Student Blog Collection

On the 11th of November, we hopped on the university bus to head to Morgan Motor Company in Malvern, Worcestershire. We reached this beautiful town and found the company below the foot of the hills. The employees are predominantly locals who also have a great bond through generations of working with the company.

We were welcomed with a short video about the history of this family-owned car manufacturing company founded in 1910. The cars are purely handmade and observed the entire process of how these cars are being made from scratch.

Andy Millward guided us through the doors of the assembly workshop followed by wood, chassis, sheet metal, paint, trim shops, and the pre-delivery inspection area. We witnessed the testing bay, the cut out of woods, and how they sew the leather and assemble them all by hand. The unique factor of the car was the use of wood. Here, the timber used is sustainably grown and assembled using three main pieces of light timber for the frame structure from which the exterior aluminium body panels and interior leatherwork are attached. The Speedster, Plus four, Plus six, and the unique three-wheeler are vintage car models and it’s still astonishing to see the finished product which was all hand made.

The workers are highly skilled in this age-old technique of craftsmanship, and it was enthusing to see how they use these techniques to perfect the car. We found that an employee is assigned to be responsible for each car until every part of the car is individually painted and assembled. Manufacturing a Morgan car takes 150 hours and as it is built to order with customisable options with a total lead time of 6 months. Every material used is of high quality and is delivered from all around the world from the best of suppliers. Though handmade, every part of the car is made sure that it’s perfect.

When we walked out the door, it was as if we stepped out of the 19th century. The factory ended with visiting the archive room and the showroom where we could piece all the information received. This visit was an enjoyable and knowledgeable experience. Observing every step of the production process and aligning it with the learning at Warwick made this visit highly valuable.

Janani Alagarsamy

MSc Supply Chain and Logistics Management