Quote:
Originally Posted by bergy
Not sure that the supervisor is talking about body numbers and vin numbers Phil. At St Louis I recall those being assigned sequentially by the computer at CO and plant respectively. William would see more sequencing errors (body number too late for vin) if human error.
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To be sure he is talking about exactly what is under discussion here.
Here is the take away- and this logic and order was confirmed with James Seim who also was a manager at St. Louis in 1968 before returning to Norwood in 1969.
VIN numbers typically fall in close during regular production and are therefore useful for tracking today.
Coach Data from the Fisher body plate also fall in close for production and are also useful for tracking today.
The Ordering information from the dealer created a build configuration and a build window for the order.
Neither of these three however individually determined the build order of the vehicle.
Once the parts were forecast as available the build was scheduled. The build information was finalized into the mainframe at the conclusion of the 72 hour advance planning meeting.
The arrival of the body at the Chevrolet Body bank was therefore confirmatory meaning Fisher data already in the mainframe was confirmed on arrival- Body number, and RPO content. Once the hidden VIN was applied the body was then locked in sequence for final assembly and the feeder lines then received the RPO sequencing information.
The only number that mattered to Chevrolet after the body was released was the assembly sequence number which started at 1 and progressed to 999 every day. Reliant upon the accuracy of the final sequencing was yet other sub computer programs such as ALPACA which adjusted element efficiency by balancing RPO content via assembly sequencing.
Taking a step back the main factor that determined the build approval for Fisher and the coach was the 72 hour forecast meeting that hinged upon the external parts availability forecast that was an entirely separate computer program to both divisions at Norwood.
I have been back and fourth on this issue and beat it to death to be sure it was factual before I captured it in the Book Echoes of Norwood.