Honda Rebuilds Its Way Out of Trouble

A catastrophic casting failure occurred in November 1997 at Honda of America's Marysville, OH auto plant. It happened on a 3000-tonner, one of its six big HPM hydraulic injection machines for molding 10- to 12-lb front and rear bumper fascias. This disaster could have almost doubled part costs to $200,000 to $300,000 a month if Honda had to outsource bumper production to match the 1100-parts-per-day capacity of its lost machine.

Honda runs 24-5, sometimes 24-6, and it inventories less than one day's worth of production. "Every one of our machines is up all the time," says Honda associate Jack Bilotta. "We wanted to recover as quickly as possible." Honda needed a replacement and it figured it had an eight-week window in which to find one. Things were looking mighty dark in Marysville.

Then Honda learned that one member of its team of 180 trusted suppliers in Ohio had just gotten hold of two used 3500-ton HPM hydraulics. That team member was the HPM Remanufacturing Div. (HPM-R) in nearby Marion, OH. In a trade of sorts involving nine new machines and one rebuilt press, HPM-R had acquired the two machines from an HPM customer, McKechnie Plastic Components (Easley, SC). McKechnie wanted to unload its machines. Honda needed them. It was a match made in heaven.

But time was running out. The logistics were difficult, and complicated purchasing decisions had to be made. Fortunately, working miracles is nothing new to Honda, or to HPM-R. Discussions began in mid-December and the POs were issued by January 7 - it took less than two weeks to close the deal. The first run-off at HPM-R was in late February. Shipping and setup in Marysville for the first press began during the first week of March, and the second 3500-tonner - you could call it a spare - was also in production by March 10.

Miracle Workers

Since beginning motorcycle production in 1979 and automobile production in 1982 in Marysville, Honda has had a significant impact on the economy of Ohio and on the rest of the U.S., on the shape of the automotive industry and on the molding business, as well. Through 1996, Honda's capital investment totaled more than $3.5 billion. It has purchased more than $5.3 billion in parts and materials. It employs more than 13,000, and Honda companies in the U.S. have paid more than $4 billion in local, state, and federal taxes.

It's also produced more than 5.5 million U.S.-made automobiles, more than 1.2 million U.S.-made motorcycles and ATVs, and more than 1 million U.S.-made lawnmowers with 90 percent of the parts and materials from local suppliers. Honda has helped Ohio become the second biggest automaking state in the U.S.

David W. Troutman, vice president and general manager of HPM-R, explains that his company has been involved in providing service support to the Marysville plant for the last four years. "We have no real products here," Troutman says. "We're in the service business. You give me your old machine and I will make it better. The HPM hydraulics Honda originally bought were the most sophisticated machines of their day, what with Maco 8000 controls, automatic mold loaders between two machines for 10-minute mold changes, and all the rest. But their machines now are more than 10 years old, each approaching some 4 million cycles."

Solving the Honda crisis in the short amount of time allotted is just the nature of his business, Troutman says. What impressed him most was what he calls the superior operating style of Honda's team approach to decision making. "We had our planning meetings with about 15 people and all were shop floor or engineering-level people."

"I don't believe we had a single meeting that lasted more than an hour," Honda's Bilotta recalls. "The people who needed to make the decisions were right there."

All the detailed technical and financial planning was done up front, so the Honda associate in charge of making the final decision was presented with a thoroughly detailed game plan. It may have been providence that presented the way out of the crisis, but it took teamwork to make the miracle happen.

Miracle Accomplishments

The 3500-ton machines HPM-R acquired from McKechnie were in very good shape, one with 4600 hours and one with 6600 hours. Both had 600-oz shooters, and were equipped with HPM Command 9000 controls, Automated Assemblies robots, and Kona hot runners. To save time, the first machine was rebuilt and dry cycled at HPM-R in Marion for Honda personnel run-off before being dismantled for shipment and installation at Honda. The second was reassembled and modified at Honda during installation. Each machine was shipped on 12 to 13 trucks (furnished by HPM-R), and HPM-R provided a one-year warranty on the equipment. The machines were in good shape, but they weren't Honda TPO bumper fascia molding machines. They were originally designed for molding PP. So a few alterations like the following needed be made to run Honda's 25-ton molds.

Risers. The 3500-ton machines had lower profiles than Honda's existing 3000-tonners. It was necessary to modify the horizontal centerline height of the 3500-tonners to meet the height of Honda's mold loader table. So, 9 1/4-inch box-section weldments for the clamp and injection units with leveling lugs were added. No modifications were required to the foundation for the machines that Honda designed, dug, and poured in nine days. The riser plan was subsequently modified and increased to 24 inches high, providing an additional 143/4 inches to the drop zones on the 3500-tonners to accommodate wider bumper fascias for new Honda product lines.

Mold loaders. Since the OEM vertical centerlines of the 3500-tonners, 741/2 inches, had to be raised for a larger drop zone, Honda's mold loaders also had to be raised up to 981/2 inches with the addition of 143/4-inch box-section risers. Power control cabinets were relocated from Honda's existing independent electrical enclosures running along a wall to the mold loaders, so new wire runs were required. Plates on both molding machines were drilled for QMC clamps provided by HPM-R in the same location and arrangements as on the existing 3000-tonners.

Gate modifications and injection swivel. Safety gates on the 3500-tonners had to be modified to accommodate the requirement of one machine being located on the right-hand side of the mold loader and one on the left-hand side. One machine's operator panel had to be moved for this "mirror" configuration. And the injection unit swivel arrangement on one machine also had to be modified to swivel toward the new operator's side of the machine.

Machine control and hot runners. Honda molds its bumpers using the low-pressure, sequential valve-gate method. HPM-R supplied a 20-zone D-M-E hot runner control system for Mold-Masters valve-gate hot runners. All temperature settings are set and stored through SPI Communications Protocol interfacing with the 3500s' new controllers - Allen-Bradley Pro-Set 700s. Honda has standardized on Allen-Bradley controllers and traded in the existing Command 9000s and related components on the 3500-ton machines.

Additional control-related components required include the following: Temposonic linear transducers for the clamp, ejector, and injection unit; two Dynisco pressure transducers; and three photocell sensor assemblies from Honda.

Other modifications. The existing 3000-ton machines have four sets of cores. Two additional sets of cores were required on the 3500-tonners. To be assured of sufficient hydraulic supply, an additional 60-hp motor with two 42 gal/min pumps was required. HPM-R supplied all the necessary 1997 safety standard updates, knockout patterns, and platforms. It also modified the stationary plates and die locating rings, additional power factor corrections, gear pumps and motors, and ejector knockout rods. Auxiliary conveyor receptacle and electrical enclosure assemblies were also provided, as were operator platform modifications.