11.01.07
Honda’s First U.S. Auto Plant Celebrates 25 Years of Production
The first Japanese auto plant to build a car in America1 turns 25 today, marking
a milestone that brought innovation to the U.S. auto industry and vaulted Honda
(www.honda.com) to a leadership position. The 5,300 associates at Honda’s
Marysville Auto Plant will not miss a beat as they spend the day building more
than 1,800 cars and light trucks. Later this month, they will hit another milestone
- production of the plant’s nine-millionth vehicle.
Associates recently launched the eighth-generation Honda Accord at the plant.
The Accord was the plant’s first vehicle and it remains the plant’s
core product. The U.S. is the most important market for the Accord by far, with
sales of more than 300,000 units through September, mostly built in the Marysville
Auto Plant. Nearly 80 percent of all Honda and Acura vehicles sold in America
are built at one of Honda’s six auto plants in North America.
At 25 years, the Marysville plant and its associates continue as a driving
force for Honda and the auto industry. Honda brought its unique brand of teamwork
and associate involvement to manufacturing when it established Honda of America
Mfg., Inc. near Marysville to begin motorcycle manufacturing in 1979. Success
of that startup quickly led that same year to the bold decision to build an
auto plant as well. At the time, the company was still a relative newcomer to
the automobile business and only a fraction the size of Japan’s established
automakers.
“People are always asking why Honda has been so successful,” said
Honda of America President Akio Hamada. “The answer is simple: our associates.
Their involvement and teamwork to achieve the highest quality for our customers
and improve our operations have continuously driven us forward to higher levels
and greater achievements.”
Honda’s approach to auto manufacturing was new to America with a foundation
built on customer satisfaction, a high level of teamwork and a passion for overcoming
challenges. The Marysville plant introduced many new concepts to the U.S. auto
industry, including just-in-time parts delivery, quick die changes in metal
stamping, rolling model changes to launch new vehicles without stopping production
and a high level of flexible model production.
Honda’s automotive experience in Ohio became the model for Honda globally,
Hamada said, in terms of local production, developing a local supplier network
and recognizing the importance of working closely with communities. “We
have been building cars in Ohio since 1982,” he said. “This has
been possible because we have grown together with communities like Marysville.”
As the first Accord sedans began rolling off the line Nov. 1, 1982, Honda
associates who were building cars in small numbers with nearly identical content
and in only a few colors also had little manufacturing experience. In the last
two months of 1982, fewer than 1,000 Accords were produced as the associates
focused on mastering their car-building skills. By the end of 1982, they were
making 160 cars per day.
The Accord was a much simpler product then, said Tim Hines, who was among
the first associates at the auto plant. “While getting ready for mass
production, we were producing maybe six cars per day, really focusing on assuring
quality on every part of the vehicles,” Hines said. “Those were
perfect cars, because we were learning to build quality first, and then the
product.”
Today, the Marysville plant has the capacity to build 440,000 vehicles per
year on two lines. Exercising the flexibility to build multiple models on the
production line, associates have now added production of light trucks. In addition
to the Accord sedan and coupe, they build the Acura TL luxury sedan, and the
Acura RDX sport utility vehicle.
“The Marysville Auto Plant may be 25 years old on the outside, but it
is a new plant on the inside,” said Plant Manager Sam Harpest. “It
has always been changing, and there isn’t a more flexible plant in the
industry with our level of quality and productivity.”
At one point during the launch of the ‘08 Accord sedan and coupe, production
of the old and new models overlapped during the transition. “To the credit
of our associates, this team carried out the most complicated model launch in
our history,” Harpest said. “No other plant in America has the flexibility
and experienced workforce to build six different vehicles at the same time.
The Marysville plant validated Honda’s philosophy to design, engineer
and manufacture products close to the customer. Building on its success in Marysville,
Honda has continued establishing plants in North America and the world to meet
demand for unique products by building them locally in each region.
Today, Honda operates six auto plants in North America and a seventh, located
in Indiana, will begin operations in fall 2008. The additional production of
200,000 Civics per year at that plant will help boost Honda’s total North American
automobile production capacity to more than 1.6 million units in 2008, employment
in North America to more than 37,000 associates and capital investment in North
America to more than $9 billion. Honda annually purchases more than $17.6 billion
in parts and materials from U.S. suppliers.
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