Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~ ~ :z: u iE: ... :::l Z :z: 0 "") 0 z 4( z 0 ~ ~ w 00 O"l z w 0 ~ :::l a:: CD > CD ~ 00 >- I/) ... :z: ... l-o ~ 0 0 ;::j s:: ~ ~ (Above) An outside look at the Harley-Davidson factory. (Below) Engines meet frames during the production process in York. Pennyslvania. Giant rnachin.. in the proceu of producing puU for HarIey-Davidaon motorcycles at their York plant. Made the American Way; Inside Harley-Davidson By Bruce Newton York, Pennsylvania is deep in the heart of Harley-Davidson territory. For although Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is the traditional home of H-D, where it was founded by William S. Harley and the Davidson brothers William A Wa Iter Sr., a.n d Ar'th ur ba c.k'" m 1903, York IS where the fmal 40 product now rolls off the line. Milwaukee is still where the venerable V-twin engines are designed and built along with transmissions, while the town of Tomahawk in the same state is where the fiberglass products are made. But the historical city of York, established late in the 18th century, is where these pieces and many others come together to create the last truly American brand of motorcycle. It is by no means an outstandinglooking factory, just a low, large ser· ies of white buildings with "Harley'Davidson York" painted across the wall n~re~t ':.1.5: Highway 30. Nor IS It mSlde, an enormously exciting place. Considering the building's vintage, that's not surprising. It was put up in the '40s as a Naval ordinance depot, and later acquired by industrial giant AMF. That company built bowling machines and snowmobiles on the 286acre site until the acquisition of H·D, and the shift there of final assembly was completed in 1974. The decision to shift resulted from the motorcycle boom. Before going to York, the company was produdng 14,000 motorcycles a year; by the end of the decade, that figure had swelled to 50,000 annually. When H-D reverted to private ownership in 1979, it kept the York facility . Currently, about 1200 people work there, out of a total company staff of 3000. The factory lacks the robotics of the ultra-modern Japanese plants. In fact, the age of the machinery would see it nestling in happily among veteran car plants. The lack of up-to-the-minute equipmentaptly demonstrates HarleyDavidson's biggest problem as a private company - money. The finan· ces simply aren 'tthere to upgrade the plant to today's sophisticated levels. Harley is making do with what it's got. It's a problem which has also bedevilled the company's development of the Tri-Hawk three·wheeler, the Porsche-designed V-four Nova and the efforts of the racing team. "If it works properly, we'll use it:' explained tour guide Tom Budinger, referring to the older machinery in the plant. And according to Budinger, market· .ing manager, pans and accessories worldwide, (or as he translates that to English - wearer of many hats), the plant is working exceptionally well at the moment. That has nOl always been the case. Reliability has long been the bugbear of Harley-Davidson motorcycles. However, several programs have been introduced at the York plant in an attempt to solve the problem, and appear to have succeeded. These include the Quality Audit Progra'm, which randomly selects bikes as they roll 0(( the line and gi ves them a thorough going over, pi us a 25-mile spin around the company's mile-long test track at the back of the plant. If it passes, then off it goes to be crated and shipped. If it fails, then the prob· lems are fixed and all the same models coming down the line are checked. When the system was first introduced, all bikes were placed in lots of 25 and one from each was tested; HOW only four or five a day are checked. The reason for the reduction is improved quality. The average pass mark is now in the 89-95% bracket. Another part of the drive for improved quality is Statistical Operative Control (SOC). SOC puts into the operator's hands responsibility for his or her machine. The high and low points of a machine's production of quality parts is calculated on a graph, thus when a tool has to be sharpened or replaced, the time is known. • "The operator can say, 'Hey this needs to be sh3rpened now: even if the parts it's turning out are still perfect. He knows the time period," explains Budinger. H-DempJoyees were initially trained in SOC by the University of Tennessee. Now they're so good at it they train people from other companies. Material As Needed is theiast part of this triumvirate. M.A.N. is aimed at keeping overheads down, avoiding stockpiling of parts by having suppliers deliver parts on a daily or weekly basis as needed. If you think these ideas sound similar to those used in Japanese factories, you're dead right! Budinger admits without blushing that these ideas are direct copies of H-D's Oriental competitors. Ironic? Look who is copying who for a change. But if you look .outside in the workforce parking lot, it's obvious that admiration for Japanese production techniques don't extend to what rolls out of their factories. (Continued to page 42)

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