Bruce In Philly

2009 C2S 197K mile

So... what exactly does Porsche make? Focus here is on manufacturing not design, marketing, finance, et al.... just what is it they make?

As best as I can figure, the only thing they make is the unit body. They buy sheet steel, bang it, weld it, and move it on to what Porsche really does, is assembly. Every thing else in our cars is sourced from other companies that actually make the part, and Porsche assembles them.

What do you think? Far cry from Ford's famous River Rouge plant where dirt came in at one end and cars pooped out the other (with the exception of tires... family marriage). Ford's River Rouge plant used to be used as an example of Vertical Integration business tactic.

Peace
Bruce in Philly (now Atlanta)

groovzilla

I'd have to say that Porsche makes the Engineering & Design.
IMO building the finished product is secondary.



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digs

I would guess Porsche has a hand in the spec and design of the subcontractors parts use during assembly ?

I also would think the total package design is all Porsche ? But today , who knows who is actually doing what ?

Patrick3000

The engine 🤷‍♂️

JAAM

Porsche makes the goosebump sentiments we all feel when we are pushing her to redline @ 200+ F engine temp

Bruce In Philly

Kolbenschmidt casts the blocks and are responsible for the cylinder linings. The linings are formed in the mold when the molten aluminum is injected under pressure. I am not sure of all the makers of all the parts, Mahle makes the pistons (I think), but I don't think Porsche casts metal, grinds cranks or whatever any more. I posted this question to dig deeper. In short, they assemble.

Peace
Bruce in Philly (now Atlanta)

anewman

Porsche is the premier Engineering and Design house, coupled with a marketing and business engine that optimizes demand via deliberately controlled supply. Results = “I love it and must have it”

wjk_glynn

Yup. You can see 997.2 engine assembly at the 21m mark…



While the title in the graphic above says GT3, it’s mostly about 997.2 Carrera manufacturing.

TobyW

It's the same for all car companies, all parts are bought from suppliers that do the product development according to a set of specifications given to them by the car manufacturer. In some cases even the body is produced elsewhere, as with the first two Cayenne generations (if I'm not mistaken).

Bruce In Philly

Makers of say, lighting, or engine management systems (Siemens/Bosch), do their own development. They know where the fashion is going, where the governmental regulations are going, what car makers desire, and they have their own competitive pressures in their industies.... so they do their own development and prototyping and feed-forward to car makers opportunities and ideas. They don't just wait for a new specification. For example, I don't believe Porsche developed a new, cool cylinder liner. Those liners are only made possible by high-science developed by metallurgists/chemists/whatever in companies that are experts in casting metal. This stuff has gone way past the capabilities of a car maker. They present the cost/benefits/weaknesses/implications of options... This is my guess of course. Another guess is that Porsche chose Lokasil liners due to its lower cost to other alternatives... it is one of the cheapest alternatives. Remember, Porsche was under severe financial distress when they developed the M96 engine. Porsche doesn't cast their blocks so I suspect they worked closely with Kobleschmidt to explore options and opportunities. As we all know, the reality is cost/benefit weighs very heavily in any engineering decision in any organization.

As I wrench on my 997.2, I admire its engineering and thoughtfulness that went into this thing. Especially from working on my Dad's and my GM crap of the 70s and 80s where I came away with a firm belief that GM really tried purposefully to screw their own customers. But today, car makers have shifted from being creative engineers to accountants who manage vendor contracts. That is OK, but I do roll my eyes when I read posts from Porsche fans who think Porsche engineers are some high-monks who focus on performance sports cars that just happen to be the way they are as a result of a "pure" design approach. That is just silly to me... but a discussion for another day.

Peace
Bruce in Philly (now Atlanta)

Rockerchief

Just about every business goes through a “buy or build” decision process at some point. The deeper you head into Manufacturing the more this is the norm. With todays high level R&D and the speed of advancing tech it makes more sense to “buy” it than invest in the build only to be outdone by someone who does ONLY that.

Avenger6

OK, fair enough, but name any other “major end item” (Army-speak for vehicles, aircraft, etc.) that isn’t made this way. They are called “assembly plants” because that’s what is happening there. Even from the beginning of Porsche, I am pretty sure that they bought most components from other companies.

But, those components are built to the specs and requirements set by the car companies, or the suppliers have a range of standard offerings that are then chosen by the car company and that are integrated into the design.

I can’t think of any other cars that aren’t built this way. If anyone knows of any kind of vehicle or major machine that isn’t assembled from components that mostly come from suppliers, let us know.

The expertise and branding is in the engineering, design and styling.

Ironman88

Perhaps in addition to that is establishing and sustaining the right culture within the company.

Maintaining a steadfast commitment to the design / material engineering and ensuring that a precise spec is developed, communicated to chosen suppliers - with the end products carefully evaluated to that spec.

Being able to do that with all of the cross-currents in the automobile business climate - even 15 or 20 years ago when the 997 was new, was exceptionally difficult.

Today it's almost impossible. But Porsche does a better job at it than virtually anyone else.

Tj40

You are correct but you forgot the paint, Porsche paint the bodies before assembly.

This is pretty much true of every major OEM today, although Honda in North America cast their own engine blocks most of the other parts are sourced for the engine assembly.

voiceprint1

If you read Panaorama, there is an article on the split between air cooled and water cooled, and basically at the 996/986 they turned the car into a series of pre-made modules that they fit together that are essentially the same between 911 and boxster/caymans with small changes to body and chassis between both models. They adopted this model after the way Japanese cars are assembled and produced, and it turned the company around. They went from producing cars that took 100 hours to build to ones that took 30 hours or less to build and scale up to much higher production numbers.