Honda
Content
HISTORY From a young age, Honda's founder, Soichiro Honda ( , Honda S ichir ) had a great interest in automobiles. He worked as a mechanic at a Japanese tuning shop, Art Shokai, where he tuned cars and entered them in races. A self-taught engineer, he later worked on a piston design which he hoped to sell to Toyota. The first drafts of his design were rejected, and Soichiro worked painstakingly to perfect the design, even going back to school and pawning his wife's jewelry for collateral. Eventually, he won a contract with Toyota and built a factory to construct pistons for them, which was destroyed in an earthquake. Due to a gasoline shortage during World War II, Honda was unable to use his car, and his novel idea of attaching a small engine to his bicycle attracted much curiosity. He then established the Honda Technical Research Institute in Hamamatsu, Japan, to develop and produce small 2-cycle motorbike engines. Calling upon 18,000 bicycle shop owners across Japan to take part in revitalizing a nation torn apart by war, Soichiro received enough capital to engineer his first motorcycle, the Honda Cub. This marked the beginning of Honda Motor Company, which would grow a short time later to be the world's largest manufacturer of motorcycles by 1964. The first production automobile from Honda was the T360 mini pick-up truck.[citation needed] Powered by a small 356 cc straight-4 gasoline engine, it was classified under the cheaper Kei car tax bracket.[citation needed] The first production car from Honda was the S500 sports car.[citation needed] Its chain driven rear wheels point to Honda's motorcycle origins.[citation needed] "Honda" in Japanese is field´. , which literally means "root field" or "original
Leadership
1948±1973 ² Soichiro Honda 1973±1983 ² Kiyoshi Kawashima 1983±1990 ² Tadashi Kume 1990±1998 ² Nobuhiko Kawamoto 1998±2004 ² Hiroyuki Yoshino 2004±2009 ² Takeo Fukui since 2009 ² Takanobu Ito
Corporate profile and divisions
Honda headquarters building in Japan Honda is headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Their shares trade on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange, as well as exchanges in Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo, Kyoto, Fukuoka, London, Paris and Switzerland. The company has assembly plants around the globe. These plants are located at China, United States, Pakistan, Canada, England, Japan, Belgium, Brazil, New Zealand, Indonesia, India, Thailand, Turkey and Perú. Honda's Net Sales and Other Operating Revenue by Geographical Regions in 2007[7] Geographic Region Japan North America Europe Asia Others Total revenue (in millions of ¥) 1,681,190 5,980,876 1,236,757 1,283,154 905,163
American Honda Motor Company is based in Torrance, California. Honda Canada Inc. is headquartered in the Scarborough district of Toronto,Ontario, and is building new corporate headquarters in Markham, Ontario, scheduled to relocate in 2008;[8] their manufacturing division,Honda of Canada Manufacturing, is based in Alliston, Ontario. Honda has also created joint ventures around the world, such as Honda Siel Cars and Hero Honda Motorcycles in India,[9] Guangzhou Honda and Dongfeng Honda in China, and Honda Atlas in Pakistan. ADMINISTRATIVE STRUCTURE: Honda Motor Company Ltd. (Honda Motor) announced that Takanobu Ito, currently the company's senior managing director, will become the seventh president and chief executive officer of Honda Motor effective in late June 2009. Takeo Fukui, the current president and CEO, will remain on the board and assume the post of director and advisor to Honda Motor. This management succession will occur following the final decision of the Honda Motor Board of Directors after the company's annual shareholders' meeting, scheduled for late June 2009. Ito joined Honda in 1978, and began his career in its automobile research and development operations, principally as an engineer in the area of chassis design. Ito was in charge of developing the all-aluminum uni-body frame structure for the mid-engine NSX sports car that went on sale in 1990, a world's first for a production vehicle of any volume. Ito also took on responsibilities as the person-in-charge of developing a series of compact sedans for the Japanese market in the early 1990's. From April 1998 to March 2000, Ito was stationed in the U.S. as executive vice president of Honda R&D Americas Inc., where he became actively involved in the development of the Acura brand's first sport-utility vehicle, the MDX (which went on sale in the U.S. in October 2000). In June 2000, Ito was appointed to the board of directors of Honda Motor, simultaneously gaining promotion to managing director of Honda R&D
Company Ltd. (Honda R&D). He subsequently became president and director of Honda R&D in June 2003. Ito also took on a role in the area of manufacturing as general manager of Honda's Suzuka Factory in April 2005. In April 2007, Ito became Honda Motor's chief operating officer of automobile operations and a senior managing director from June of the same year. From April 2009, he will again assume the top position of president and director of Honda R&D, a position he will continue to hold concurrently after the successful appointment as president and CEO of Honda Motor expected in late June 2009. Takeo Fukui has served as Honda Motor's president and CEO since assuming the position in June 2003. During the six years of Fukui's leadership, Honda was able to actively evolve its global manufacturing structure, notably the establishment of a U.S. automobile plant in Indiana and the decision to set up two manufacturing facilities ± the Yorii and Ogawa plants ± in Saitama, Japan. Furthermore, Fukui enabled the company to make forays into new business areas, including the establishment of both the jet engine and aircraft businesses, and making a full-scale entry into the solar cell business with Honda's original next-generation solar cell. Also under Fukui's leadership, the company continued to demonstrate its leadership in reducing CO2 emissions through both technology and product innovations. Honda's firm commitment to reduce CO2 output on a global scale was underlined in 2006, when it announced company-wide reduction targets for CO2 emitted from its product lineups as well as from its production lines. The realization of the all-new Insight as an affordable product was an outcome of Fukui's strong guidance, based on the belief that hybrid vehicles must become accessible to more people if the technology is to contribute to reductions in CO2 output.
Fukui joined Honda as an engineer in 1969, and became a member of the project team that developed the Honda CVCC (Compound Vortex Controlled Combustion) engine. Fukui also has extensive experience in the company's motorcycle development and racing operations. In 1988, he became a member of the Honda Motor board of directors, subsequently assuming responsibilities as general manager of the Suzuka Factory, president of Honda of America Manufacturing Inc., president and director of Honda R&D, and most recently, president and CEO of Honda Motor, a title he has held since June 2003.
Honda's minivan and sport utility vehicle assembly plant in Lincoln, Ala., is reminiscent of a medical center. That could be the result of the grounds. The beautifully designed and landscaped exterior - the green grass and colorful foliage, and covered circular drive - gives the impression that you're entering a professional office complex, not a 4,500-employee manufacturing plant. It could be linked to the cleanliness. The site is impeccably tidy. During a recent tour covering approximately a quarter of the plant's 3.1 million square feet, the foreign object debris visible to outsiders on that day consisted of a single screw located on the floor just outside of a production area. It might be from the general sense of order and organization. Like a surgeon's cart, there is a place for everything, and everything is in its place. Perhaps it is the white uniforms and lab coats - the standard mode of dress for all Honda employees working in the plant. Or maybe, it's the clipboards. Honda workers walking the floor and examining machinery and product take extensive notes and scribble down numbers to populate a myriad of data charts.
Superior operations. Proactive care and maintenance. A focus on functional flexibility, wellness and reliability. Healthy manufacturing. This is the essence of Honda.
PARTNERS IN RELIABILITY The Honda plant in Lincoln is deserving of high praise, thanks in no small part to its maintenance and reliability prowess. Professionals from several internal and external organizations oversee these duties and ensure that the plant environment is productive and problem-free. The main dissection is between production maintenance and plant services. Production maintenance is responsible for the health of the capital assets that are directly tied to producing automobiles and their V-6 engines. Plant services is responsible for ensuring the health and performance of all of the fixed assets that do not build a car or its components. As plant services division manager Mark LaRue explains, "I'm responsible for new construction, existing buildings, utilities distribution, environmental and general services, which takes into account janitorial, uniforms, pool cars, security and maintaining areas such as the cafeteria, locker rooms and credit union." The combined department functions on an operate-and-maintain structure. "The person who is splitting the air compressor is the same person who is operating the air compressor. We want these people to have that touch-feel to operations and not be disconnected," says LaRue. As a result of this partnership, and the plant's uniform code, it's hard to tell the Honda plant services associates from the contractors.
That's all part of the master plan, says LaRue. "In facilities, and in maintenance for this plant as a whole, we have a motto: 'We want to remove the distractions that take the focus away from building a car,'" he says. "Fundamentally, we are here to make cars. We make money by making cars. Facilities does not. In the scheme of things, you have people who make cars and people who don't. If you don't make cars, you are a support department. So, we take our support very seriously. We want to create a productive environment." Production maintenance ensures that environment by pushing the envelope on uptime, reliability and overall equipment effectiveness. Preventive and predictive techniques are tantamount to delivering assets to production/operations workers that won't break down. Plant services underscores the "environment" in productive environment. "You must have reliable utilities. You must have a comfortable workspace. You must have clean, functional common areas," says LaRue. "If an (assembly line worker) comes into work and it's cold when he hits the line, he's going to be thinking about how cold it is as opposed to how he's doing his process to make a car. We think we have a direct connection to the vehicle." It starts before that employee even enters the building. "When the associates drive into work, we want them to feel like they are coming to a nice place to work," he says. "The landscaping - that's very deliberate. It's not for public image; it's primarily for our associates. They come in. It looks nice and it's clean. That really sets the tone for how we want to be making a vehicle. We remove the distractions."
Plant services consists of 12 Honda employees and approximately 70 contracted associates. BE&K Inc. comprises 45 of the 70 or so contract workers. Additional firms manage, among other things, water treatment facilities and grounds care. "This was new for Honda," says LaRue. "This was the first site that outsourced its facilities maintenance. It's kind of the grand experiment. One of the things that we learned beforehand and also after the fact was that it's very important to keep pushing these different groups together and keep the emphasis on teamwork. Teamwork can't be a buzzword or catchphrase. We have to really, truly be partners. We are partners to the extent that BE&K is integral to our operations on monthly reporting. When we get into the budgeting cycle of the year, they are working to develop budgets." ANALYSIS WHEEL Breakdowns of any sort can be a huge distraction. So, maintenance and plant services at this Honda site minimize the possibility - and, subsequently, the quantity and duration of failures - through various means. One method is the employment of a problem-analysis wheel. The wheel is set into motion following the response to an unforeseen failure event. The first step, or spoke of the wheel, is Problem Analysis. "We get into some pretty detailed problem analysis when we have a failure," says LaRue. "For instance, the chillers in Line 1 shut down simultaneously one day in July. Losing your air conditioning in July in Alabama is not fun. It also factors into the painting process because we supply water there at a certain temperature. If it goes up a few degrees, they can't keep the proper environment and have to shut down." As part of this analysis, the next spoke in the wheel is Emergency Response.
"How was our emergency response? We had a failure, how long did it take?" says LaRue. "In this case, it took us two hours to restart these chillers in a manual mode." In the analysis, it was determined that chiller operators had become dependent on the automatic restarts. Difficulties emerged when they were forced to bring the system up in manual mode. That led to additional response time. The next two spokes are True Root Cause and PM Analysis. "When you are analyzing complex problems, it takes a long time to get to the bottom," says LaRue. "People frequently think they have found the true root cause. They think that, and the problem reoccurs. In this particular case, the true root was ultimately a firmware problem with the PLC. It wasn't anything that we were doing." Root cause findings can lead to the modification of preventive maintenance activities associated with the focus area. The analysis determines the need for alterations, and the group enacts the required revisions. "In this case, we didn't need to make any PM changes," he says. "Had it have been a different type of problem, I think we would have made some." The final spoke is Information Sharing. "We share those findings, that information, throughout Honda," he says. "Within facilities, there is a global connection. I know the managers of all these plants. We discuss, talk, e-mail. We meet twice a year at different regions and different locations. When we have a problem, we think it is absolutely critical to share this information with the other sites. The bigger the issue, the more that you need to share.
"Problems cost you money. They are expensive. If you pay for that lesson in one location, you don't want to pay for it in other locations. You need to get the word out." CLEAN AND GREEN The Honda plant in Lincoln, Ala., is clean and green. Since it began production in 2001, it has been a zero-landfill site. Each year, the site sends zero pounds of trash to the landfill. "We have a very extensive recycling program," says plant services manager Mark LaRue. "That which isn't recycled goes into waste energy. We also look to conserve water and energy. We have some fantastic results with our air emissions. Even things such as the resin sand for low-pressure die casting are recycled and used." DETECT AND DIAGNOSE The Honda plant also works to avoid failures by using high- and low-tech tools, and tons of data. The maintenance and plant services groups have plenty of predictive maintenance technologies at their disposal. They help pinpoint potential issues before they become larger-scale problems. But LaRue also promotes the use of subjective tools and techniques. "You cannot replace the human senses of sight, sound and smell," he says. "So even though we have lots of monitoring and we have lots of readouts, we still have people make physical rounds of the equipment." During a recent walk-around, an associate detected a questionable odor. It turned out to be ozone coming from a switch that was beginning to arc. Plant services was able to make the repair without impacting production. In this subjective system, plant and asset cleanliness plays an important role.
"For us, cleanliness means the equipment is wiped down, there's no oil, there's nothing stacked in between pieces of equipment," he says. "When an associate goes on rounds, he or she can detect a change. If an oil leak starts, the problem is very visible and noticeable. We can get on it and make the repair." In order to track the past, present and future health of the plant and all of its assets, the Alabama team leans heavily on data. "Honda is very much a data-driven organization," says LaRue. "All of the presidents of Honda have been engineers. We are very much an engineering company. So consequently, when you get a bunch of engineers together, they naturally want to look at data." Color-coded reports track everything from safety, environmental, quality, delivery, cost, training and even morale. In the color system, green signifies a standard "good" level, yellow denotes caution and red identifies an issue that needs to be addressed. Deviations are caught quickly. Data is shared and compared with Honda locations around the world. Just the Facts Plant: Honda Manufacturing of Alabama in Lincoln, Ala. The site, which began producing vehicles in November 2001, is located 40 miles east of Birmingham. Plant size: 3.1 million square feet. Site size: 1,350 acres. Plant employment: 4,500 employees. Products: Honda Odyssey minivan, Honda Pilot SUV and V-6 engines. The plant has an annual production capacity of 300,000 vehicles and V-6 engines. Operations: Stamping, welding, painting, plastic injection molding, casting, machining, assembly and subassembly, engine assembly, testing, and quality assurance.
FYI: On November 3, the plant marked the production of its 1 millionth Honda vehicle and engine. THE RIGHT ATTITUDE A well-known quote from company founder Soichiro Honda goes, "Superior products don't result from an attitude that allows disarray, untidiness and uncleanliness in the work environment." With physician-like diagnosis skills and surgeon-like precision, the maintenance and plant services personnel at Honda's Lincoln, Ala., location target elements of disarray, untidiness and uncleanliness, and remove all of these distractions. The end result is a winning attitude and an environment that is productive and efficient, organized and reliable. Healthy manufacturing. This is the essence of Honda.
Enterprise Strategy The Mission Statement of Honda is try to maintain a global point of view, with the dedication to supply the highest quality products at a reasonable price for worldwide customer satisfaction. Moreover, taking new challenges with the pursuit of Initiative, Technology and Quality, Honda is pursuing their 2010 Vision: Striving to be a company society wants to exist through creating new value, globalization, and commitment for the future. Corporate Strategy Automobile Industry ± Superior Fuel economy ± Optimum safety ± Driving Pleasure ± World wide Motorcycle Industry ± Build product close to customer ± 28 plant, 21 countries, R&D 6 countries Power Business ± First business of Honda ± Expanded ± 11 plant, 9 countries, sold 156 countries, used by 5.5M people ± ASIMO ± Honda jet Business Strategy R&D System ± Approach: Durability Reliability Focus Foundation ± Dimensions: Economical Environmental Social Issues Globalization Characteristic
Business Strategy ³The Joy of Selling´ - Dealership ± Create inspiring experience for its customers ± Response to changing value ± Increasingly complicated needs of customers ± => Improve customer relations Friendly and attentive sales Responsive service support Thorough maintenance and repair ± => ³Life with Honda´ Operational Strategy Divide 6 administrative regional group Pursue independence of local management and sales operations Operate under conduct guidelines => keep evaluating and risk managing High level of transparency Individual Strategy ³The Three Joy´ ± The Joy of buying ± The Joy of Selling Not only relationship But feel pride by positive relationship ± The Joy of Producing Pride in exceeding the customer expectation Organizational Process ± Organization culture ± Innovation Management Organization culture Respects for the Individual and The Three Joys ³Respects for the Individual´ Initiative: Encouraging creative thinking Equality: Fairly treating. Trust: Good relationship between employees The Three Joys´ The Joy of Buying The Joy of Selling The Joy of Producing Innovation Management Developing new technologies of manufacturing system Building environmentally responsible and people-friendly plants. Managing People Managing people Environmental training Ensuring diversity in employment Environmental training Part of Honda¶s training curriculum Deepen associates¶ understanding about Honda¶s policy toward environmental Training programs are continuously provided to associates Promote activities focusing on energy and resource conservation and recycling
Ensuring diversity in employment Provide human rights education, based on Honda¶s principal of respect for individual Opendoor employment policy, hiring based on individual merit Employ people with disabilities Reemploy retirees, create opportunities for those who reach the retirement age of 60.
Leadership
1948±1973 ² Soichiro Honda 1973±1983 ² Kiyoshi Kawashima 1983±1990 ² Tadashi Kume 1990±1998 ² Nobuhiko Kawamoto 1998±2004 ² Hiroyuki Yoshino 2004±2009 ² Takeo Fukui since 2009 ² Takanobu Ito
Corporate profile and divisions
Honda headquarters building in Japan Honda is headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Their shares trade on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange, as well as exchanges in Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo, Kyoto, Fukuoka, London, Paris and Switzerland. The company has assembly plants around the globe. These plants are located at China, United States, Pakistan, Canada, England, Japan, Belgium, Brazil, New Zealand, Indonesia, India, Thailand, Turkey and Perú. Honda's Net Sales and Other Operating Revenue by Geographical Regions in 2007[7] Geographic Region Japan North America Europe Asia Others Total revenue (in millions of ¥) 1,681,190 5,980,876 1,236,757 1,283,154 905,163
American Honda Motor Company is based in Torrance, California. Honda Canada Inc. is headquartered in the Scarborough district of Toronto,Ontario, and is building new corporate headquarters in Markham, Ontario, scheduled to relocate in 2008;[8] their manufacturing division,Honda of Canada Manufacturing, is based in Alliston, Ontario. Honda has also created joint ventures around the world, such as Honda Siel Cars and Hero Honda Motorcycles in India,[9] Guangzhou Honda and Dongfeng Honda in China, and Honda Atlas in Pakistan. ADMINISTRATIVE STRUCTURE: Honda Motor Company Ltd. (Honda Motor) announced that Takanobu Ito, currently the company's senior managing director, will become the seventh president and chief executive officer of Honda Motor effective in late June 2009. Takeo Fukui, the current president and CEO, will remain on the board and assume the post of director and advisor to Honda Motor. This management succession will occur following the final decision of the Honda Motor Board of Directors after the company's annual shareholders' meeting, scheduled for late June 2009. Ito joined Honda in 1978, and began his career in its automobile research and development operations, principally as an engineer in the area of chassis design. Ito was in charge of developing the all-aluminum uni-body frame structure for the mid-engine NSX sports car that went on sale in 1990, a world's first for a production vehicle of any volume. Ito also took on responsibilities as the person-in-charge of developing a series of compact sedans for the Japanese market in the early 1990's. From April 1998 to March 2000, Ito was stationed in the U.S. as executive vice president of Honda R&D Americas Inc., where he became actively involved in the development of the Acura brand's first sport-utility vehicle, the MDX (which went on sale in the U.S. in October 2000). In June 2000, Ito was appointed to the board of directors of Honda Motor, simultaneously gaining promotion to managing director of Honda R&D
Company Ltd. (Honda R&D). He subsequently became president and director of Honda R&D in June 2003. Ito also took on a role in the area of manufacturing as general manager of Honda's Suzuka Factory in April 2005. In April 2007, Ito became Honda Motor's chief operating officer of automobile operations and a senior managing director from June of the same year. From April 2009, he will again assume the top position of president and director of Honda R&D, a position he will continue to hold concurrently after the successful appointment as president and CEO of Honda Motor expected in late June 2009. Takeo Fukui has served as Honda Motor's president and CEO since assuming the position in June 2003. During the six years of Fukui's leadership, Honda was able to actively evolve its global manufacturing structure, notably the establishment of a U.S. automobile plant in Indiana and the decision to set up two manufacturing facilities ± the Yorii and Ogawa plants ± in Saitama, Japan. Furthermore, Fukui enabled the company to make forays into new business areas, including the establishment of both the jet engine and aircraft businesses, and making a full-scale entry into the solar cell business with Honda's original next-generation solar cell. Also under Fukui's leadership, the company continued to demonstrate its leadership in reducing CO2 emissions through both technology and product innovations. Honda's firm commitment to reduce CO2 output on a global scale was underlined in 2006, when it announced company-wide reduction targets for CO2 emitted from its product lineups as well as from its production lines. The realization of the all-new Insight as an affordable product was an outcome of Fukui's strong guidance, based on the belief that hybrid vehicles must become accessible to more people if the technology is to contribute to reductions in CO2 output.
Fukui joined Honda as an engineer in 1969, and became a member of the project team that developed the Honda CVCC (Compound Vortex Controlled Combustion) engine. Fukui also has extensive experience in the company's motorcycle development and racing operations. In 1988, he became a member of the Honda Motor board of directors, subsequently assuming responsibilities as general manager of the Suzuka Factory, president of Honda of America Manufacturing Inc., president and director of Honda R&D, and most recently, president and CEO of Honda Motor, a title he has held since June 2003.
Honda's minivan and sport utility vehicle assembly plant in Lincoln, Ala., is reminiscent of a medical center. That could be the result of the grounds. The beautifully designed and landscaped exterior - the green grass and colorful foliage, and covered circular drive - gives the impression that you're entering a professional office complex, not a 4,500-employee manufacturing plant. It could be linked to the cleanliness. The site is impeccably tidy. During a recent tour covering approximately a quarter of the plant's 3.1 million square feet, the foreign object debris visible to outsiders on that day consisted of a single screw located on the floor just outside of a production area. It might be from the general sense of order and organization. Like a surgeon's cart, there is a place for everything, and everything is in its place. Perhaps it is the white uniforms and lab coats - the standard mode of dress for all Honda employees working in the plant. Or maybe, it's the clipboards. Honda workers walking the floor and examining machinery and product take extensive notes and scribble down numbers to populate a myriad of data charts.
Superior operations. Proactive care and maintenance. A focus on functional flexibility, wellness and reliability. Healthy manufacturing. This is the essence of Honda.
PARTNERS IN RELIABILITY The Honda plant in Lincoln is deserving of high praise, thanks in no small part to its maintenance and reliability prowess. Professionals from several internal and external organizations oversee these duties and ensure that the plant environment is productive and problem-free. The main dissection is between production maintenance and plant services. Production maintenance is responsible for the health of the capital assets that are directly tied to producing automobiles and their V-6 engines. Plant services is responsible for ensuring the health and performance of all of the fixed assets that do not build a car or its components. As plant services division manager Mark LaRue explains, "I'm responsible for new construction, existing buildings, utilities distribution, environmental and general services, which takes into account janitorial, uniforms, pool cars, security and maintaining areas such as the cafeteria, locker rooms and credit union." The combined department functions on an operate-and-maintain structure. "The person who is splitting the air compressor is the same person who is operating the air compressor. We want these people to have that touch-feel to operations and not be disconnected," says LaRue. As a result of this partnership, and the plant's uniform code, it's hard to tell the Honda plant services associates from the contractors.
That's all part of the master plan, says LaRue. "In facilities, and in maintenance for this plant as a whole, we have a motto: 'We want to remove the distractions that take the focus away from building a car,'" he says. "Fundamentally, we are here to make cars. We make money by making cars. Facilities does not. In the scheme of things, you have people who make cars and people who don't. If you don't make cars, you are a support department. So, we take our support very seriously. We want to create a productive environment." Production maintenance ensures that environment by pushing the envelope on uptime, reliability and overall equipment effectiveness. Preventive and predictive techniques are tantamount to delivering assets to production/operations workers that won't break down. Plant services underscores the "environment" in productive environment. "You must have reliable utilities. You must have a comfortable workspace. You must have clean, functional common areas," says LaRue. "If an (assembly line worker) comes into work and it's cold when he hits the line, he's going to be thinking about how cold it is as opposed to how he's doing his process to make a car. We think we have a direct connection to the vehicle." It starts before that employee even enters the building. "When the associates drive into work, we want them to feel like they are coming to a nice place to work," he says. "The landscaping - that's very deliberate. It's not for public image; it's primarily for our associates. They come in. It looks nice and it's clean. That really sets the tone for how we want to be making a vehicle. We remove the distractions."
Plant services consists of 12 Honda employees and approximately 70 contracted associates. BE&K Inc. comprises 45 of the 70 or so contract workers. Additional firms manage, among other things, water treatment facilities and grounds care. "This was new for Honda," says LaRue. "This was the first site that outsourced its facilities maintenance. It's kind of the grand experiment. One of the things that we learned beforehand and also after the fact was that it's very important to keep pushing these different groups together and keep the emphasis on teamwork. Teamwork can't be a buzzword or catchphrase. We have to really, truly be partners. We are partners to the extent that BE&K is integral to our operations on monthly reporting. When we get into the budgeting cycle of the year, they are working to develop budgets." ANALYSIS WHEEL Breakdowns of any sort can be a huge distraction. So, maintenance and plant services at this Honda site minimize the possibility - and, subsequently, the quantity and duration of failures - through various means. One method is the employment of a problem-analysis wheel. The wheel is set into motion following the response to an unforeseen failure event. The first step, or spoke of the wheel, is Problem Analysis. "We get into some pretty detailed problem analysis when we have a failure," says LaRue. "For instance, the chillers in Line 1 shut down simultaneously one day in July. Losing your air conditioning in July in Alabama is not fun. It also factors into the painting process because we supply water there at a certain temperature. If it goes up a few degrees, they can't keep the proper environment and have to shut down." As part of this analysis, the next spoke in the wheel is Emergency Response.
"How was our emergency response? We had a failure, how long did it take?" says LaRue. "In this case, it took us two hours to restart these chillers in a manual mode." In the analysis, it was determined that chiller operators had become dependent on the automatic restarts. Difficulties emerged when they were forced to bring the system up in manual mode. That led to additional response time. The next two spokes are True Root Cause and PM Analysis. "When you are analyzing complex problems, it takes a long time to get to the bottom," says LaRue. "People frequently think they have found the true root cause. They think that, and the problem reoccurs. In this particular case, the true root was ultimately a firmware problem with the PLC. It wasn't anything that we were doing." Root cause findings can lead to the modification of preventive maintenance activities associated with the focus area. The analysis determines the need for alterations, and the group enacts the required revisions. "In this case, we didn't need to make any PM changes," he says. "Had it have been a different type of problem, I think we would have made some." The final spoke is Information Sharing. "We share those findings, that information, throughout Honda," he says. "Within facilities, there is a global connection. I know the managers of all these plants. We discuss, talk, e-mail. We meet twice a year at different regions and different locations. When we have a problem, we think it is absolutely critical to share this information with the other sites. The bigger the issue, the more that you need to share.
"Problems cost you money. They are expensive. If you pay for that lesson in one location, you don't want to pay for it in other locations. You need to get the word out." CLEAN AND GREEN The Honda plant in Lincoln, Ala., is clean and green. Since it began production in 2001, it has been a zero-landfill site. Each year, the site sends zero pounds of trash to the landfill. "We have a very extensive recycling program," says plant services manager Mark LaRue. "That which isn't recycled goes into waste energy. We also look to conserve water and energy. We have some fantastic results with our air emissions. Even things such as the resin sand for low-pressure die casting are recycled and used." DETECT AND DIAGNOSE The Honda plant also works to avoid failures by using high- and low-tech tools, and tons of data. The maintenance and plant services groups have plenty of predictive maintenance technologies at their disposal. They help pinpoint potential issues before they become larger-scale problems. But LaRue also promotes the use of subjective tools and techniques. "You cannot replace the human senses of sight, sound and smell," he says. "So even though we have lots of monitoring and we have lots of readouts, we still have people make physical rounds of the equipment." During a recent walk-around, an associate detected a questionable odor. It turned out to be ozone coming from a switch that was beginning to arc. Plant services was able to make the repair without impacting production. In this subjective system, plant and asset cleanliness plays an important role.
"For us, cleanliness means the equipment is wiped down, there's no oil, there's nothing stacked in between pieces of equipment," he says. "When an associate goes on rounds, he or she can detect a change. If an oil leak starts, the problem is very visible and noticeable. We can get on it and make the repair." In order to track the past, present and future health of the plant and all of its assets, the Alabama team leans heavily on data. "Honda is very much a data-driven organization," says LaRue. "All of the presidents of Honda have been engineers. We are very much an engineering company. So consequently, when you get a bunch of engineers together, they naturally want to look at data." Color-coded reports track everything from safety, environmental, quality, delivery, cost, training and even morale. In the color system, green signifies a standard "good" level, yellow denotes caution and red identifies an issue that needs to be addressed. Deviations are caught quickly. Data is shared and compared with Honda locations around the world. Just the Facts Plant: Honda Manufacturing of Alabama in Lincoln, Ala. The site, which began producing vehicles in November 2001, is located 40 miles east of Birmingham. Plant size: 3.1 million square feet. Site size: 1,350 acres. Plant employment: 4,500 employees. Products: Honda Odyssey minivan, Honda Pilot SUV and V-6 engines. The plant has an annual production capacity of 300,000 vehicles and V-6 engines. Operations: Stamping, welding, painting, plastic injection molding, casting, machining, assembly and subassembly, engine assembly, testing, and quality assurance.
FYI: On November 3, the plant marked the production of its 1 millionth Honda vehicle and engine. THE RIGHT ATTITUDE A well-known quote from company founder Soichiro Honda goes, "Superior products don't result from an attitude that allows disarray, untidiness and uncleanliness in the work environment." With physician-like diagnosis skills and surgeon-like precision, the maintenance and plant services personnel at Honda's Lincoln, Ala., location target elements of disarray, untidiness and uncleanliness, and remove all of these distractions. The end result is a winning attitude and an environment that is productive and efficient, organized and reliable. Healthy manufacturing. This is the essence of Honda.
Enterprise Strategy The Mission Statement of Honda is try to maintain a global point of view, with the dedication to supply the highest quality products at a reasonable price for worldwide customer satisfaction. Moreover, taking new challenges with the pursuit of Initiative, Technology and Quality, Honda is pursuing their 2010 Vision: Striving to be a company society wants to exist through creating new value, globalization, and commitment for the future. Corporate Strategy Automobile Industry ± Superior Fuel economy ± Optimum safety ± Driving Pleasure ± World wide Motorcycle Industry ± Build product close to customer ± 28 plant, 21 countries, R&D 6 countries Power Business ± First business of Honda ± Expanded ± 11 plant, 9 countries, sold 156 countries, used by 5.5M people ± ASIMO ± Honda jet Business Strategy R&D System ± Approach: Durability Reliability Focus Foundation ± Dimensions: Economical Environmental Social Issues Globalization Characteristic
Business Strategy ³The Joy of Selling´ - Dealership ± Create inspiring experience for its customers ± Response to changing value ± Increasingly complicated needs of customers ± => Improve customer relations Friendly and attentive sales Responsive service support Thorough maintenance and repair ± => ³Life with Honda´ Operational Strategy Divide 6 administrative regional group Pursue independence of local management and sales operations Operate under conduct guidelines => keep evaluating and risk managing High level of transparency Individual Strategy ³The Three Joy´ ± The Joy of buying ± The Joy of Selling Not only relationship But feel pride by positive relationship ± The Joy of Producing Pride in exceeding the customer expectation Organizational Process ± Organization culture ± Innovation Management Organization culture Respects for the Individual and The Three Joys ³Respects for the Individual´ Initiative: Encouraging creative thinking Equality: Fairly treating. Trust: Good relationship between employees The Three Joys´ The Joy of Buying The Joy of Selling The Joy of Producing Innovation Management Developing new technologies of manufacturing system Building environmentally responsible and people-friendly plants. Managing People Managing people Environmental training Ensuring diversity in employment Environmental training Part of Honda¶s training curriculum Deepen associates¶ understanding about Honda¶s policy toward environmental Training programs are continuously provided to associates Promote activities focusing on energy and resource conservation and recycling
Ensuring diversity in employment Provide human rights education, based on Honda¶s principal of respect for individual Opendoor employment policy, hiring based on individual merit Employ people with disabilities Reemploy retirees, create opportunities for those who reach the retirement age of 60.
