Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~. Dign itaries at the dedicat ion of Honda's new engine factory in Anna, Ohio included (from left) Honda of America Manufacturing 's S. Irimaj iri, Honda Motor Company's K. Yoshizawa, Congressman Michael Oxley, the State of Ohio's Joe Sommers, Anna plant manager T. Yash ik i, and American Honda Motor Company's T. Ch ino. Honda's Anna factory manufactures engine crankcases and assembles the cases w ith parts made in Japan . When training is complete, each engine w ill be largely assembled by one worker . Honda motorcycle engines: made in Ohio By John Ulrich ANNA. OHIO. SEPTE MBER 20 H o n da of America Manufacturing, Inc. h as dedicated a new, $30 million motorcycle engine p lan t employing 90 Americans and has announced plans to continue expanding product io n in the U.S. T h e co m pany n ow builds a bou t 60,000 m o to rcycles (incl ud ing Gold Wing, Magna and Shadow 10 models, wi th 20% bui lt for export ) and 150.000 ca rs per year in Ame rica. ma ki ng it th e largest U.S. motorcycle manufactu rer a nd the fourt h -lar gest U.S. ca r m an u factu rer. T he new en gi ne pl ant , which ac tua ll y bega n producti o n in july. bu ilds engin es for 1200cc Gold Win g mo tor cycles assembled in H on da 's Marvsvill e, O hi o . factory , 40 m iles away: Wh en n ow -un derwa y exp a n sio n o f th e 192,500-square-foo t An na faci lity is com p leted. th e p la nt will measu re 236.000 square feet, em p loy 225 Am erica ns. represent a $70 mi llio n invest ment and will build 1500cc car en gines for use in Ma rysville-a ssembled Civic model s. Official sattending th e pl ant -dedi- ca tion included Shoi chiro Ir im aj ir i, President . H o nda of Am erica Manu Iac turin g, In c.; Ko ich iro Yoshiza wa , Executive Vice P resident . H o n da Motor Co. Ltd.; Co ngressman Mich ael 'O xley (R-O H); j oe Som me r, Director of th e O h io Department o f Na tu ra l Resou rces. (So m me r. th e fo rmer Director o f th e Depa rt m ent o f Develo p me nt . was rep resen ting O hio G overn or Rich a rd F. Celeste. wh o was visit in g Chi na a nd co u ld n ' t a t ten d): T oyoji Yash ik i, Vice Pr esident. Pl a nt Manager (o f the Anna en g ine p lant ); a nd Tets uo Chi no. President, Amer ica n H onda Mo tor Co. , In c. " O ur decision to expa n d operatio ns in Oh io is a reflectio n of co n tin ui ng co n fide nc e in o ur associates' a bi liti es to produce q ua lity mo tor cycl es. ca rs. a nd no w, en gin es." said Irirnaj ir i. wh o , in keepin g with H onda 's p olicy. refers to worke rs as associa tes. " O ur philosophy is that H onda man ufactu res wh ere th e market is. It is essentia l to manufacture engines in Ame rica. It has a lrea dy been decided to bu ild passenger car engines a lo ng with mot orcycle engi nes. " Fo r more th an 30 years Honda has been a leader in th e devel opment o f engines ," Irimajiri said. "Now. with a new en gine pl ant, Honda has an opport u n ity to join a worldwide .effo rt to produce th e highest qua lity engines here , in Anna , Ohio. Our fir st motorcycle engine, the GL1200. wa s produced on j u ly 22. 1985. It wa s fitting that o u r first Am er ican-mad e en gine is in stalled in our GLl200 Gold Wing. The Gold Wing is H onda 's top of th e line motorcycle, m anufactured excl us ively by Honda of Am eri ca for worldwide use. As yo u know, I am a motorcycle enthusiast. I had the o p p ort u n ity to test ride th e fir st mo torcycle with a n Anna-built en gine. I ca n report to yo u that it meets o u r hi gh est standards." Operation s a t th e An na en g ine plant incl ud e cas ting, painting, and ma chining of en gine cra n kcases. and asse m bly of engin es. Capacit y is 110 engines per eight-hour shift; th e plant now runs o ne sh ift p er da y. Centerpi ece o f th e Anna pl ant is a 1650-ton di e-casting insta llation incl ud ing a . melting furn ace fed by America n -ma de a lu mi n u m a lloy in go ts a nd a d ie-casting machine built with exha u st system s to ca p tu re a n d ca rrv o ff heat . stea m a nd smoke. Abo'U! 3300 pounds o f molten a luminu m per hour is ro u ted to the di ecasting mach in e th rough a heat ed pi pel in e, and th e exh au st systems are so effective tha t th e di e-casting ope ra tions do n 't seem o u t o f pl ace in side th e spotless factory; tha t's a marked co nt ras t to th e dirt y. h o t. smokey cra n kcase d ie-ca stin g operat io ns seen in typi ca l mot orcycle factories. A co n veyor system recycles n ash a nd scra p al u mi num removed fro m th e cra n kca se casti ngs . feed in g th e a lum inum back into the furn ace. T he cas ting machi ne. whi ch casts cases aro und iro n cylinder lin ers. is o pera ted by o ne worker. with a nothe r runn in g th e furn ace. o ne ins pecting finish ed cases. a nd a n o ther maintaining th e dies. Cra n kcase castings ar e sent through an ultrason ic cleaner and a five-step p re-treating p rocess ' bef ore bei n g painted ; p ainting is done prior to machining, to pr event oxidation. The ac tua l painting is don e by ro bo ts in ventilat ed paint rooms lined with wa terfalls to ca tc h ov er spra y an d fum es. After painting, the cases are sent to a ma chin in g line run by ten workers with 25 mach in es. One step on th e m achining lin e is sea lin g of th e castings; bolt hol es are drilled and tapped. su rfaces machined. cylinde r lin ers honed and oil a nd wat er passageways ch ecked for blockage. Int ern a l en g ine parts a re imported from H onda 's factories in j apan, and reach Ohio organized in expanded polystyrene foam tra ys. eac h set of severa l tra ys carr ying all th e parts for one engine in a sort of mass-production-kit approach . The engines a re assem bled on a n oval line; workers follow eng ines around the line and install parts a t different stati ons, vs. the more co nvent io na l straight line wi th workers stay ing at individual positions an d installing the same parts on eac h engine that passes by. Durin g th e cu rre n t trainin g period, eac h worker o n th e en g ine assem bly line puts together a bo u t on e-quarter of th e en g ine , with several other workers bringing in sub-a ssemblie s from intersecting lines. Wh en th e training program is co m p leted, each engine wi ll be primarily assembled by o ne worker who follows th e en gine arou n d th e line; other workers will still br in g in su b-asse m blies from ' inter sect in g lines. T h ere ar e 240 pa rts in a G old Wing en g ine; a t ca pacity. th e pl ant builds o ne engine every si x minutes. Assem bled engines are sta rted up a nd run o n test ben ch es before being sh ipped to th e Mar ysvill e pl ant. H on da' s ma n ufacturi ng opera tio ns in th e U.S. began in 1979 with a $250 m illi on in vestment a nd 69 work er s assem bling motorcycles in Mary svill e. In 1982. prod u ctio n o f Accord mod el cars began at Marysville. Expa nsi o n of th e ca r factory began in 1984, to a llow p roducti on o f Ci vic model s sta rt ing in 1986. In 1984. a pl astic parts factory was ' opene d in Marysvill e. In 1985. H onda Resear ch America (an R&D su bsid iary) o pened an office in Marysville. With the engine pl ant at Anna. 2900 America n work ers are inv olved in H onda' s U.S. manufacturing o pera tio ns . After expa nsion o f th e Anna plant is co m p leted, H onda's tot al in vestment related to vehicle m anufacturing in th e U.S. is expec ted to top $600 million. •

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