Honda new plant begins operation, will export motorcycles globally

KUALA LUMPUR: Honda has begun operating in its newest plant which is based in Gujarat, India. As per Honda, the facility will concentrate on manufacturing 250 cc engines and above for the global market.

Although the engine details are scarce, the new manufacturing facility will meet the increasing demand of several markets like South East Asia, the United States, Europe, Japan, Canada, and Australia. Production for the first year is set at 50,000 units and it will be scaled up further as per demand.

Atsushi Ogata, Managing Director, President & CEO, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt. Ltd. said, "As demand for mobility rises globally, Honda envisions further expansion of its exports footprint across the world. With the introduction of BS VI norms in India, we are a step closer to achieving this vision. Building products which are at par with global standards of manufacturing, this new expansion will allow HMSI to develop production capabilities to strengthen our direction of make in India, for the world."

Ichiro Shimokawa, Chief Production Officer & Director, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt. Ltd. revealed a tad-bit of details at the inaugural ceremony saying, "With the global engine line-off today, HMSI will take its current export capacity to new heights both in terms of markets as well as global quality standards. As part of this expansion, we are introducing special processes across various manufacturing stages like machining, and engine assembly & advanced storage systems. Building the capability from the ground up, best-in-class technology along with highly skilled manpower will ensure top quality standards. Starting off with close to 50,000 engine units in the first year, our aim is to further scale up as per market demand."

The new plant, as per Honda, will address the current production standard issue by employing best practices and standardized technologies - it includes the Engine assembly process and Machining process. While the former includes 100 percent Torque Recording, Precision-based laser marking for the mills, Advanced Firing bench for engine testing, 100 percent Part Traceability, and Vertical Carousels based advanced storage system. The latter includes a digital quality management system, an e-Daily Management System for 100 percent Traceability of Parts and Processes.

Overall, Honda’s new plant will see the brand push out more midsize engines that shall hit the road soon.

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