Even Before Foundation, Honda was a Lab for Products
and How to Make Them
In October 1946, Honda Technical Research Institute, the predecessor of Honda Motor Co., Ltd., began producing auxiliary engines for bicycles in Yamashita, Hamamatsu City. Initially, the engines were manufactured by converting power generator engines for the former Imperial Army’s wireless radios, but the company also proceeded with its own research and prototyping, and in November 1947, the following year, production of Honda’s first original product, the A-Type auxiliary bicycle engine, began. This was the beginning of Honda’s quest for “what kind of product” would please customers and “how to make it” in a rational manner with good quality.
Honda Technical Research Institute’s approach to production was based on the philosophy of knowing what kind of production methods were best for making good products, making the necessary tools themselves, dealing with defects immediately, and making arrangements that would always produce the best products. In other words, in addition to product design and prototyping, Honda Technical Research Institute designed and manufactured die-casting dies, painting equipment, assembly conveyors, processing jigs, inspection jigs, and mass-produced high-precision parts. It was a lab for product development and how to make them.
Sales of the Model A were strong, and with the idea of delivering better products to more customers as quickly as possible, Honda established an engine assembly plant in Noguchi, Hamamatsu City in February 1948. Although it was an oversized facility considering the production volume at the time, a conveyor belt line was introduced to reflect Soichiro Honda’s dream for the future. In September 1948, Honda Motor Co., Ltd. was established.
Honda’s Noguchi Plant for engine assembly, established in Noguchi, Hamamatsu City
To Create Competitive Products
Honda Creates its Own Machines and Tools
In the 1950s, Honda was already on the path to becoming the top manufacturer of motorcycles in Japan: in May 1953, the first phase of construction of the Yamato Plant (later the Wako Building) was completed, and in July of the same year, the Shirako Plant (later the Shirako Building) was built, and collectively became the Saitama Factory. The following year, in 1954, the Aoi Plant in Hamamatsu (later the Hamamatsu Factory of the Transmission Manufacturing Department, Production Control, Automobile Operations) also began operations. Initially, in order to secure more effective machine processing at the plants, their respective Die&Machinery divisions were intended to produce jigs and modify machines to meet the target specifications. These functions soon expanded, and by 1956, they were already developing original machines to process modular components such as cylinder heads and crankcases.
In June 1956, a joint project team of Saitama Factory and Hamamatsu Factory planned the HUM (Honda Universal Machine), a high-precision, high-efficiency machining table that would enable the production of multiple engine models with a single machine. The HUM was a revolutionary machining table that solved the problems of multiple-model production, high-accuracy stability, and short setup time, which had been considered difficult to achieve in the past, by changing the multi-axis gang head*1 (cutting tool) and jig together as a single unit.
HUM machine, a processing machine planned and manufactured by Honda
“There weren’t many manufacturers of general machine tools at that time who really understood Honda’s manufacturing philosophy," said Hiroshi Tanabe, who was then assistant manager of Hamamatsu Factory’s Production Engineering Section. “So, we often had a hard time negotiating prices and delivery schedules. Even so, Mr. Honda believed we couldn’t become a competitive manufacturer unless we had the ability to build our own processing machines.”
Several changes had in fact been introduced during the pre-production line. In those days it was normal for each of the processes on the line to be broken down into a series of steps, simplifying the operations within the processes, increasing the speed of the line and overall efficiency of mass production. However, this approach, had the disadvantages of a lower capacity utilization rate due to fluctuations in the number of units produced and the need for a large number of man-hours to respond to changes in the production model. Therefore, Honda adopted a “one-chuck, multidirectional simultaneous processing,” in which many machining processes are included in a single process, thus consolidating processes and reducing the number of machining stations.
Eventually, that machine led to the dedicated four-direction horizontal turning machine developed for the Benly C90’s high-performance 4-stroke OHC 2-cylinder engine, and then to the dedicated five-direction drum-turning machine for mass production of Super Cub C100’s engines.
The Super Cub C100 completed at Saitama Factory in July 1958 was an instant hit upon its release the following month, generating record sales. In 1960, based on the projected demand for the Super Cub, a new plant was built in Suzuka City, Mie Prefecture, as a new mass production base for the Super Cub, which began operations in April as the Suzuka Factory.
- A box-shaped interchangeable unit with a number of cutting tools such as drills
The Birth of the Manufacturing Machinery Factory
In September 1962, Honda reorganized the Die&Machinery Division of the Saitama Factory’s Shirako Plant as an independent Die&Machinery Factory, to build the processing machines and facilities that would optimize the company’s overall process of manufacturing.
“With the processing machines and facilities, it was our objective to increase Honda’s competitiveness in terms of production,” said Shigemasa Suzuki, then manager of the factory’s First Tooling Section. “We were told that the processing machines we were making didn’t have to be effective outside Honda. Kiyoshi Kawashima, who was the assistant manager of Saitama Factory, would even tell us not to design general-purpose machines. I assumed he wanted us to design efficient, highly cost-effective machines, and that of course those kinds of things wouldn’t be available from outside providers.”
Once Honda later entered the automobile business, the Die&Machinery Factory began studying a new processing machine for cylinder heads, the parts that required the most processing steps. One of the important requirements in developing such a machine was the incorporation of a space-saving design that would facilitate more effective use of production space. It was necessary because Honda’s automobiles were still being made at the motorcycle production plant. Based on the idea of a rotary system, the Manufacturing Machinery factory completed a single-chuck machine capable of performing what normally would have taken seven dedicated machines to do.
Honda Reishauer gear-grinding machine of 10 units under a technical cooperation agreement with Reishauer.
In 1963, Honda began the production of stamped parts, such as the chassis and bonnets, for its T360 k-truck and Honda Sports S500 at Suzuka, which were supplied to Saitama and Hamamatsu. Then in March 1964, the Hamamatsu facility began production of the S500 replacement, the S600.
However, to prevent gear noise from the S600’s high-revving, high-output engine, an increase in precision would be needed. Accordingly, the Die&Machinery Factory had been busily conducting research into high-precision machinery, in addition to the design and manufacturing of dedicated production machines. However, to meet the S600’s target mass-production launch, the factory contacted Reishauer in Switzerland, a leading manufacturer in the field, to build dedicated gear-grinding machines. When it later discovered that the delivery schedule couldn’t be met, the Manufacturing Machinery factory quickly formed a technological partnership with the Swiss company to manufacture ten units, and these became known as Honda Reishauer gear-grinding machines. However, it was difficult to achieve the desired quality even when assembled according to the plans, and it was only after much hard work through trial and error that the product was completed. This was a reminder of the importance of accumulating know-how in establishing production technology for automobiles.
At the same time, Honda was already at the peak of its capacity to produce automobiles. At Saitama, Hamamatsu, and Suzuka factories, which were sharing the responsibilities of production, the growing numbers of automobile parts began having an effect on the production of motorcycles, the company’s chief product line. Accordingly, Honda decided it would use the land it had purchased at the Kawagoe/Sayama Industrial Park in Saitama Prefecture. Construction of an automobile plant and die&machinery facility began in May 1964, the Sayama Factory (later Saitama Factory’s Sayama Plant) was complete. In November that year, Die&Machinery Factory was moved from Shirako to Sayama, and operation began. By December, S600 coupes were being produced at the Sayama Factory’s automobile assembly line.
S600 Coupe produced on the assembly line at Sayama Factory, manufactured in a limited edition
Honda separated Sayama Factory’s Die&Machinery Plant, and established it as Honda Machinery Co., Ltd.,*2 on September 1, 1970, as the company’s manufacturing facility and development design production company.
“Honda Machinery was established as an independent company so that it could create new processing methods based on free thinking and develop useful machinery incorporating those methods,” said Kiyoshi Kawashima, the new company’s director as well as then senior managing director of Honda Motor. “We also wanted the company to become a full-fledged manufacturer of dedicated production machines, which it will sell to customers outside the Honda organization.”
“Looking into the future, we didn’t want the company to remain simply a manufacturer of machine tools. The underlying concept was that it would eventually provide ‘engineering services.’ By that I mean the integrated services that combined the processing methods and production technologies it had developed.”
EG was established in 1974 to improve Honda’s production competitiveness by conducting research and development of production technology.
At this time, Honda Machinery was without production technology development functions, and did not conduct mold fabrication. Its primary role was the design and fabrication of engine parts processing equipment and welding equipment at the request of Honda’s Engineering Division. Later, in response to the expansion and strengthening of the Honda R&D in November 1973, Honda Machinery and the Production Engineering Division (body, machining, and plastic forming technology offices) were integrated to increase efficiency by bringing together the production engineering and setup departments, and Honda Engineering Co., Ltd. (EG)*3 was established on July 1, 1974. The DE system was also launched, in which D (Development) and E (Engineering Production) departments collaborated to promote the development of higher-precision, higher-quality products with greater efficiency. This development flow has taken root today as a development system that produces competitive commercial production technologies that are deployed globally.
- Established in 1970 to strengthen Honda’s production system
- Established in 1974 to raise Honda’s production competitiveness and conduct production technology R&D, by merging Honda Machinery with the Production Engineering Division. In 2020, some production technology R&D functions were transferred to Honda R&D. Its automobile production technology development and facility manufacturing functions were absorbed into Honda’s Automobile Operations.
Late to the Automobile Market, But Highly Competitive
with Wisdom and Technology
In order to make a full-scale entry into the passenger car market, Honda added a new line to its Suzuka Factory’s automobile plant in conjunction with the development of the Honda 1300 compact car and proceeded with preparations for production facilities. Until then, however, Honda vehicles had been built differently for each model type, such as k-trucks, sports cars, and minivans. Honda had not yet established a method for manufacturing vehicle bodies composed of thin sheets, and it was a continuous process of trial and error, including the body structure.
Honda conducted a survey of car body manufacturing practices in the world’s automobile manufacturers. At that time, major manufacturers around the world, including Japan, usually produced one model at one plant. This production system had the advantage of cost reduction through mass production. On the other hand, the dedicated production line required large capital investment and long setup time when introducing a new model. Honda, on the other hand, was making its entry into the highly competitive small passenger car market, and decided that it would be difficult to operate a single plant at full capacity for just one model. In anticipation of future model additions, it was necessary to develop a general welder (GW) that could produce multiple models on the same line, even for different body shapes and models, such as sedans and coupes.
The system needed to be easy to switch models, that the investment in a new model should be inexpensive, and that it should be able to automate welding and produce high-precision bodies. In addition, the production capacity was set at 400 units per 8-hour shift.
The new GW system employed the slide GW method used in the production of the N360, in which five pieces (floor, right side panel, left side panel, roof, and dashboard) are automatically positioned after being fed into the machine using a rough set method, enabling automatic welding. At the same time, automatic spot welding is used to join the roof panel and rear pillar, eliminating plasma welding and soldering.
The GW was divided into a main body and a jig section. The main body section is shared by all models, and the jig section is dedicated to each model, making it possible to support different models by simply changing the jig. The jig can be exchanged in about 10 minutes by using a jig-changing cart. This is how the 1300 GW was completed.
Honda developed a comprehensive welding machine capable of producing multiple models on the same line, and introduced it into the production of the Honda 1300.
Manufacturing Machining Equipment
for Motorcycle Engine Parts
Aiming for Ultimate Flexibility
Since its foundation, Honda has been promoting process integration through multi-axis simultaneous machining and minimization of cycle time, through means such as manufacturing HUM machines as machining equipment for modular components such as cylinder heads and crankcases in engine production. In addition, Honda also promoted labor saving by automating workpiece loading/unloading and transferring. This was an efficient system in terms of quality and productivity for high-volume production of a single engine model.
However, the production lines to date had been planned and designed exclusively for each model, and for a long time, the machines themselves had to be newly manufactured or extensively remodeled each time a new model was launched.
From the late 1960s to the early 1970s, in order to produce multiple models, a combined line was considered in which the common machining parts of the workpieces were done on dedicated machines, and the parts that differed by model were machined on CNC units*4. However, it was inefficient to machine modular components, which require dozens of machining operations per side, one axis at a time, and a large investment was required to install a large number of CNC machines.
By the mid-1970s, people’s lifestyles were becoming more individualized, and this trend was evident in the needs for motorcycles. Honda urgently needed to enhance the variety of its motorcycles, and this necessitated the immediate establishment of a new production system for engine modular components that could accommodate a wide variety of production. The new production system could not be based on conventional production equipment centered on specialized machines, but needed a high degree of freedom and flexibility to respond to a wide variety of machining requirements.
In February 1974, Honda Machinery’s R&D department began researching the module center as a new machining center for modular components. Research continued for more than a year and a half, but the final evaluation showed that the machine did not offer sufficient prospects for reliability and cost as a practical machine. The CNC-controlled motor that controls the rotation and feed of the gang head, the core technology of the module center, was still at the R&D stage even for dedicated manufacturers, and the hurdles to practical application were high for Honda, which was taking on the new challenge.
At the technical evaluation meeting held in November 1975, a change of direction was indicated in the development of the module center. The purpose and application was to switch from high-diversity, low-volume production to high-diversity, high-volume production, and to quickly determine whether it would be feasible to replace existing motors, gear trains, and other known technologies developed for specialized machines. The theme was renamed as “research on modular machines.”
The team was also reinforced by the inclusion of designers of mass-production machines for engine and transmission parts, as well as planners for machining lines for engine parts. In addition, specific requirements were set for actual mass production, such as achieving cycle time and reliability equivalent to that of a dedicated machine line, and improving flexibility and return on investment as a machining line. In December of the same year, the research phase of the module machine was completed, and development moved toward mass production application.
The following February 1976, Honda introduced the 50cc Road Pal, which became a huge hit and triggered a family bike boom. In order to regain ground in the struggling motorcycle market, Honda decided to pursue a strategy of introducing more new models. Naturally, a flexible production system was required as soon as possible.
Modular machine developed to realize a flexible production system
In July of the same year, the prototype module machine was finally completed and installed at the Hamamatsu Factory for monitored operation*5 in preparation of mass production. During the monitored operation, the hydraulic cylinder temperature rose, the feed speed changed, and other problems occurred, sometimes disrupting the production line, but the Hamamatsu Factory’s associates and EG development team worked to solve the problems while getting covered in oil. The development of the module machine was completed.
In February 1978, a line incorporating a module machine was installed at the Saitama Factory’s Wako Plant for machining cylinder heads and crankcases of large motorcycle engines, followed by the introduction of stand-alone module machines at the Kumamoto Factory in February 1979 and the Hamamatsu Factory in August.
EG subsequently developed various functional modules to further increase the efficiency of the modular machine, including a jig base for setting workpieces as a processing station, a transfer system, and an automatic gang head changer. The jig base had been expanded to include more variations to enable processing of various workpieces in multiple directions. The transfer system increased production capacity by about 30%, and the automatic gang head changer enabled mixed production of up to eight engine models, up from a maximum of four. The FMS (Flexible Manufacturing System) with automated model setup was complete.
In November 1981, a modular transfer line for cylinder heads and crankcases was launched at the Hamamatsu Factory, and in 1982, eight new lines were put into operation. From 1979 to 1983, when Honda and Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. were engaged in a fierce competition for new models, Honda not only had responded immediately to the super-mixing of motorcycle engines, but also demonstrated its flexibility in the production of automobile engines from 1983 onward, realizing mixed production of inline 4-cylinder and V6 engines.
- Computerized Numerical Control Machine, numerically controls machining path to the workpiece and other necessary work conditions for machining.
- Equipment installed in actual mass production line to test capabilities and faults.
Module transfer line, used not only for engine production for motorcycles, but for automobiles since 1983.
Global Renewal of Welding Lines
To Achieve Homogeneous Quality Everywhere
In the 1990s, when Honda expanded its production bases in line with the global expansion of its automobile business, each base was producing a variety of models to meet the needs of each region. In Japan, Honda began to produce the Odyssey, CR-V, and other models in the minivan and SUV categories, which had not been produced by Honda up to that time, in the U.S., the ACURA CL and US Odyssey were being produced, and in Asia, the City, and other models were produced.
As a result, however, manufacturing with different systems and processes at each plant became entrenched. Honda decided to make a major shift in its production system, judging that if this trend continued, it would develop into a critical problem, requiring a large amount of investment each time a new model was launched, leading to a decline in cost competitiveness.
In 2001, the ‘01 Taikai’ [2001 Structure Reform] project was launched, a joint effort by the Production Planning and EG to reform the company’s structure. The main focus of the project was to reform the welding line, because in the compact line, multi-model production system that Honda had independently evolved, the car body welding line, where the main equipment in the production process was concentrated, was also a major factor driving up costs.
First, for electric robots, the decision was made to introduce robots from a specialized equipment manufacturer. The EG-made robots that had been developed up to that point were compact and competitive, using their own controllers that could also control DC welding functions, but the decision was made to use commercially available electric robots because of the rapid evolution of their reduction gears, motors, and controls, which made them compact and highly reliable.
Furthermore, the conventional spot welding system, in which multiple points are welded simultaneously by a small number of robots and TT jig functions (table-top fixed spot welding equipment and jigs), had evolved into a high-density system in which a large number of robots could weld multiple points in succession, each robot operating at high speed and without interference. This realized lighter equipment by separating the side panel (sub) joining process from the SMGW (submain general welding machine) process, which is the main process of the welding line, and by eliminating the TT jig function from the SMGW, which significantly reduces costs and improves maintainability. The new process was highly versatile with the use of robots.
In this way, Honda had built a light, compact, and flexible production line that can accommodate multiple models by minimizing the number of dedicated parts for each model in the production equipment. This production line was then deployed not only in Japan but also in other global locations, making it possible to simultaneously launch production lines capable of producing the same quality products.
