SmilinVamp

6 Months? Mine was 8 weeks... how odd??

aniemeier

I spoke with the sales manager at my dealership yesterday for quite some time. He told me that each dealers allocation comes out on the 1st of every month. He told me that dalers do not have allocation for Rubicons exactly, just wranglers. So if you have a wrangler on order, when the allocation comes out, you either get filled or wait for the next alocation period. This makes total sense, because if you go back thru the posts, almost everyone who switched into D status did so around the 1st of each month.

WaIIbanger

not to blow your theory or anything and i know you said almost, but i went D on jan. 21st. D-1 on jan. 28th.

aniemeier

I know what your'e saying, but I beleive you got pushed thru sooner because your lease was coming up corect?

WaIIbanger

well, you are correct in that my salesman told me that. i don't have confirmation on that from chrysler, but it may be true.

that said, my lease is up on monday and i'm still D-1. :sad:

j&k'sjk

Just went to D status today for my X 2 door.

RubiCajun

yeah, well ya gotta have toys. those are our two harleys in the garage along with my polaris 425 magnum and a kayak and all my woodworking toys too. hey, it's february already, getting close for you.

RubiCajun

damn, it's hard to leave here. i guess it's because i know what ya'll are going thru, the opinions, the misinformation, no communication from the dealers, etc. i kept this from the archive. believe it was written by jeff at Don-A-Vee but don't hold me to that. hope this helps alleviate some stress.

'Allocation' is defined as 'the number of vehicles DCX will allow a particular Dealership to order/receive based on that Dealership's previous years sales numbers.' Thus, Dealerships with a higher sales volume last year will get to order more vehicles this year. The concept is simple, Chrysler/Jeep/Dodge wants to sell as many vehicles as they can, so rather than sending units to a low-sales dealership where they'll just sit on the lot for months, they send them to Dealerships whose track record proves they will be able to sell them quickly.

To understand how Allocation effects your order, we should revue the Order Process of your Jeep. First, when your vehicle is ordered by the Dealership, it gets entered into the Dealer Direct computer system and is assigned BA status (Ordered). As a Sold Customer Order, this will receive a preferential build priority above the other Dealer's orders for their inventory. The Assembly Plant takes over the process from here.

The plant will edit the order for errors, then assign it BG status (passed edit- not available for schedule). It will then move back and forth between BG and BX status (passed edit - available for schedule) until it is picked for Build Out. How it does/does not get picked is a detailed process.

For any given month, DCX needs to determine how many vehicles the Wrangler Plant needs to produce, within the given constraints. Those constraints are: the speed of the assembly line, UAW work agreements, worldwide sales quotas for each of the different model configurations, parts availability, dealer sold orders, dealer inventory orders, etc.

So this shakes out like this:
Reduced Line Speed at 50% of Capacity (30 units per hour instead of the normal 60), UAW contract only allowing 9hours/day, 6 day a week, 2 shifts/week; high demand for 4Door vs 2Door models, Hard Top issues, Rubicon parts availability issues, MyGig issues, etc. This amounts to 583 JK's a day, ~3500/week, ~14000/month.

Those 14000 JK's are comprised of (some numbers are estimations): 4x2(1000), 2Door X(1850), 4Door X(6550), 2Door Sahara(712), 4Door Sahara(2520), 2Door Rubicon (303), 4Door Rubicon(1065). Each of those individual totals are further broken down into Options such as Soft Top/Hard Top/Dual Top/Full Door/Half Door/Colors, etc. Then the Dealer Orders are broken down by a ratio of Sold Units to Dealer Inventory Units, and Location (State/Region). Predefining build quotas in this way prevents DCX from making 84,000 White 4Door 4x2 Soft Top JK's per year, with the other 84,000 being Lime Green Sahara 2 Doors, and shipping them all to Alaska.

So, for each month the Assembly Plant's production schedule has available slots to fill, the numbers of which are more or less limited to the above quotas. To fill those slots, the Assembly Plant looks to the Dealer Direct order system and selects orders at least one month out. When all slots have been filled for the next month's production run, it's termed 'Build Out'. The Order Status codes then get changed to reflect the intended schedule, complete with VIN #'s, estimated Day of Production, Estimated Day of Shipping, etc.

So how does your Order get picked for one of the slots? Let's say you've ordered a Rescue Green 2Door X with Dual Tops. Your order will move from BG to BX status, and compete for selection against the other orders in the system. Understand that out of the 14,000 slots being filled, there may only be room on the schedule for 3 Rescue Green 2Door X's with Dual Tops for your whole State that month. The oldest Sold Orders get considered first. Let's say there were two older than yours that get picked, and you're now being considered for the last slot.

Now there is a check for Parts Availability for your particular order. If the Hard Top supplier hasn't been able to keep up with demand, for instance, you won't pass the check. The selection process stops right there for you, your Status Code goes to BGL (passed edit - parts unavailable), and someone else's order fills that slot. When the parts become available, you go back to BG/BX status and compete for the next month's Build Out.

Let's say you're lucky enough to pass edit and all parts are available, your status moves to C (sub firm). Now is the point of the Order Process where Dealer Allocation becomes important. The System determines whether or not your dealer has Allocations available for that month. If they do, then you go to D status (firm schedule - dealer has allocation and all parts available) and you're on your way. On the other hand, if your dealer didn't have allocations available that month, you go back to BG/BX status and compete for the next month's Build Out.

It is possible to be picked up for a Build in the middle of the month. Let's say you've ordered a Soft Top, and there is a sudden shortage of Hard Tops. They don't shut the line down waiting for the parts supplier to get their act together. Instead, they grab Soft Top orders to fill in the spaces until the Hard Top orders can resume their place in line. In this example, some future JK owners will be surprised to find out that their Jeeps are getting built quicker than expected, while others will be disappointed to learn that their estimated Production Date has been postponed.

Another thing to consider is that DCX is receiving an average of 1000+ orders per day, while only able to build 583 per day (current orders outstanding are 49,972). So the number of orders you are competing against for Build Out can be significant, especially if you've ordered a Rubicon with Hard Top (current Rubicon Orders outstanding total 11,870 with a daily build of only 57).

So, the age-old question "why is my JK taking so long to be built" is not an easy answer. It's always a combination of things, and will certainly try your patience. Calling Customer Service and/or your Dealer can be an exercise in futility, because they aren't the one's producing your JK. The Assembly Plant does not answer to Customer Service, the Dealerships, or us the Customers. It is a privilege that we are allowed a window into their world, by being able to track the build status in real time. That is all Customer Service and the Dealer can do...they check the Dealer Direct system to view the Build Status Code. Their ability to 'do something' ends there (except for the dealer being able to alter your order to remove an option that was holding it up, such as Hard Top or MyGig). They are not in the position to demand that a particular vehicle gets built at a particular time, and neither are we.

At least now we'll have a better idea of what's happening behind the scenes while we wait."

Jeepingjohnny

Nice post I believe you capture many points people overlook.

I am personally in D+Vin# status at the moment for 3 weeks now so I just need to move up a step to D-1 and I'm golden. To bad D status is still slightly a limbo status because I don't have a build date yet.

richelsd

Got the word from another hard working informant on another site that the Rubicon was built last week and is in KZ Status. Now the wait to get it to Canada.