Client
- TESLA, Inc.
- Tesla’s Fremont Factory is an automobile manufacturing plant in Fremont, California and currently manufactures Tesla’s Model S, Model 3, Model X, and Model Y. It has been described as one of the world’s most advanced automotive plants.
- Elon Musk announced at the 2021 Shareholder Meeting that the company aims to increase production capacity at the Fremont Factory by 50% in the next couple of years.
Challenge
- Already a customer, Tesla reached out to Sprung to provide additional assembly line production capacity for their new Model 3 vehicle. And they needed it immediately.
- Known for their innovation and quick problem solving, Tesla needed to find a fast solution to expand their large production line – a standard automotive solution just couldn’t be built in the time-frame needed. So, the idea to erect a Sprung structure in the Fremont factory parking lot was born.
Solution
- 137,250 square feet;
- 915 feet long, 150 feet wide, 53 feet tall – the structure fits two and a half football fields, 122 Model 3 sedans, or an assembly line
Time-line:
- Delivery and Construction – 19 days
Results
- The Sprung team delivered and completed construction in just 19 days. A full assembly line was constructed inside the structure while the structure was being erected. This meant Model 3 production could start while the finishing touches on the structure were completed.
- Additionally, this facility was built at a fraction of the cost of a traditional automotive assembly line and is now a permanent structure at Tesla’s Fremont factory.
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Testimonial:
What people are saying:
“We believe in rapid evolution,” Mr. Musk said in an interview. “It’s like, find a way or make a way. If conventional thinking makes your mission impossible, then unconventional thinking is necessary.”
(Boudette 2018, nytimes.com)
“No standard automotive solution could be built in time,” said Musk, “so we created a new solution. It is working and has slightly higher quality than the more traditional general assembly line. Perhaps most surprising is that the total cost of production in the sprung tent is lower.”
(NBC 2018)
“A new building was impossible, so we built a giant tent in 2 weeks,” Musk Tweeted last weekend. “And it’s way better than the other GA [general assembly] line that cost hundreds of millions!”
(Davies 2018, Wired)
“Tesla is building up under a giant new tent at the Fremont factory…
Everyone has been calling it a “tent”, but it’s a Sprung structure, which is a much stronger type of building that can actually be used permanently.”
(Lambert 2018, Electrek)
“First off, “giant” is a fair descriptor. Nearly 1,000 feet long, 150 feet wide, and 53 feet tall, the tent covers 137,250 square feet. That’s enough to fit two and a half football fields, 122 Model 3 sedans, or, an assembly line.”
(Davies 2018, Wired)
“Team deserves recognition, this was miraculous,” tweeted Elon Musk.
(Cyrus Farivar 2018, Ars Technica)
“This whole thing that you see here was a pretty miraculous effort by the team to create a general assembly line out of nothing in three weeks. It was life or death,” said Musk. “Those betting against the company were right by all conventional standards that we would fail. But they just did not count on this unconventional situation of creating an assembly line in a parking lot in a tent.”
Elon Musk, CEO, Tesla
(CBS 60 Minutes interview – December 9, 2018)
