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Dogger · Dec 15th, 2001, 07:02 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by mr.bill
...some English workers were taken to the BMW plant in Germany to see how it is done there, and were shocked.

I suspect I posted this comment originally, but it seems to have been misi-nterpreted. The reason the UK workers were shocked were many and varied but centered on the German 'work ethic' compared to that enjoyed in the UK. My overall impression of the UK workers who visited the German site wasn't that they were shocked at the quality of work that they would have to produce when they got home, but rather the shift patterns and 'live to work' mentality of the BMW staff. It seems laughable to me that a company with so much at stake would even contemplate attempting to hire bus drivers as another Post suggests, but then again, no-one is born a car manufacturer so providing they're given adequate training, why not?

Quote:

Originally posted by mr.bill
..."niggles" should not occur.

Is it just me or does this sound remarkably high-handed?..This is a CAR..if anyone can tell me of one that hasn't had some kind of mechanical problem in it's life then I'll eat my hat..

I agree that the more gizmos the car has, the more that could go wrong, but everyone I know has electric windows on their cars and they've never had problems with them. The last car I owned with 'crank' windows, contantly needed attention to make them work properly - I was glad to ditch it for ones that worked!

..and as for being able to fix almost anything - if that's the case then surely you're in a better position than most of us mere mortals?..Why don't you just buy a MINI, fix it quietly when it goes wrong and leave the negative jibes at the door? (at least until you've had chance to take one apart physically rather than metaphorically)..

Dec 15th, 2001, 07:02 PM	#7
Dogger Moderator & Sponsor Join Date: May 2001 Location: Leeds (Garforth) Local Time: 10:42 PM Posts: 358 Offline	Quote: Originally posted by mr.bill ...some English workers were taken to the BMW plant in Germany to see how it is done there, and were shocked. I suspect I posted this comment originally, but it seems to have been misi-nterpreted. The reason the UK workers were shocked were many and varied but centered on the German 'work ethic' compared to that enjoyed in the UK. My overall impression of the UK workers who visited the German site wasn't that they were shocked at the quality of work that they would have to produce when they got home, but rather the shift patterns and 'live to work' mentality of the BMW staff. It seems laughable to me that a company with so much at stake would even contemplate attempting to hire bus drivers as another Post suggests, but then again, no-one is born a car manufacturer so providing they're given adequate training, why not? Quote: Originally posted by mr.bill ..."niggles" should not occur. Is it just me or does this sound remarkably high-handed?..This is a CAR..if anyone can tell me of one that hasn't had some kind of mechanical problem in it's life then I'll eat my hat.. I agree that the more gizmos the car has, the more that could go wrong, but everyone I know has electric windows on their cars and they've never had problems with them. The last car I owned with 'crank' windows, contantly needed attention to make them work properly - I was glad to ditch it for ones that worked! ..and as for being able to fix almost anything - if that's the case then surely you're in a better position than most of us mere mortals?..Why don't you just buy a MINI, fix it quietly when it goes wrong and leave the negative jibes at the door? (at least until you've had chance to take one apart physically rather than metaphorically)..