Honda Rajasthan Plant
We witness detailed processes of car manufacturing at Honda’s Tapukara plant
Right from the forging of engine camshafts to the final quality check of a complete Honda, the Tapukara facility can do it all. Not only does it cater to the domestic market, the Rajasthan facility churns out huge volumes of car sets for the export market as well. Honda’s first plant in India was set up in 1998 in Greater Noida. The Tapukara plant in Rajasthan is their second factory that commenced operations in 2008. Their installed production capacity is 1,20,000 units per annum on two shift basis that can be expanded to 1,80,000 units per annum as per market demand.
It was the first car manufacturing plant in Rajasthan which is spread over 400 acres of land. The Japanese automaker has made a cumulative investment of Rs. 5441 crores till 31st March 2017. As of now, they have a manpower of 5901 and have produced 3,23,519 cars until May 2017 since the commencement of operations in Tapukara. Honda produces 490 cars every day in this plant and total time taken to produce one car is approximately 20 hours. The current model lineup being produced in this facility is City, WR-V, Jazz and BR-V.
The automated process makes for a peaceful environment
Initially, when Honda had set up the plant in 2008, they only provided body panels and engine components. However, their second phase of operations that commenced in 2014 involves detailed production of vehicles. First up is the forging plant that consists of 35 machines, 9 robots and one massive 4500 tonne press machine that forges multiple billets to camshafts. The forging plant churns out 4255 car sets a day.
Next up are the powertrain lines that include heat treatment area, crankshaft lines and connecting rod lines. Here, they do the finishing of these components before they’re assembled in the engine. Both combined, around 6000 components of these are churned out each day. There are separate lines for cylinder blocks and engine heads that are later put together. There is a separate line for transmission case too and around 2000 units of these are produced each day.
It is the largest facility to manufacture diesel engines for Honda globally
The Tapukara facility is the largest manufacturing facility for manual transmission and biggest exporter for Honda’s manual transmission globally. It’s also Honda’s biggest diesel engine facility across the globe, producing 1.8 lakh engines per annum for both domestic and global markets. They are also planning to manufacture a new 1.6-litre diesel engine soon for export markets. Currently they only produce 1.2-litre petrol, 1.5-litre petrol and 1.5-litre diesel engines.
Now from the press shop, the design of the cars start taking shape. There are a total of 7 press machines including two 1500 ton machines and five 1000 ton. They churn out 1400 car sets a day and one set includes front and rear doors, hood, outer side panels, tail gate, front fenders, trunk lid, front floor and rear floor. Now these components are further sent to weld shops that are 60 percent automated having 97 robots welding the parts together. Some areas require critical welding, which is done manually by the workers. After getting welded together, the white bare body goes through the paint shop that has 20 robots putting multiple layers of paint.
There is a lot of precision and time bound work in the assembly line
The most comprehensive process is now assembling the cars in the assembly line. Fitting electricals, dashboard, seats, aligning steering, upholstery, glass, engine, suspension, brakes, wheels and all the required components of the car. This is the most satisfying process to watch since the workers fit multiple components in a limited time and you see the final product in front of your eyes.
Finally everything is re-checked right from the paint to the electricals and the engine along with suspension components. They also have a small test track inside the facility to make final checks before the car is ready to leave the plant. The Tapukara plant is also quite environment friendly having 50 percent open space, more than 25,000 trees, natural lighting and air circulation fans inside shops, 1200 KW solar power plant, 100 percent recycling of waste water, rain water harvesting. It was quite an experience having a walk through in the state of the art manufacturing facility of Honda.
