer designs something
to meet a certain spec, and being an engineer he usually over designs it
which increases the cost.  To reduce costs, teams of people comb over
every design and design drawing looking for stuff to remove or
simplify.  This is de-contenting.  Chrysler is the best at it, which is
why their quality is the lowest.  If an engineer specifies 5 tabs to
hold on a piece of molding, the de-contenters will make it 3.

The Japanese are not this extreme, but they need to cut costs too
wherever possible.  This is also why luxury cars are so expensive, the
de-contenters aren't allowed near them!

David Beierl wrote:
>

> The reason I'm mentioning this other than to lampoon (lambaste?) our
> beloved beasts, is that when I cut the top off the old sender to verify the
> cause of the problem (yep, oil in the upper chamber), I noticed that the
> terminal on top of this OE sender screwed off, and underneath it was a
> screwdriver adjustment to set the trigger pressure over a fairly wide
> range.  You can bet that the replacement didn't have this little
> refinement.  But I'm surely wondering why Nippon-Denso or whoever bothered
>
>
> Anyone have a notion?  I don't belong to the Corolla list <g>.

--
Stuart MacMillan
Manager, Case Program
800-909-8244 ext. 8208

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