Rig Manufacturing Process?

[Thanatos340 1]

I am curious about the Manufacturing Process for new rigs. With some of the major manufacturers quoting a 10 to 20 weeks wait time for a new rig, I am curious why it takes so long?
Are the rigs built one at a time or is there some assembly line process?
Once an Order is received what happens next?
Do they wait until they have several orders for the same color fabric and then cut all the pieces at once and then wait until the have all the components cut to start assembly or does the order sit somewhere until someone picks it up and they build it completely from scratch?
Roughly how many Man-hours go into building a single rig?
It would be great to hear from some of the manufacturers that post here about their process from order to completion. I know many may find this pointless but as an IE I am always interested in production process.

[diablopilot 2]

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Are the rigs built one at a time or is there some assembly line process?

Yes.

There usualy is some assembly line process, a bunch of rigs are cut at once, one person might be building nothing but parts, ect. When it comes to the assembly of a container most of the time all procedures and assembly of the product is one at the same time, then the next rig is done. It's not as if 1 person puts the same stitch in 10 rigs and then ships them off to the next person to put the following stitch in.

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Once an Order is received what happens next?

Depending on the manufacture and their current volume, it might be processed, and then stock is checked to make sure the right materials, colors, hardware, ect is on hand. Then after the current stack of cut rigs reaches a point where production will slow if more are not cut, that order moves into the cutting phase. Then it might sit in line waiting for the next avaliable sewer to pick it up and start on it.

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Roughly how many Man-hours go into building a single rig?

To build 1 rig from scratch including all parts, takes between 25 and 35 man hours at a rough estimate. That does not include time spent ordering product, testing product, design, equipment maintinece, or administration.

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You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

[rigging65 0]

There are lots of different things that can slow down your rig while its in production, not the least of which is that there are a bunch of people in line in front of you.

Other things include: waiting to get "special" hardware in; waiting to get colors of fabric or webbing in; waiting for a person who does a specialized job to get back from being sick or on vacation or is just behind; waiting for the customer to call back with missing information or to clarify options; parts are built en mass, so supplies run out "en mass"; the list goes on...

Any time you're creating a totally custom piece of gear, there are options and accessories that don't let the process run perfectly...and keep in mind, it doesn't have to be a problem with your order, but if someone's order in front of yours has problems it slows your order down while they deal with the other problem.

"...and once you had tasted flight, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward.
For there you have been, and there you long to return..."

[billbooth 10]

There are two main reasons for long waiting times on rigs:

1. Almost everything is custom. Even cutaway and reserve handle are embroidered nowadays. Another for instance...when you add up just main riser options, i.e. length, color, ring size, webbing type, toggle type, dive loops...we have over 4,000 different types of main risers alone. I'd hate to think what that number would be if we added up all rig options for every part. The point here is that it is impossible to stock anything anymore, so your order cannot be assembled from ready made parts, like when you order a computer from Dell.

2. Demand is not constant. Orders seem to come all at once, or not at all. This means that we keep just the right amount of staff to keep our yearly (weekly) average number of rigs flowing. When times are "good" a large backlog develops, and rig orders sit around for weeks (or months) waiting to be cut. Once a rig is cut, it is out of here in about 10 days. When someone says they can get you a custom rig in two weeks, it simply means they don't have any orders.

We can't just hire and fire people every time demand changes. It's simply too expensive, and not fair to the people anyway. And it takes weeks or months to train someone new to do the kind of work jumpers demand on their "new baby". I wish I could just go back there and turn a knob to speed up the rig making machine when a lot of orders come in, but I can't.

[NightJumper 0]

I will not speak as to why there are long production times with some manufacturers but I can tell you why our production times run about four weeks.

As an all-inclusive manufacture that makes everything from the actual ripcord pin to the canopies and containers we have the advantage of utilizing cross-trained employees where the demand is needed. We don't usually see all areas of manufacturing peek at the same time, so if we have high serge of containers, production is adjusted to accommodate the change in demand. The same is true for canopies, ripcords, pins etc. So the statement "When someone says they can get you a custom rig in two weeks, it simply means they don't have any orders" is not applicable. It should also be noted that most manufactures offer some type of “rush” production.

As for your question about how the containers are made, they are generally all custom made with exceptions such as multiple military, student and tandem rigs.

Stay safe,
Mike Forsythe
Jump Shack