Elon's Punch Myself in the Face comment

[richkae]

Someone with Photoshop skills please produce an "Elon Self Face Punch" t-shirt.

I'll buy one for $20 if you do a good job.

 

[Krugerrand]

It appears that they negotiated N30 terms and ocean shipment for tires.
The N30 started ex works.

Not very smart. Not very smart to do at all. Because you will have to pay for the good BEFORE receiving them which goes against all good supply chain practices.

That's what Elon stated.

You don't ever want to pay for goods before receiving and inspecting them when you are a business.

Any supply chain guy that knows best practices will tell you that.

Flying material to expedite and meet customer demands is a totally different issue. Apparently having a base agreement that triggers payment prior to receipt of goods is poor supply chain management.

And yet they did, because they had to in the moment, and they got it done. RE: NigelM's post:

Read that as "terms were difficult to negotiate and we got our numbers wrong". Elon's famous for his compulsive attention to detail and that's likely why he blames himself and not his purchasing managers.

 

[lolachampcar]

I've done a few start ups; nothing on the scale of Tesla of course. Three made it to payroll. I'd say Tesla is doing just fine and has absolutely no problems with priorities. They went from zero to 20K per year in six months and did so with reasonable quality. I dare say there are but a few groups in the US that could pull that one off.

 

[jerry33]

You can see where the tires are made because it says on the sidewall. If you translate the DOT number you can even find out the factory. Michelin has several factories in North America. However, the 21" might be made in Europe. Perhaps someone could check their tires and post.

 

[J in MN]

Tirerack.com has the country of origin listed for every size of every tyre.

 

[svp6]

So what's wrong with Czech Republic? Most of the big auto manufacturers have moved some of their units in the Wild East. It usually benefits from 1) latest technology (since they are not retrofitted, but rather new factories) and 2) cheap labor. Technically, the most advanced BMW plant (i3 / i8) is also behind the Iron Curtain in Leipzig.... Audi and Mercedes have plants in Hungary - a country with no history of automotive manufacturing before western investments.... Have not heard people complaining about those.

 

[tdelta1000]

We're obsessing over a detail here. As was also mentioned in the conf call:

• Suppliers saw Tesla as a start-up.
• The actual order bias towards performance versions was a surprise.

Read that as "terms were difficult to negotiate and we got our numbers wrong". Elon's famous for his compulsive attention to detail and that's likely why he blames himself and not his purchasing managers.

Agreed!