Sections: Sales Jun 13th, 2008 25 Comments 
This bit of sad news comes courtesy of the BBC:
Hundreds of staff at BMW’s Mini factory in Oxfordshire will be temporarily forced to cease production this weekend due to Spanish fuel protests.
Management at the plant, in Cowley, have told the BBC they cannot get hold of crucial parts as all airports and ports have effectively been blocked.
Staff have complained they might not be paid while they are laid off. The company said it was working closely with the unions and hoped to resume production on Monday.
You can read more below:
+ BMW workers in temporary lay-off / BBC
(Thanks Barrett!)
C4 Jun 13th, 2008 Link
This is huge….. The fuel price crunch is affecting nearly every aspect of life and industries are feeling the consequences.
MINI has product to sell, but they can’t get the vital parts needed to put them together.
And this is just the beginning folks.
Next stop, your grocer or supermarket. Expect shortages of food and 1st necessity items.
This is gonna get ugly.
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C4 Jun 13th, 2008 Link
Paul I wish it was. But remember that the vast majority of goods are moved via truck or rail. If this situation is already happening in Europe, it just a matter of time before truckers go on massive strikes here.
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Robert Jun 13th, 2008 Link
Brilliant. My Mini is “Scheduled for Production” right now. I hope they continue on Monday as expected. >_<*
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Lewis Jun 13th, 2008 Link
I feel for them, I really do. But my Clubman is supposed to start production soon. I wonder how this will affect the delivery dates on ordered MINI’s.
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Chris W. Jun 13th, 2008 Link
In my opinion this is the result of a reaction to the rising fuel prices, not the prices themselves. Although I support the Spanish Haulers right to protest and strike, it is their actions that have caused this problem. It is a shame that it may effect the income of other hardworking people.
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neuron Jun 13th, 2008 Link
Did the gasoline crisis in the 70’s cause empty shelves in the market? I don’t remember that far back. Anyone here do?
I see people protesting against high fuel prices and I wonder what are their demands? Aren’t feul prices set by global market forces? Are the truckers in Spain demanding the whole of Asia to use less oil, the dollar to be stronger, and new “easy” oil field to be discovered immediately? Or are they asking for something the their government could actually do such as tax breaks and subsidies?
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minim8o Jun 13th, 2008 Link
Well the JCW I just ordered is going to be delayed I guess! That’s sum serious ‘kahones’ of those haulers in Spain. Good thing the equivalent MPG of trains is still quite high. Expect to see more being shipped by rail… not that it can do much for this issue, or getting my JCW over the ‘pond’, just a general observation.
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Brandon Kelly Jun 13th, 2008 Link
In related news, all the service guys at my MINI dealership (Mountain View, CA) are also on strike.
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paul Jun 13th, 2008 Link
in other related news, i.e., food shortages, if anyone’s going to the store, we need orange juice and half-n-half. ;)
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Chad Jun 13th, 2008 Link
Imagine the PR opportunity if a convoy of, say, 30 Clubman drove to the factory, loaded the parts up, and carried them back. Heck, let the workers drive them, too, and pay them their normal wages plus a traveling stipend. Photos of them eating lunch in a Spanish restaurant, 30 MINIs parks outside with trays of parts loaded inside…
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Dr Obnxs Jun 13th, 2008 Link
“Just in time” inventory systems are really at risk for upsets like this. This is the other side of the “let’s not hold (hence pay for) any inventory before we need it” coin.
Matt
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Mozza Jun 13th, 2008 Link
To interject on a selfish note this absolutely sucks as my production had been pushed back for two weeks but finally started yesterday and now this! :-(
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Jack07734 Jun 13th, 2008 Link
When it comes to national strikes I wish Americans had the nerve to be like that. We just complain and take it. In other countries they bring the whole country to a stop then threaten to recall the government. A lesson could be learned here folks.
Happy Motoring, Jack
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neuron Jun 14th, 2008 Link
That’s exactly my point Jack. Strike for what? You go on strike for specific policy changes, not just because you are unhappy about something; if so, why not strike against hurricane and cancer? Individual governments are powerless in influencing global oil price. They can control domestic price by the way of subsidies or tax breaks, which are not sustainable economically and are just another form of increase in taxation. One thing I know is that the strike in Spain will have NO influence on global oil price. Also remember that it’s much easier to desolve a government in a parliamentary system than in U.S.
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Jason Hartong Jun 14th, 2008 Link
MINI has been working around the clock since Cowley was open for production of the modern MINI. Having lived in the great Oxford area, I’ve met a few of the workers at the factory and they take great pride in the work they do. It’s got to hurt considering they can’t produce enough cars to keep up with demand. Then comes an outsourcing problem.
There’s got to be an old MG facility in say, Abingdon, that BMW could buy and refurbish to make more parts. With Rover having closed a few years ago, there’s a lot of highly skilled British autoworkers able to produce most of MINI’s parts in the UK. With the cost of freight and fuel, it would make sense to source locally.
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RS Jun 14th, 2008 Link
The tides have changed. JIT may not make sense anymore. With the current volitility of global markets and fuel prices, stock piling may make better financial sense.
I hope our govt is poised to help us out of this muck. But, with their current track record I’m not holding my breath. There’s a lot of short term thinking. Lets drill for more oil, let’s promote ethenol, etc…I sure hope the current administration is not kept in power. But, it seems from recent polls, people have not learned their lesson.
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Dr Obnxs Jun 14th, 2008 Link
Neuron, that’s not quite right… There is little that governments can do in the short term to effect anything, but in the long term there is much to be done that can have effects on things as concrete as energy pricing to things as esoteric as employee satisfaction. And don’t blame the Spanish strikers for causing problems in other factories or countries. It’s plain and simple business decisions that made the trade of one thing (in this case inventory costs) to exposure to upsets from events like this.
Most people only pay attention to purchase price pressures, driving lots of the globalization and outsourcing all in the name of reducing the costs of production. Very few think about the non-linear calculous of risk mitigation, supply line security and the like. The fact that stikers in a different country can bring down a factory in England is a perfect example of this, just as the Delphi strikes that slowed GM prodcution about a year ago were.
Matt
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GregW Jun 14th, 2008 Link
You can’t try and beat a blockade or cross a picketline without more trouble. I don’t see problems like this in the oil producing countries who are causing this mess. If you try and produce all components in England you will be more held to ransom by English unions that crippled British Leyland.
The 70’s fuel crisis nearly killed off Mazda with their guzzling Rotary engines.
In NZ we had car-less days where we had to nominate one day a week where the car was not allowed to be used or filled with fuel. This was a shortage crisis not a pricing crisis.
Meanwhile downtown Dubai keeps rolling and getting more luxurious. Maybe this is the new type of terrorism.
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Danf Jun 15th, 2008 Link
The way I understand it the strike is not about the price of a barrel of oil. It is the taxes put on fuel be the Spanish government.
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Dr Obnxs Jun 16th, 2008 Link
Complaining that oil rich countries have low oil prices is a bad joke. Really, we’re the crack addicts and they have the junk. Econ 101.
But you also miss my point entirely. The idea of JIT inventory control has some very direct economic benefits. You have to buy less stuff cause you don’t warehouse as many parts. You don’t need as large a physical plant because you don’t need to store as much stuff, and if you find a fault in a design or a production run you have less inventory to rework or scrap. But you’re open to this type of work stoppage. The business trades a lean, lower cost operating model for increased exposure to outside supply issues. If Minis Oxford facility had a one month supply of parts on site, no matter where from, then a two week delivery upset wouldn’t do anything to production.
And it’s all gonna get worse. There is a “work to rule” and other strikes starting up in France today….. If French truckers and the rail system gets screwed, like it looks is sure to happen, then even if the Spanish made the parts and put them on trucks, they wouldn’t make it to England quickly anyway.
Want to do something about it? I bet each and every one of us could do minor changes on the margin to conserve about 10% of our energy footprint. If everyone did that, most, if not all, of the energy pricing pressure would just dissapear. I guess it’s just easier to complain though…
Matt
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neuron Jun 16th, 2008 Link
Another one of the scheduled strike in France. I think it’s more against restructuring of labor laws than the fuel price. It’s scheduled for one day. Longer strikes were held earlier this year mainly by transportation workers.
No one is blamming the Spanish workers for striking, I was just wondering if they know specifically what they are asking for. The French workers, for example, knows that they are asking to stop changes planned by the Sarkozy government. If thet are asking for lower taxes on gas as Danf suggested, it would make more sense.
I wonder if the net effect would be that companies will look elsewhere for more reliable suppliers in countries where there is no effective union – guess where?
The most effective driving force for energy conservation is pricing, as we are seeing now. If anyone has a effective strategy for lowering long term fuel price in the world, you can have your pick of any top cabinet position of any country in the world or have the chair of Goldmen Sachs. (saying “please, please, please use less oil” does not constitute a effective strategy).
Reply[...] quickly as the lay-off saga began at MINI’s Oxford Plant, it’s now ended. Here’s an excerpt from the [...]
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