INTRODUCTION:

Honda Motor Company, Ltd is a Japan base international company and recognized as one of the world’s
leading automobiles and motorcycles manufacturing company (Yang, 1996). Honda is the largest manufacturer
in the world for motorcycles and internal ignition engines also measured by volume, and manufacture above 14
million internal ignition engines (Miller, 2008). Honda Motor Company dominate the research across the
manufacturing of automobile business and management disciplines. Honda is Japanese company with its many
manufacturing plants around the world. The plants are located at Japan, United States, China, Pakistan, Canada,
England, Belgium, Brazil, New Zealand, Indonesia, Thailand and Turkey.
ANALYSIS:
Identify a research proposal/Identify the development of a new product, service or process in terms of overall
profitability
 First and the foremost objective of the development of product are to maintain the quality. When
manufacturing and producing the new product, quality will be significant point of process that can meet
the customers’ expectation at the time of buying car therefore quality is the objective with the highest
significance.
 The high productivity is the second main objective of the development of new product. The product will
be manufactured for high and low wages countries with the higher level of comfort.
 Flexibility is another essential objective of the development of new product, which refers to the potential
to move fast and adequately towards unexpected changes in unstable markets.
 Last but not least through the development of new product environmental sustainability would be ensured.
For this purpose, there is need of hard and strong efforts in the management of air and water pollutant
materials.
GENERAL ENVIRONMENT ANALYSIS FOR NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT:
1. POLITICAL:
The political conditions in any country affect the strategy and pricing policy of a product of company.
The political condition in the Southeast Asia has always been of diverse nature, and due to diversified nature, the
level of political stability is different in different countries. The taxation and pricing is modified by the local
government and political figure affect the strategy of a company. The requirement of energy in Southeast Asia in
transport sector is 24 % of total share energy consumption and in 2000 the total consumption for transport sector
has accounted for 70 %. Due to high consumption of automobile and low consumption in the manufacturing of
the automobile product, the tax charges on the total sales of product are lower in the local market of Southeast
Asia.
2. ECONOMIC:
The economical global transformations have changed the institutional governance and organizational
structures of the local economy today. Today automobile market of Southeast Asia with the two Japanese rivalries
is world’s most divergent market. The local automobile market of Southeast Asia fundamentally recognizes
national business systems along with globalization tendencies making multiple possibilities and opportunities
through the participation of global automobile actors in globalization.
3. Social
The Southeast Asian countries are together ASEAN forming integration to assist in the different spheres
such as economics, social and environmental issues. There are apparent social differences among the countries of
Southeast Asian countries; it is informative to understand that some significant diversities among the Southeast
Asian social, specifically considering taking place inevitably in the same fundamental directions in a similar ways.
4. Technological
The research in the field of science and technology has remarkably increased since the revolution in the
field of technology was improved in the region. With the diverse nature of automobile market in Southeast Asia,
different automobile firms are keen to do research and for product development using Information and
communication technology and other new systems. However, as a result of competitive market in the regions
firms are determine to invest a large amount of their revenue in the research and product development and this
research and development prevent any new entrants in the automobile industry in the Southeast Asian market.
5. Environment
The environmental pollution produced by the transpiration and automobile vehicles have become the
central attention of the governments in Southeast Asia and it has been observing specifically in Thailand where
government has passed a regulation according to which no such transportation is allowed to be sold in Bangkok.
In addition, Malaysian government has also taken step to improve the environment transparency through imposing
law for using less polluted transportation means.
6. Legal:
There are certain rule and regulation about the marketing laws and laws on environmental issues in the
countries of Southeast Asia. Specifically in Thailand, government seems to upgrade the automobile industry by
amending and forming new industrial laws such as Thai government has formulated such policies that attract the
foreign inventers in the country to share market competitiveness. Moreover, through the policies government has
successfully persuaded international investors, automobile assemblers, to serve in the local industry and providing
them with appropriate market conditions to be successful.

MANUFACTURE/ASSEMBLY LINE OF HONDA:

Automotive assembly lines have operated

the same way for a century. Each worker takes
charge of a single process and installs parts in
vehicles as they move on a chain-driven or skillet
conveyor. Honda Motor Co. engineers have come
up with an innovative alternative that incorporates a
flowing-cell production system. The assembly
revolution cell (ARC) line consists of a moving
conveyor unit that carries one vehicle and a
complete set of sequenced parts. Four assemblers
step aboard each platform and ride around the U-
shaped cell until a vehicle is assembled.

Honda recently deployed the ARC trim line

at its new plant in Prachinburi, Thailand, which builds the Civic sedan. According to the automaker, the goal is to
“deliver quality products with the optimal balance of human craftsmanship and advanced production
technologies.” This system reduces any incidental movements by production associates, such as selecting the
proper parts for the specifications of the next body coming down the line and installing them while walking along
with the body. The ARC line achieves a significant improvement in production efficiency. Each operator takes
charge of a wide range of assembly processes, which enables him to perform a broader range of production tasks.

Honda claims that its new conveyor boosts assembly line efficiency by 10 percent. At the same time, it
also reduces material handling by 10 percent. Because of the loop-shape of the conveyor, supplying full boxes of
parts at the start of assembly and retrieving empty boxes at the end of assembly can be done at the same spot as a
result, the number of spots where parts are brought to the line is minimized, which reduces the workload. The new
assembly line currently consists of 50 platform conveyor units. Each unit is made up of one circular platform and
one rectangular platform, which are each equipped with wheels underneath. Vehicles ride on the rectangular
platforms.

The surface of the motor-driven, articulated platforms is covered with wood. The wide platform enables
operators to access parts and components that are positioned in close proximity to each vehicle. Assemblers install
wiring harnesses, interior trim components and exterior parts using battery-powered fastening tools. Each operator
is equipped with a tablet device that contains paperless work instructions and error-proofing software. The number
of platforms and cells can be increased or decreased to adjust the assembly line’s length and configuration. That
flexibility will allow Honda engineers to alter the layout of the line to accommodate future changes in production
volume or models. Honda claims that ARC was cheaper to install than traditional automotive assembly lines.

DISASSEMBLY OR DISPOSAL PROCEDURE OF HONDA:

As a company that uses many different materials in its manufacturing

and logistical processes, Honda feels that waste management is vital to
reducing its environmental impact. Waste can be created throughout the entire
lifecycle process of a product, but Honda believes that through diligent
management programs, waste can be decreased or eliminated at many of these
steps. From maximizing the use of raw materials, which eliminates waste at its
source, to finding new ways to recycle, reuse or use waste for energy
recovery, Honda’s management programs have paid dividends in reducing its
environmental footprint.

Honda discover innovative ways to eliminate waste throughout their processes. One example of this
earned Honda Precision Parts of Georgia, LLC, associates an award for developing a new method for reusing
wastewater by evaporation. The system evaporates the wastewater, leaving the metal and oil byproducts behind.
The water is then pumped through carbon filters, leaving it clean enough for non-potable uses in the plant.

Associates at the new Performance Manufacturing Center, where Acura’s NSX supercar is built, found a
novel way to recycle the more than 1.2 million gallons of water it would use annually during its painting processes.
Using capacitive re-ionization allowed the new plant to reuse 90 percent of its wastewater and reduce fresh water
consumption by more than 1,000,000 gallons/year.

Efforts like these, when paired with company initiatives, have resulted in significant gains in waste
reduction throughout its North American facilities. Honda’s parts distribution centers operate with less than 1%
of operating waste going to landfill, which is among the highest in the industry. In its manufacturing processes,
Honda reduced solid waste per automobile by 4.9% from a year ago despite increased production, and has
decreased waste-to-landfill per auto by 96 percent from a baseline year of 2001.

FY2016 WASTE MANAGEMENT ACTIONS:

Honda and Acura automotive dealers have developed a continually-expanding service parts recycling program
that covers a variety of parts and products. In 2016, 882,300 batteries, 4,288 engines, 69,958 wheels, 539.375
catalytic converters and 17,125 nickel-metal hydride batteries were recycled and kept out of the waste stream.

 Through a partnership with its vendors, and improved procedures for managing recycled parts, 39.23
million pounds of recyclable material from electronic waste and overstock service parts were diverted
from landfills.
 Total landfill waste from automobile manufacturing operations in North America has been reduced
96% from 2001 levels to less than 2.3 kilograms per auto in FY2016.
 Total waste to landfills for all manufacturing operations in North America, including power
equipment products, has been reduced 92% during the same period.