From the Rolls-Royce experimental archive: a quarter of a million communications from Rolls-Royce, 1906 to 1960's. Documents from the Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation (SHRMF).
Development timelines and the impact of policy decisions on bringing improvements to market.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 148\5\ scan0064 | |
| Date | 22th February 1935 | |
| -3- Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/Rm.{William Robotham - Chief Engineer}16/KW.22.2.35. Considering features which are of more importance to the customer, such as silence and smoothness, we find that the Terraplane rubber engine mounting was put through remarkably quickly. The Terraplane was received at the Works 18.4.34. and 21-G-IV left for France with the necessary designing and development work done (which included considerable difficulties with the clutch, fan, air intake and exhaust silencers) 7 weeks later. In this respect it is interesting to note that the Standardisation Sheet was two months from the time it was sent out until the time it was completed. Not that this materially affected the time the improvement came on production. Taking other limited objectives, resonance air intake and exhaust silencers, synchromesh gears, the Bentley engine, low rating road springs, etc. have all gone through rapidly and satisfactorily. If we accept the complete organisation as it stands, including the Standardisation Sheet and the 10,000 miles test in France, one major improvement can be got through in less than 9 months from the drawing board to the customer, when the objective is clearly defined and limited. In the past we say that policy has delayed improvements far more than the technical capacity of the factory. As an example of this, it is impossible to engineer a completely new car such as the Peregrine, ready for production, and then discard it without paying for it. Again, the Bentley was delayed months while a decision was made as to whether it was the car we wanted. We believe that some of these policy decisions would not have been made had it been appreciated exactly how long it takes to design and develop improvements. We have seen that if we take one simple item where we are not breaking fresh ground, this can be passed to the customer 9 months after the job is started on. Where the policy is not defined, as in the case of silent tappets, the improvement may - and in this case will - take four years to reach the customer. | ||