The birth of a car (a story from inside nissan)

[EazyBreazy]

here's a sample of something i've been kicking aroudn in my head for the past few weeks. Its a story of sorts outlining a car being built. Some of you have been to visit automotive plants so i'm sure its all old information to you, but its something i feel like alot of people have no idea how they're actually built.

Some background on me, I'm an employee at Nissan North America's Canton Plant so that allows me to see the process and experience it from an enthusiasts eyes every day much closer and hands on than any tour. Given that though, even though i have access to some amazing things i'd love to take pictures of to show you guys, I cannot. It is against company policy to take pictures of the processes and as such I won't even describe all the processes fully with words.

Here is the teaser i spoke of at the beginning.

A Car is born

Labor pains

A train rolls into the fairly non-descript and plain looking facility loaded with coils of flat steel. As the doors rise to allow the train cars to enter a medley of noises begin to expand from the vast depth of the building. Sounds similar to that of thunder over the horizon engulf you. You can feel the vibrations. Those sounds though are not dangerous. They are happy sounds because they are the birth of a car.

With your curiosity peaked, you wander closer. From where you stop inside you survey all you see. At first glance all you see are big metal boxes, but you know better. These boxes are machines and they all serve a purpose. Further inspection of the immediate area reveals gantry cranes strung from the rafters. And an even more in depth examination of the area reveals the coil of steel you watched ride the train inside.

The roll of steel is huge. Whether you’ve hit it with a hammer, sneezed on it or tried to push it with a fork lift it would not know the difference. It would sit idly; staring at you, daring you to make it into what it was destined to be. A worker brings in a contraption and sticks it through the middle of the spool. As if magically it begins rising off the floor, hovering in suspended animation above you. It’s finally lowered into the first of the big boxes….erm machines it will pass through. As you watch the roll begin to be unfurled you wonder when it was created. Smiling inwardly you remind yourself that no matter when it was formed into this ungodly huge roll of steel, its life, has yet to start. It will in the very near future develop its own character and soul. It will breathe, roar, and bleed if struck. But it has a long ways to go.

You watch as the roll feeds into the first machine, unsure of what to expect. There’s some clanking and hissing and wait a minute. There’s some sort of shape coming out the other side. It’s flat, but has defined edges and it’s not connected to the rest of the roll any more. You notice that they’re all the same shapes. Do they have souls yet, are they aware that they’re no longer one but many, do they miss those whom look exactly like them as a twin would? They’re stacked up palletized and put in the corner. You think you hear from that same corner the echo of someone crying “It’s dark over here”, but you know you didn’t.

[AZhitman]

Dude, the rest of that story had better come in via email in Notepad... That's gonna make a GREAT homepage series!!!!

[EazyBreazy]

figured that'd get your attention. Check my post in the homepage thread. I'll keep going with this and get you the first installment fairly soon