The Background

Honda, the worlds biggest motorcycle manufacturer and a leading car company, has a manufacturing plant in Swindon (Honda of the UK Manufacturing HUM) from which it builds vehicles such as the Civic 5DR and the CR-V for the European, North American and Japanese markets. HUM boasts an annual production capacity of 250,000 units. At full production, with a 3-shift operation, it makes 870 cars per day, employing 4000 people. Honda organises its suppliers into tiers: 1st tier, 2nd tier and so on. It has approximately 200 1st tier supplier that assist in the development and production of the vehicles and supply parts for the car build. These are mostly global companies with production sites all over the world: Panasonic, Yazaki, Varta, Yusen, Nissin Showa, Yamda, NTN, Nagase to name several.

It is these companies that SW services.

The Need

SW receives car parts from all over the world - Japan, Canada, Czech Republic, France etc from several Honda 1st tier suppliers. All these parts arrive in bulk or in temporary/disposable packaging. It is SWs responsibility to make the parts ready for just-in time assembly line production. This can range from a relatively straightforward decant operation to very complex work. Decanting involves taking the parts from the suppliers interim packaging and putting them in Hondas own packaging stillages which are used on the production line. A more complex job would also involve product modification fixing additional parts to the original product testing, quality control or even product repairs. All parts are stored and the stock controlled by SW.

The Operation

SW receives orders weekly from Honda via EDI. This covers demand for the forthcoming fortnightly period. SW then has to develop its own production schedules and plan resources to ensure that the suppliers parts are ready for shipment within the time frame. Once these are developed, the parts are picked from bulk stock, prepared as appropriate on SWs own production line, decanted into Hondas stillages and labeled with specific labels ready for scanning at despatch.

Accuracy is everything with just-in-time manufacturing processes and a single incorrect part in the incorrect packaging could result in line stoppages, with the knock-on effect of huge, per-minute, penalties being meted out to errant suppliers. It is vital therefore that SW gets it right first time.

Fully accredited to BS EN ISO 9001:2000, SW has developed a rigorous and reliable operation which safeguards accuracy at all times. It ensures that checks are built in to the production process every step of the way and the correct quality procedures are observed.

The full use of the latest logistics technology also plays in part. For instance, the despatch department scans each stillage to create an ASN (Advanced Shipping Notice). This information is downloaded to Hondas systems via EDI and acts as confirmation that the order delivery process is, at this stage, in line with expectations. Once the goods have been shipped, Honda then scans the parts on receipt to double check that they are in line with forecasts.

Additionally, SW ensures the right personnel are employed with the necessary skills base and training.

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