Rig Build Times

[freefall-fast 0]

Just curious, why does a new rig take between 12 and 30 weeks to build, as a modern car factory can build several vehicles in one day. Obvious I am not in the business of making skydiving gear, but it would be interesting and educational to know the in and outs of how our gear is actually made, and the fine folks who makes the gear that saves our lives, do they work full time, or as needed when orders come in ?, I'm just typing away, making conversation. 

[JerryBaumchen 1,046]

2 minutes ago, freefall-fast said:

Just curious, why does a new rig take between 12 and 30 weeks to build, as a modern car factory can build several vehicles in one day. Obvious I am not in the business of making skydiving gear, but it would be interesting and educational to know the in and outs of how our gear is actually made, and the fine folks who makes the gear that saves our lives, do they work full time, or as needed when orders come in ?, I'm just typing away, making conversation. 

Hi fast,

It doesn't.  On average, it takes about 40-labor-hours to build a modern sport rig.

Your question should be about wait times.

6 yrs ago I ordered a new car, out-fitted just as I wanted; it took 3 1/2 months to get it.

Jerry Baumchen

[freefall-fast 0]

That's a good point, I guess I didn't realize back and waiting orders. Waiting for my Curv lol.

[BMAC615 205]

There are multiple reasons, but, it all revolves around a limited amount of specialized skilled laborers.

1. The industry is fairly cyclical and manufacturers are not keen on hiring and laying off people based on annual demand cycles. Plus, they can’t just hire anyone off the street and teach them how to sew life-saving equipment without a high amount of training and experience.

2. Manufacturers often build specialized equipment for military applications and when a contract is awarded, they have to deliver by specific dates to meet obligations.

3. Materials sometimes come in short supply and all the manufacturers order from many of the same distributors.

4. It was impossible to predict the demand to be as high as it has been this season and all the reasons above (and others) have contributed.

[riggerrob 558]

if everyone is sitting around waiting, a complete skydiving rig can be sewn in a day or so. This means a dozen ladies sewing sub-components (e.g. side flaps) that are only sewn together late in the production process. It is expensive to keep an entire factory sitting idle while waiting for a single rig to come through the production line.

Mind you, that pre-supposes that accessories like pilot-chutes, d-bags, risers, etc. were pre-made. It also assumes that your rig is made in the same colours as the last batch of rigs because changing thread colour or binding tape colour takes a few minutes.

That is why many factories only make black rigs on Monday and Tuesday, blue rigs on Wednesday, red rigs on Thursday, etc. They will group all the blue rigs in a single batch to limit colour changes.

Similarly, if they have an order for a large number of student rigs, they will do them all in a single run, just so that the ladies at the sewing machines can sew a single pattern all week.

[JerryBaumchen 1,046]

34 minutes ago, riggerrob said:

if everyone is sitting around waiting, a complete skydiving rig can be sewn in a day or so. This means a dozen ladies sewing sub-components (e.g. side flaps) that are only sewn together late in the production process. It is expensive to keep an entire factory sitting idle while waiting for a single rig to come through the production line.

Mind you, that pre-supposes that accessories like pilot-chutes, d-bags, risers, etc. were pre-made. It also assumes that your rig is made in the same colours as the last batch of rigs because changing thread colour or binding tape colour takes a few minutes.

That is why many factories only make black rigs on Monday and Tuesday, blue rigs on Wednesday, red rigs on Thursday, etc. They will group all the blue rigs in a single batch to limit colour changes.

Similarly, if they have an order for a large number of student rigs, they will do them all in a single run, just so that the ladies at the sewing machines can sew a single pattern all week.

Hi Rob,

Good analysis.  When you say, 'only make black rigs on Monday and Tuesday, blue rigs on Wednesday, red rigs on Thursday, etc,' I'm thinking you mean the trim and harness; yes/no?

This usually when the thread colors get changed out.

Quite a few years before I sold AeroSports USA, I made the decision that all internal flaps would be made out of black only.  This decision saved a fair amount of time to build a rig.  Plus, these flaps can be made ahead of time; as you mentioned about d-bags, pilot chutes, etc.

The largest cost of a rig is the labor hours, not the materials.

Jerry Baumchen

[fcajump 153]

17 hours ago, JerryBaumchen said:

Hi Rob,

Good analysis.  When you say, 'only make black rigs on Monday and Tuesday, blue rigs on Wednesday, red rigs on Thursday, etc,' I'm thinking you mean the trim and harness; yes/no?

This usually when the thread colors get changed out.

Quite a few years before I sold AeroSports USA, I made the decision that all internal flaps would be made out of black only.  This decision saved a fair amount of time to build a rig.  Plus, these flaps can be made ahead of time; as you mentioned about d-bags, pilot chutes, etc.

The largest cost of a rig is the labor hours, not the materials.

Jerry Baumchen

I don't recall who it was, but one of the sport mfg's was offering (a few years back), a very quick turn if you would take a stock container size in all black except for a custom center star-burst flap.  Meant they could produce them 90% done in bulk and during slow periods, and you still got the custom center and harness sizing.

JW

 

[gowlerk 1,902]

18 hours ago, riggerrob said:

Similarly, if they have an order for a large number of student rigs, they will do them all in a single run, just so that the ladies at the sewing machines can sew a single pattern all week.

UPT likely has a whole separate line with sewers making nothing but black Sigmas all week long.

[VectorMark 0]

Actually we have 3 lines Sigma, Military and sport. The operators are all cross trained and and can assist the other lines when that product line is slow. Our biggest problem today is the shortage of nylon filament that makes up all our tapes, webbings, cordura, ZP, F111 and the rest. 

 

With regards to staff it takes a new hire at least one year to become productive and many years before they are capable off working one of the main lines. We use them for component parts initially. With over 77 000 rigs built so far we have to supply parts and service to keep them in the air.

[gowlerk 1,902]

6 hours ago, VectorMark said:

Our biggest problem today is the shortage of nylon filament

It looks like that problem began in 2018 and will not be over until 2022/2023 sometime.

https://www.craftechind.com/top-3-reasons-there-is-a-shortage-of-nylon-6-6/

Edited July 22, 2021 by gowlerk