Big Challenge

Despite being the first production plant to build Honda Motor Co. Ltd.'s light truck products, the addition of the Ridgeline sport/utility compact pickup truck to Honda of Canada Mfg.'s vehicle assembly plant in Alliston, Ont., presented special challenges.

To start with, Honda had never built a vehicle as large as the Ridgeline.

“It's the biggest vehicle Honda has made to date anywhere in the world,” says Don Gallagher, senior technical staff-new model department.

“If you compare the previous models that we were building — the Odyssey, (Acura) MDX and Pilot — the biggest vehicle to date was the Odyssey, with a 118.1-in. (300-cm) wheelbase. The Ridgeline is at 122.0 ins. (310 cm).”

And with a large vehicle come large components. Honda currently stamps 19 different Ridgeline parts at Alliston, including the vehicle's hood, skin and frame. But it was the auto maker's practice of using a single side panel (most manufacturers use two pieces) that caused a conundrum.

“The original concept was a 124.8-in. (317-cm) side panel,” says Gallagher. “But when you build a die to form this particular part, the actual die was overhanging the bolster in the stamping facility. And you can't have an unsupported bolster, because once you start stamping it's eventually going to crack and fall apart.”

To resolve the problem, Alliston, along with Honda engineering in Ohio and the auto maker's design studios in Torrance, CA, worked together to modify the front pillar area of the side panel, eliminating 3.5 ins. (9 cm) but still maintaining the original styling.

Additional changes were made to the stiffeners behind the panel to replace the strength lost by eliminating the extra inches. But in early side-panel trial production, flexing occurred when the panels were lifted off the inspection system in stamping.

“The part had a radius of 60 at that time, and we had to do some negotiations with styling to make some changes,” says Brent Welsh, production project leader for Ridgeline.

A change to a radius of 100 eliminated the amount of stress on the side panel. Eventually, side-paneling robots were installed, “to reduce any impact we had from that panel and reduce any potential damage; so that was an increased investment for us,” Welsh says.

The Ridgeline's rear tailgate, which both swings out to the side and folds down in traditional truck manner, presented another problem.

“(The Ridgeline's) overall length, going from front bumper to rear bumper, is 206.7 ins. (525 cm), but when you fold down the tailgate, you've got an additional 11.8 ins. (30 cm),” Gallagher says.

The lowered tailgate eliminated room for workers to simultaneously assemble the front and rear of the vehicle, as they previously had done on the Odyssey. “This was a big challenge for our process arrangement group in assembly,” Welsh says.

Simulation showed Ridgeline's length also could affect Plant No.2's overhead transfer operation, primarily in final assembly before the tires are installed. Honda increased the pitch between the vehicles and adjusted the speed of the overhead conveyers to eliminate any touch points.

Due to Ridgeline's number of unique parts — 93% vs. 53% for the Acura MDX cross/utility vehicle, for example — Alliston began assembling its project team in the study phase, which precedes the development and trial stages.

In comparison, the project team for the Odyssey minivan — which Honda first built here and now produces at its Lincoln, AL, plant — was put together just prior to the start of trial runs.

“We were able to input a lot of our manufacturing constraints and ideas into the actual design of the vehicle, prior to ever producing it,” which allowed for a smooth transition from planning to development to production, Gallagher says.

Indeed, employee input played a key role at Alliston. Paint, weld and final assembly workers developed a multifunction jig for Ridgeline's tailgate that could be used in all three areas, lessening the need to handle the part.

“We needed a tool to actually hold the tailgate in welding for quality inspection,” says Welsh, after which it is transferred to paint.

The paint department then positions the tailgate so sealer can be applied and finally moves it into position for the surface to be painted consistently, avoiding color-match concerns.

“In assembly, we also needed to secure a position (where) we could assemble wire harnesses and the lock mechanism,” says Welsh. “Finally, we needed to come to a position where we could remove the tailgate, and it would be cleared from the back of the body so that we could then install it.”

The workers who developed the jig have applied for a patent, he says. To keep paint from building up, a supplier cleans all the plant's paint jigs on a regular basis using a vibration chamber.

The assist arm for the Ridgeline's bed installation was developed by an Alliston welder on his lunch break, Welsh says, adding the tool used in mass production is very similar to the original design.

Because of the magnitude of Ridgeline's parts, assist arms play a key role in the vehicle's assembly process. Forty are in use, with each arm and its corresponding rail system costing on average about C$100,000 ($80,373).

Another assist arm was required to insert the 1-piece rear seat into the vehicle.

“We usually have two separate seats in the mid area of the vehicle,” says Welsh. “Our normal processing loads our seats from both sides, left and right.”

But because the (Ridgeline rear) seat was one piece, “we had to load it completely from the right-hand side of the vehicle. Thus, we had to come up with an idea to make it easy for one associate to handle,” he says.

The new assist arm allows one person to guide the seat into the vehicle without it touching the body and set it into position.

Welsh says all assists for the Ridgeline were developed by the Alliston team, with input from other workers. Following each trial, workers participated in a feedback session, brainstorming ideas on improving workability.

He says improving ergonomics in the plant with the Ridgeline's introduction was another important issue. For example, the door-hinge design is smaller than the average door hinge and includes a pin that is designed into it.

This allows for larger door openings and saves on material cost and weight. However, initially it called for installation from inside the vehicle.

“(The associates) had some concerns right off the bat of installing from the inside,” says Welsh. “The stud would actually enter from the outside of the vehicle and the nut would be installed from the inside.”

He says workers came up with the idea of making a smaller-headed bolt that would enter on the outside, similar to Honda's old-style door hinge, and securing a weld nut on the inside.

Honda currently is running both its Alliston Plant No.1, which builds the Civic and the Canada-only Acura EL, and Plant No.2 at their combined full capacity of 390,000 units annually. The auto maker says some 800 units are built daily on both lines.

Daily output of the Ridgeline recently was increased by 100 units, but Honda still holds firm to fiscal 2006 sales projections of 53,000.