I watched this video several times and had to parse it a bit. “Batch and hold” is their business term for what sounds like “inconsistent quality control checks”. That is not to say “quality problems”. It seems they’ve run into a problem/bottleneck with final quality assurance. There’s a lot riding on that and she expresses that very well. That HAD to be a stressful time to take over as CEO. Yes, this message should have come sooner and been more in depth; however, I am going to allow it (lol). Let them make sure their Quality Assurance folks have their heads around it fully.
Message to Ms Calder if you’re reading “here’s your chance to follow through on your promised communication. Daily if you have to, but do not go another week without follow up. The customers you need are not the mouth breathing Tik Tokers that your predecessor seemed to be counting on. Use your words and trust us to pay attention”
Capital projects (in oil & gas/downstream, Ineos’ core industry) normally have a specialist team from initiation through to first production.
While those teams strive to get everything sorted, the nature of interdependencies and sheer complexity make that impossible. Some implementation ‘debt’ is therefore carried through into the first months/years of operation.
Accordingly a ‘mezzanine’ structure is put in place that bridges first production to steady state. During this stage, the project personnel are progressively replaced with the long-term workforce. An equivalent executive transition also occurs. All normal stuff, noone’s getting sacked. You just need different skill sets.
In automotive, first production comes with a global model launch. You want to carefully orchestrate the first exposure of industry media by presenting the vehicle and brand in a favourable light, doing what it does best and all smoothed over with generous hospitality. Nice hotels, great opportunities for photos. Careful curation all round.
Delivering vehicles to customers before such an event would see you lose control of the narrative while alienating the professional media by allowing them to be trumped to the headline by any muppet with an iPhone and a YouTube account.
Not unreasonable therefore to delay deliveries until after the launch. Once the media attending the launch have published you’re off and running.
Only problem is those customers who were awaiting their cars on some timing promised by the project team but impossible in reality… what to say to them… can’t say there’s a problem with the car because that will poison the launch. Can’t say you held their cars back for marketing reasons because they’d be furious.
Best course of action? Go light on details and use the time to be certain the first products delivered are as good as you can make them.
