Honda`s East Liberty, Marysville Auto Plants: OH

C A S E
S T U D Y
H O N D A
E A S T
L I B E R T Y ,
T
DRIVING FOR
GREEN
B Y K A R E N H E YO B
Automobile maker Honda has a long history of environmental innovation.
The Honda Civic CVCC was the first car to meet the 1970 U.S. Clean Air Act
standards on engine performance alone. Honda made the first mass-produced
car to break the 50 mpg fuel-economy mark in 1986, and in 2000 the carmaker introduced the first gas-electric vehicle to America.
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oday, Honda is working on
a broad range of initiatives
to reduce the environmental footprint of its manufacturing operations. These “Green
Factory” initiatives focus on reducing
CO2 emissions through energy efficiency measures, eliminating waste
from automotive manufacturing processes, conserving natural resources
and promoting land stewardship.
Honda also works closely with parts
suppliers to conserve fuel use by
streamlining parts delivery.
As a key part of Honda’s global
Green Factory initiative to reduce
the environmental impact of production, the company’s two automobile assembly plants in central
Ohio have worked to reduce energy
consumption, eliminate waste and
cut emissions from the manufacturing process.
Honda operates four plants in central Ohio, including Honda’s first two
U.S. auto plants in Marysville and
East Liberty.
Honda of America Mfg.’s Green
Factory efforts include the first
automobile factory in North
America to use waterborne basecoat
paint (East Liberty in 1989), and
the first plant in North America to
operate with zero waste to landfill
(Lincoln, Ala. in 2002).
Walking through either Ohio auto
plant is a different experience than
touring one of the gleaming edifices
that this magazine usually showcases. But looks aren’t everything.
Opposite The Marysville Auto Plant
opened in 1982 and has the capacity to
produce 440,000 vehicles a year. The
plant reduced landfill waste by 297 MT,
or 27%, between 2007 and 2009.
M A R Y S V I L L E
A U T O
Honda’s two Ohio automobile factories have many examples of the
company’s ongoing investment in
new tools, new processes, and more
energy-efficient equipment that
are helping the company to realize
its ultimate goal — to manufacture
products with the lowest possible
in-use CO2 emissions at factories
with the lowest possible emissions
and energy intensity.
The Marysville and/or East
Liberty plants have many of the
same technologies found in newer
buildings, such as high-efficiency
T8 and T5 lamps and compact fluorescent or LED fixtures in office and
break areas, and metal halide lamps
with centralized controls in assembly areas. High-bay lighting needs
are evaluated regularly, and lamps
are removed in areas where changes
to processes or the plant layout have
made them unnecessary.
Associates’ (employees’) efforts to
improve energy efficiency in all areas
of operations are evident in the use
of high-efficiency electric motors,
variable speed drives on gas and liquid flow systems, and high-pressure
blowers instead of compressed air
in blow-off (cooling of casting dies
and removal of metal fragments from
stamping) and cooling applications.
Reducing Energy Use
These initiatives help the company
increase energy efficiency while
reducing greenhouse gas emissions,
primarily carbon dioxide. Other
greenhouse gases including methane and nitrous oxide are emitted
during fuel combustion and through
the use of certain refrigerants.
The main sources of CO2 emissions in manufacturing are
Winter 2011 H I G H
P L A N T S
electricity and natural gas consumption, which account for about
96% of total CO2 emissions. Major
areas of energy use in Marysville
and East Liberty include electricity
for motors driving pumps and fans,
robots used in welding, painting,
assembly, conveyor systems, chillers and compressed air systems.
At the East Liberty plant, electrically powered automatic-guided
vehicles (AGVs) deliver parts from
the receiving docks to the assembly
or production line. Natural gas is
consumed for building and water
heating, for conditioning fresh air
to supply paint booths, and for
paint curing ovens and emission
control equipment.
B U I L D I N G S AT A G L A N C E
Names
East Liberty Auto Plant
Marysville Auto Plant
Location East Liberty, Ohio (approx. 47 miles
northwest of Columbus, Ohio)
Marysville, Ohio (approx. 32 miles
northwest of Columbus, Ohio)
Owner Honda of America Mfg., Inc., a
subsidiary of Honda Motor Company, Ltd.
Principal Use Automobile assembly
Employees
East Liberty 2,400
Marysville 4,400
Conditioned space
East Liberty 1.9 million ft2
Marysville 3.6 million ft2
Substantial Completion
East Liberty 1989
Marysville 1982
Distinctions
East Liberty ENERGY STAR (100)
Marysville ENERGY STAR (84)
Both plants have received the ENERGY
STAR annually since 2006, the first
year that the award was given.
PERFORMING
BUILDINGS
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Honda set global goals for the
reduction in CO2 emissions from its
products and factories in May 2006,
including a 10% reduction in CO2
emissions from automobile production from 2001 levels by 2011. For
four years, beginning with the fiscal
year that ended on March 31, 2005,
Honda’s North American factories
reduced annual energy use per unit
of automobile production by an
average 3.2%, going from 7.1 GJ/
auto (6,729 kBtu/auto) in 2005 to a
10-year low of 6.2 GJ/auto (5,877
kBtu/auto) in 2008.
However, Honda’s production
volumes declined 20% during the
following two years as a result of the
recession. While reduced production
led to a significant decrease in total
energy use during the period, the
energy intensity of automobile production rose 9.7%. On a global basis
average energy use for each automobile produced has been reduced
12.6% over the past five years.
Left A Honda associate checks the controls for the air-conditioning units for the
Intelligent Paint Booth, which was developed
by Honda of America Mfg. in conjunction
with the mechanical engineering department at The Ohio State University. The technology was first introduced at the Marysville
Auto Plant in 2008 and has been implented
at all of Honda’s major automobile operations in North America.
Below The paint booth at East Liberty Auto
Plant reduces CO2 emissions and energy
consumption by using a predictive algorithim to automatically regulate air temperature and humidity.
E N E R G Y AT A G L A N C E
Energy Use Intensity/Site Energy
(Per Auto Produced)
East Liberty 5.14 GJ (4,872 kBtu)
Electricity 1.87 GJ (1,772 kBtu)
Natural Gas 3.27 GJ (3,099 kBtu)
Marysville 5.29 GJ (5,014 kBtu)
Electricity 2.03 GJ (1,924 kBtu)
Natural Gas 3.26 GJ (3,089 kBtu)
Source Energy (Per Auto Produced)
East Liberty 9.7 GJ (9,163 kBtu)
Marysville 10.2 GJ (9,660 kBtu)
This includes optimizing compressor operation (running the most
efficient units first); leak prevention
programs; reducing overall pressure; weekend pressure reductions;
installing smaller systems to serve
areas more efficiently; implementing cool-air intakes; and replacing
compressed air with high pressure
blow-off fans where possible.
Motor Efficiency. Installation of
In auto production plants, all
machines and processes must run
regardless of the volume of production. So despite its production
energy efficiency improvements,
lower production volumes ultimately resulted in a lower per-unit
efficiency measurement.
highly efficient variable frequency
motor drives has optimized the
management and flow of pumped
fluids (liquids and gases) during
changing conditions. In areas where
pumps or fans are oversized, impellers are trimmed to more accurately match energy available with
energy needed.
Real-time Power Metering. Real-
time metering of operations at the
East Liberty Auto Plant allows
Honda associates to monitor energy
use and meet non-production
energy use targets by verifying that
equipment is shut down during
Energy Efficiency Strategies
With a focus on CO2 emissions
reductions over the past decade,
Honda’s Ohio factories have
reduced the energy intensity of
automobile production by operating equipment with less variability,
by ensuring that process energy
requirements are met and not
exceeded, and by designing equipment that can be easily shut down
when not in use.
Efficient Use of Compressed Air.
Generating compressed air accounts
for more than 12% of total electricity consumption, or more than 5%
of total energy use. Steps to reduce
compressed air generation energy
have focused on better management
of compressed air systems to provide the right pressure to the right
areas at the right times.
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The East Liberty Auto Plant, which opened in
1989, developed the flexibility to manufacture both cars and light trucks on the same
assembly line in 2002. It uses low-emission
waterborne paint and recycled wastewater
to flush toilets.
nonproduction times on weekends
and between shifts. The systems
also help identify energy efficiency
Right Electrically powered automated
guided vehicles transport parts throughout
the East Liberty Auto Plant.
improvement opportunities and to
measure the impact of installing
new systems.
Building Heating. The elimination of
central boiler houses for the delivery of steam for heating and process
uses improves energy efficiency by
improving equipment efficiency and
eliminating heat loss. Individual
heating units, typically powered
by natural gas, are generally more
efficient and eliminate the heat and
water loss associated with centralized steam production and distribution through pipes. Also, individual
units can run as needed to meet
actual requirements instead of
continuous operation at a minimum
level, whether needed or not.
Over a two-year period, the East
Liberty plant replaced steam in
eight major processes with more
energy-efficient “at-the-spot” technology. Direct injection burners
O H I O E PA R E C O G N I Z E S H O N DA P L A N T S
Ohio’s Environmental Protection Agency
recognized the environmental efforts of
Honda’s Ohio plants with its Environmental
Stewardship Award in 2009. The Ohio EPA
took note of the following:
Honda reduced waste sent to landfills
by 34%; reduced electricity use by 62.5
million kWh; reduced natural gas use
by more than 417 million cubic ft in one
year; and reduced groundwater use by 43
million gallons per year.
By using two ponds covering seven acres
to capture rainwater, the company avoided
using more than 95 million gallons of
groundwater over two years.
At the company’s East Liberty Auto Plant,
a spinning operation was added to remove
oil and solvents from used rags. The rags
are then remanufactured into auto parts.
At the Anna (Ohio) Engine Plant, the
company reused 7.7 million lb of sand
from casting operation in soil and mulch
products.
MARYSVILLE, EAST LIBERTY WASTE AND RESOURCE REDUCTIONS
2007 Baseline
2009
Reduction
Percent Reduced
Landfill Waste
Marysville
1,113.13 MT
816.15 MT
296.98 MT
26.7%
East Liberty
610.5 MT 458.04 MT
152.46 MT
25%
Electricity Use
Marysville
East Liberty
225,774,134 kWh 206,752,726 kWh 19,021,408 kWh
8.4%
122,050,761 kWh
106,863,697 kWh 15,187,064 kWh
12.4%
1,103,698 kcf 178,012 kcf
13.9%
589,069 kcf
136,550 kcf
18.8%
Natural Gas
Marysville
East Liberty
1,281,710 kcf 725,619 kcf Groundwater
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Marysville
189,848,865 gal 175,195,255 gal
14,653,610 gal
7.7%
East Liberty
116,765,125 gal 106,571,009 gal 10,194,116 gal
8.7%
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C R E AT I N G A N E N E R G Y B E N C H M A R K
The U.S. industrial sector accounts for
about 30% of the country’s energy use.
But until a few years ago, industrial
manufacturers had no tool to benchmark
their plants’ energy consumption against
other plants in their industries.
the energy efficiency of their manufacturing processes. But those manufacturers’
perspectives changed after benchmarking
and when they learned that their competitors had made these improvements years
earlier and were reaping millions of dollars
in savings, Tunnessen said.
The U.S. Environmental Protection
The automotive manufacturer energy
Agency’s ENERGY STAR program develmanagers continue to meet annually to
oped an Energy Performance Indicator for
discuss and explore new ways to improve
auto assembly plants in 2005. The indica- efficiency and reduce emissions.
tor normalizes plants’ energy use, allowAutomotive assembly plants reduced fossil
ing for a comparison across the industry.
fuel use per vehicle manufactured by 12%
As with the ENERGY STAR program for
from 2000 to 2005 and reduced CO2 emisbuildings, auto assembly plants that receive sions by an estimated 1,462 million lb as
a rating of 50 reflect average energy use.
a result of energy efficiency improvements,
A score of 75 or higher indicates top peraccording to a 2010 report by the Nicholas
formance and makes the plants eligible to
Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions
receive ENERGY STAR recognition.
at Duke University. The report also found
The EPA also invited the energy managers that those manufacturers that were trailing
from auto manufacturers with operations in in energy performance were making progthe U.S. to gather for a focus group meetress in catching up with industry leaders.
ing where they discussed best practices.
The automotive assembly industry was the
“We brought all of the energy managfirst industry for which the EPA created an
ers together in the same room. That
Energy Performance Indicator. The agency
had never happened before,” said Walt
has developed or is developing energy perTunnessen, National Program Manager for formance indicators for more than 20 indusENERGY STAR.
tries, including pharmaceutical, cement, and
Some manufacturers were skeptical that
cookie and cracker manufacturing.
more could be done to significantly improve
replaced steam-to-water heat
exchangers; an economizer was
installed to capture waste heat from
emissions control equipment and
replaced a steam-to-water heat
exchanger; and cool-fog misting systems replaced steam humidification
systems in painting operations.
The Marysville plant initiated
work to eliminate its central boiler
house in 2009 and expected to complete the replacement of steam by
the end of 2010.
Paint Booth Technology. Body paint-
ing is typically the most energy
intensive process in an automobile
factory, requiring large amounts of
energy to regulate booth air conditions to achieve the desired product
appearance and finish quality. In
collaboration with the mechanical engineering department at The
Ohio State University, Honda of
America Mfg. developed a new
paint booth air-conditioning system
that reduces energy consumption
and related CO2 emissions as much
as 25% through the continuous,
automatic control of air temperature
and humidity using a predictive
algorithm.
Since the first deployment of its
patented “intelligent paint booth”
technology at the Marysville Auto
Plant in 2008, the company has
implemented the new control system at all of its major automobile
paint operations in North America.
In addition, the East Liberty and
Marysville plants use variable speed
drives for blower fan motors to
reduce airflow during shift changes
and other downtimes, and variable
rate burners for the heating and
humidification of air.
Flexible and Efficient Robots.
The flexible New Manufacturing
System was implemented in Honda
manufacturing plants the late
1990s. The system is designed to
provide all Honda factories in the
region with greater flexibility to
produce different types of products — both cars and trucks, for
instance — in a single factory. It
also offers the capability to move
products between factories according to market conditions, doing so
quickly with minimal investment
in new tooling.
The single biggest component of
this new system was the replacement of hydraulic robots—which
use pressure generated by hydraulic pumps—with robots using
electric servo motors in each
factory’s weld department. These
E N E R G Y U S E AT H O N D A M A N U FA C T U R I N G FA C I L I T I E S I N N O R T H A M E R I C A
The average energy used per auto produced (including automobile engine and transmission production) at Honda Manufacturing facilities in
North America was 8.21 GJ ( 7,782 kBtu) in 2010. The East Liberty Auto Plant used an average of 5.14 GJ (4,872 kBtu) per auto produced
in 2010, while Marysville Auto Plant used an average of 5.29 GJ (5,014 kBtu) per auto produced.
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A cool-fog system replaced steam humidification systems in 2010 at the Marysville
Auto Plant. The cool fog maintains specified
humidity levels while using less energy than
the steam systems.
M A N U FA C T U R I N G
VS. DRIVING EMISSIONS
The average auto emits 1.1 lb of CO2
per mile traveled. Honda’s average CO2
emissions per auto manufactured within
its North American plants for the last
two years is 1,656 lb/auto (not including emissions from supplier operations).
Therefore, 1,656 lb/auto is equivalent
to about 1,500 miles traveled.
So, the amount of CO2 released by
manufacturing an auto equals the
amount released from running one
auto 1,500 miles. Most consumers put
roughly 15,000 miles per year on a car,
so the amount of CO2 produced in manufacturing equals about 10% of the CO2
emitted from operating a car for a year.
low-maintenance robots can be
easily reprogrammed to handle different types and sizes of parts and
require significantly less energy
to operate.
Just as important, the system
allows Honda to optimally match its
local and global production capacity
to prevailing market demand, which
results in a more stable manufacturing environment and more efficient
use of energy across all Honda
factories.
Left The Marysville and East Liberty Auto
Plants replaced hydraulic pump robots
with robots that use electric servo motors.
The electric robots run more efficiently,
require little maintenance and can be
reprogrammed to handle different parts.
The robots help improve the factories’ flexibility, allowing them to shift from manufacturing one type of vehicle to another
as market demands change.
LESSONS LEARNED
Associate involvement is key. Honda minimizes hierarchy and emphasizes collaboration at all levels. Associates (employees)
are encouraged to regularly share their
best ideas. Company founder Soichiro
Honda said that “all engineers are equal in
the presence of technology,” which epitomizes not only the company’s belief in the
ability of technology to address societal
problems, but that anyone can have a great
idea regardless of their rank or position.
Many of Honda’s best ideas for improving efficiency have come from associates
working on the line. The company works
constantly to engage its associates in
realizing efficiency gains, both small and
large. Associates can even profit by submitting suggestions and implementing
improvement themes through its Voluntary
Improvement Program.
Set clear and quantifiable targets. In
working to minimize the environmental
impact of manufacturing operations, Honda
sets clear and quantifiable targets that are
incorporated into its three-year business
planning process and communicated to all
associates. Through a management process known as “PDCA” (Plan Do Check Act),
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associates continually measure and assess
their progress in meeting company goals.
Balance environmental gains and
cost control. Honda generally requires a
simple payback period of less than two
years for investment projects. Even for
energy, Honda’s most costly utility, identifying means of reducing energy use with a
two-year return on investment can be difficult, particularly once all the low-hanging
fruit has been picked.
Efficiency and sustainable measures
often increase the first cost of projects.
The long-term payback for these measures is good, particularly in the context
of new construction or new equipment
design, rather than retrofits; however, project managers don’t always recognize how
these measures can contribute to their
development goals. Honda is beginning
to evaluate new investments on a lifecycle cost basis, but it is a different way
of thinking that takes time to implement.
Various approaches are being evaluated,
including mandatory specifications, new
guidelines for investment evaluation and
awareness training for project managers.
Waste Reduction
Honda also is seeking to eliminate
waste from production operations
and minimize waste throughout the
entire manufacturing process. This
starts with designing production
processes, parts logistics, energy
management systems and other
operations in ways that reduce their
impact on the environment. Honda
encourages plants to work toward
the goal of creating manufacturing
operations that produce no downstream waste, either reusing or recycling scrap or waste material.
The company is aiming to discontinue sending any waste to landfills
for all 14 of its plants in North
America by April 1, 2011. A simple
example is paper. Before Honda set
up its office waste recycling program,
waste paper was sent to landfills.
Now paper is recycled at an off-site
recycling facility. Ideally, waste paper
would be eliminated by encouraging
associates to replace paper records
with electronic records, limit printing
and similar measures.
The Marysville and East Liberty
plants are working to eliminate the
few remaining waste streams, including cafeteria waste. Four of the plant
cafeterias recently converted from
disposable paper and plastic products to washable dishware. •
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Karen Heyob is associate chief engineer in the Company Facilities and
Environment Department for Honda of
America Manufacturing and is coordinator of Honda’s Green Factory initiative
for all of its manufacturing operations
in North America.
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