FOX Racing Shox factory tour
Yesterday I visited some friends at FOX Racing Shox in Watsonville, Calif., and they gave me the sweet factory tour.
It’s quite the operation. The things that struck me most:
– It’s all about process. The assembly floor is a study in manufacturing best practices. Every step — every inch, every fixture — has been thought out to maximize efficiency.
– It’s all about quality. FOX tests quality at every stage, from checking raw materials and outsourced parts to measuring components to fatigue-testing complete forks and shocks. They go to a LOT of trouble to make sure everything is dialed.
Receiving
Fabricating
Assembling
Testing
Special thanks to Mark Fitzsimmons and Elayna Caldwell.
So, while you were there did you catch a glimpse of their R&D department, what’s on the horizon? And are they looking for product testers, I can test them under tropical rain forest conditions.
They didn’t let me in there. Very hush-hush, and some stuff they wouldn’t let me photograph.
Sorry, but they probably won’t need you. They actually import dirt from all over the world and use it in their test lab. They seal the fork and a bunch of mud or whatever into a box and cycle the fork a zillion times. Where is the world’s worst dirt, from a fork wear standpoint? England.