The Indian automotive scenario has been witnessing one of the world’s fastest growth trajectories, and over the years, carmakers have gone ahead to not only meet domestic demand, but also turn India into a global manufacturing hub for automobiles. Honda Cars India Limited (HCIL) has been in the Indian automobile market for almost two decades and its range of product offerings bear testimony to its commitment to, and deep-rooted un derstanding of, the unique customer requirements in India. We had the opportunity to visit the Tapukara plant of HCIL located in Rajasthan and witness some the company’s modern, contemporary production techniques, with a variety of cars being manufactured under one roof.
The Tapukara plant is HCIL’s second production facility, which started its first phase of operations in 2008, with body panels and engine components. The second phase commenced in 2014, adding car assembly operations to the earlier set up. The facility is spread across a total area of 400 acres and 490 cars are currently produced here daily, including the City, WR-V, Jazz and BR-V. The City is the only model from Honda, which is manufactured at both the Greater Noida and Tapukara plants.
The Tapukara facility has a production capacity of 1.2 lakh units per annum, which can be scaled up to 1.8 lakh units on the basis of demand. This is also one of the first automobile plants in India to get ISO 9001, ISO 14000 and OHSAS 18001 certifications from the central government. Auto Tech Review met Navid S Talib, Operating Head, New Model & Quality Function, HCIL, to discuss the production process in detail.
MANUFACTURING OPERATIONS
Key manufacturing functions for HCIL at Tapukara include forging, powertrain, engine development, press shop, weld shop, paint shop, plastic moulding, engine assembly and the final frame assembly. Validation and testing facilities include an engine testing facility, test course and hot and cold test chambers.
Plant operations have been divided into two major parts – engine assembly and frame assembly. The first process in the engine assembly is forging, where crankshafts (for 1.2 l petrol and the 1.5 l diesel engines) and con-rods are made from a single piece of metal via high pressure stamping. The company externally sources the cylindrical iron rods, which are then cut into the required length for preparing the crankshaft. The next step is the use of a stamping machine, which applies force in six different stages.
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