When introducing a new model, most manufacturers
provide reams of technical specifications and
explain the benefits of change.Yet another story
hovers behind the scenes when a completely new
motorcycle makes the trip from a clean-sheet design
to the dealer's showroom floor. In the case of the
2001 GL1800 Gold Wing, this amazingly complex
journey is known only to the cadre of engineers who,
working together with the new model team and key
manufacturing associates and suppliers, orchestrate
the production of the new model.
The significance of manufacturing and production
efficiency, economy--and quality--cannot be
overemphasized. Without them, the most
technologically brilliant motorcycle designs would
not be affordable for mass production.
The saga of the 2001 GL1800 Gold Wing's
production-line journey is especially important. For
more than 20 years, only Honda of America
Manufacturing's (HAM) Marysville Motorcycle Plant (MMP)
has produced Gold Wings from domestically and
globally sourced parts. Since the beginning, the
touchstones of quality and durability have served as
the Gold Wing's stock in trade.
NEW GOALS FOR A NEW MODEL
Previous Gold Wing models have established
long-standing benchmarks for fit and finish. With
the new GL1800 Gold Wing, Honda has raised the
bar again. Finding the means to accomplish this
lofty task would prove far more difficult than it
might seem, especially given the remarkable history
of the Gold Wing in America.
The MMP was built specifically to produce
motorcycles at a time when consumer confidence in
American-built products was at its lowest. It was
absolutely crucial the MMP produce Gold Wings to the
very highest standards of quality and durability
associated with Honda-built models. Failure to do so
would have crippled Honda's reputation, to the
extent that the company could never have followed
the construction of the $35 million motorcycle plant
with a $250 million auto plant in America. Happily,
HAM's American success story is now a matter of
record.
Increasing the production quality of the new Gold
Wing provided many challenges. First, while quality
was imperative, cycle time--the time it takes to
build a motorcycle on the production line--was also
important. The longer the cycle time, the more the
model costs in terms of man-hours.
Second, designers are not specialists in the
detailed art of manufacturing. As a result, if a
newly designed part is of higher quality--but is
also more expensive to make or takes longer to
install on the production line--something, somewhere
has to give.
Keep in mind that Gold Wing is the most complex
motorcycle Honda builds, with the kind of
technologically advanced components found in a Honda
automobile--yet it must be built to about
one-quarter the size. Building the Gold Wing also
requires a great deal of handwork. Frames are welded
exclusively by hand, and engines are built one at a
time.
Simply gearing up to produce a new model,
especially a flagship such as the Gold Wing, is a
daunting task. As John "Turk" Michel, engineering
subproject leader for the Gold Wing said, "To build
the GL1800, everything had to be changed, from
methodology to human resources, plus production
methods and equipment."
The weld shop, for instance, added two new bays
and 16 welding machines to handle the Gold Wing's
aluminum frame. The paint shop needed entirely new
fixtures to hang plastic body parts for painting.
And for the motorcycle itself, 14 new sets of dies
were created to make 23 body parts. MMP bought a new
chassis dyno for the end of the production line, one
that could accommodate the quality check for the
Gold Wing's anti-lock brake system (ABS). Many
associates from Marysville made trips to Honda's
Hamamatsu facility in Japan, where Honda motorcycles
are built. While there, these associates helped
confirm manufacturing processes and, upon their
return, they trained MMP associates to build the new
Gold Wing.
THE KEY TO SUCCESS: FIT AND FINISH
A few crucial elements contributed to the final
success of the GL1800's production. Tom Briggs,
engineering project leader for the Gold Wing, says,
"Probably the single highest impact activity we had
going for the project was the establishment of what
we call a Fit Team. That's a team of U.S. and Japan
Honda associates whose sole responsibility was to
engineer the fit and finish of this motorcycle. When
we build up a unit, they take a look at gap space
and flushness, and if it's excessive they determine
the problem--whether it has to do with
specification, the engineering drawing, a
manufacturing problem or an assembly problem.
Then they worked with the departments and
suppliers to determine the best solution."
Steve Carter, Fit Team co-leader, says, "Our
primary focus is basically on what the customer is
going to see--all the fit and finish of those
components. But we also look at the production side
of it, to make it easier for the associate to build
the GL on-line with the best quality. Basically, we
look at the Gold Wing as being the Acura of the
motorcycle side."
How seriously did Carter and his team take their
job? As an example, for the button that opens the
left-side fairing pocket, the team spent uncounted
hours with the supplier testing and prototyping
designs of the mechanism to get the right control
feel. Getting the plastic fuel cap cover to sit flat
and snap shut correctly in accordance with the GL's
uncompromising specifications took the same zealous
dedication from this team.
"The issue of fit and finish was so important
that for the first time ever, a Quality Project
Leader [QPL], Eric Hanson, was assigned specifically
to the project." Briggs adds, "Eric has been
immensely important to the success of this project."
Another key to success has been Honda of
America's history of actively soliciting input from
its associates with the goal of implementing changes
to the production process to improve such things as
fit and finish, efficiency and safety. As the mass
production launch date approached for the new Gold
Wing, associates generated suggested changes over
the course of preparing the GL for production and
during several different off-line build events. The
majority of these changes, as part of the process to
prepare for mass production, came directly from
HAM's MMP associates connected with assembly on the
production line. "And," as QPL Hanson says, "of the
many items, I'd guess probably 30 to 40 percent of
them were Fit Team related."
On a motorcycle as important as the Gold Wing,
such actions demonstrate the associates' unwavering
commitment to quality, with endless planning,
testing and an ongoing program of human involvement
at every level.
THE CHALLENGE OF PLASTICS
"Plastic is very difficult to control," Fit Team
Co-Leader Steve Carter says. "In the Gold Wing,
because of some of the materials we use, a big part
could shrink up to 5mm. And then when you paint it,
you encounter problems with heat distortion as the
paint is cured. Because the paint affects the
plastic, the parts have to be positioned a certain
way. Even changing the color can change the shrink
rate of a certain component. We have to hang them in
a specific position and actually put stress on them
to shape them and make them come out the way we want
them to."
All-new fixtures were created for the GL1800, and
they had to be built just as precisely as fixtures
for welding the aluminum frames. The waiting parts
are hung, instead of stored in baskets, to reduce
stress and distortion. Paint build-up on the
fixtures is burned off at 1800 degrees Fahrenheit,
after which the fixtures are measured again for
trueness. All just to paint the bodywork.
QUALITY CONTROL WITH AN ALUMINUM FRAME
Building the world's largest aluminum motorcycle
frame is a remarkable feat. "The biggest difference
with the aluminum frame," says Fit Team Co-Leader
Carter, "is the tolerancing--that is, making the
unit more precise. The GL1800's aluminum frame
incorporates a number of cast parts and each of
these parts is CNC-machined to keep all the
variables very well controlled. So this new frame is
a lot more precisely manufactured than the old steel
frame. We have better measurements, better
tolerances."
However, crafting the new Gold Wing's
breakthrough aluminum frame wasn't any easier than
the other processes. To begin with, MMP's weld shop
had no experience in welding aluminum. That's
significant, because welding aluminum is "a whole
different ball game," according to Mark Clevenger,
subproject leader/welder.
"With a steel frame, the sequence of building
steps alters the manner in which distortion adds up
as the assembly process progresses. With an aluminum
frame, distortion can become more of a problem
because aluminum transfers the heat so quickly to
the other parts of the frame. So the distortion is
more significant, yet it has to be kept to a tighter
tolerance because the frame doesn't bend and flex as
much as a steel frame does. So in an aluminum-frame
weld shop, they have to be that much more accurate.
And the sequence in which you weld components must
be planned very carefully."
For training, Clevenger went to Hamamatsu. Then
two more groups, hand-picked for their experience,
skill and devotion to quality, went for training.
Those trips were followed by groups of two and
three, overlapping their arrival time so everyone
trained together. In the process, welders went
through about 2 1/2 tons of scrap aluminum in order
to perfect their techniques. Nothing was left to
chance. Significantly, Hamamatsu and MMP are the
only two Honda factories in the world that weld
aluminum frames for street motorcycles.
ENGINE BASICS
About the only part of the new Gold Wing that was
relatively simple to produce was the engine, because
its design does not differ radically from the 1520cc
engines used in the previous Gold Wing and existing
Valkyrie models. Perhaps the most significant change
is the move from the Anna, Ohio, engine plant, where
Gold Wing engines were originally built, to the
Marysville plant, a move made primarily for
efficiency reasons.
Just as with the 1500 engines, crankshaft
bearings are carefully matched to exacting
tolerances, but the 1800 motor gets an extra
process. Unlike the GL1500, which uses hydraulic
valve lash adjusters, the 1800 uses a
shim-under-bucket adjustment design. So the engine
assembly line at MMP now includes a shim selection
machine that measures the cam lobes and cam
journals, plus the clearances in the head from the
valve stems and the journals for the cams. All of
this information is digitally digested, producing a
printout that defines what size shim should be used
for each valve. Most impressive of all, this process
takes only seconds to complete.
According to Chris Pickleheimer, engine assembly
trainer, a number of highly skilled engine assembly
associates trained MMP associates how to build
engines. They trained extensively at the Anna plant,
learning the intricate techniques of engine
production.
THE HUMAN FACTOR: TRAINING AND OWNERSHIP
Quality assurance processes are found everywhere
in the Gold Wing's assembly. Linda Corbett and Ken "Jordy"
Jordan, assembly trainers, likewise made the
requisite pilgrimages to Hamamatsu to become
familiar with assembly processes for the new Gold
Wing well before the mass production launch. Corbett
then trained associates for the processes on the
main line, as well as for off-line assembly. Jordan
trained associates for modularization--a key to Gold
Wing assembly.
Subassembly modules--such as the fairing, the
trunk and saddlebags, front suspension and wheel,
rear suspension and wheel--are all built off-line
and supplied to the main line throughout the
process. This is significant, because it allows the
MMP to balance the line for production of different
models on the same line.
Previously, since the cycle time for the GL1500
was so much longer than anything else assembled at
the MMP, the line flow was composed of a GL1500,
then two Shadow models. With the increased
efficiency of modules, the MMP can now do block
production of GL1800s back-to-back, a big
improvement in production efficiency.
According to Linda Corbett, "There's a process we
call QIP, quality in process. On the main line, the
accuracy of every part, every torque mark, every
bolt--everything that was put on between one
associate and another--has been confirmed.
"When the bike transfers from one process to
another on the main line, there's QIP there also,
checking every nut, bolt, torque, routing,
everything from the last associate to there. The
associates have been told that if there's anything
they aren't sure of, they have the authority to shut
that line down so we can get it corrected."
Every Gold Wing is dyno-tested at the end of the
line, following numerous static testing procedures
that are completed before it is crated for shipping.
While the Marysville Motorcycle Plant has helped
shape the creation of the Gold Wing series and the
new GL1800, the manufacturing processes have, in
turn, influenced the configuration of the plant.
It's also significant to ponder how the Gold Wing
production will affect other, future models. For
example, the paint shop changed its pretreatment
system to use chemicals that could accommodate the
aluminum frame, while also accommodating Valkyrie
and VT1100 steel frames. Modularization, used to
full extent with the GL1800, will make production of
future models much more efficient by helping to
standardize production on the main line and reducing
on-line cycle time.
These processes reflect the original intent of
the design team of the Marysville plant. The team
tried to make the most efficient, but small,
motorcycle plant. A key goal was to minimize cost of
production, so the team pursued efficiency of
production.
Just as the MMP design team created the original
plant to build motorcycles, so too did the MMP have
to be redesigned to build the new Gold Wing
efficiently and with the highest quality. Honda's
2001 GL1800 Gold Wing makes use of lessons learned
over the last 20 years of motorcycle production,
merged with the latest in innovative, efficient
production techniques. As always, this technology is
driven by the unique human touch that has always
characterized Honda products--to ensure they
maintain their incredible reputation for durability,
quality, and affordability.
