The encyclopedia · Engineering & Operations · Operational decision · 2009–2012
Honda Kumamoto engineers worked suppliers' lines monthly to save Japan's last bike plant
When mid-large bike output moved to Thailand, Kumamoto kept domestic production by redesigning supplier parts and lines together.
Honda · Kyushu Musashi Seimitsu
The solution
Mid-large motorcycles were the last bastion of Honda's Japanese two-wheel production, built entirely at Kumamoto. When the CB500 series began production in Thailand in late 2012, Kumamoto faced the prospect of losing even that role; domestic two-wheel production was already just 1% of Honda's global output.
Kumamoto's answer was to stop treating supplier manufacturing as the supplier's private territory. Every month, plant staff drove 90 minutes to gear and shaft maker Kyushu Musashi Seimitsu and worked inside its production lines: proposing gear shape changes so parts could flow on the same line, discussing drawing changes, and grinding down costs knee-to-knee.
For Honda this was a rare step beyond co-developing new technology—a finished-vehicle maker entering a parts maker's factory to improve its physical production methods. The broader campaign, which began around 2009, consolidated two-wheel parts procurement worldwide and pushed cost-downs of 20–30%, with Kumamoto as the hub.
Why it worked
- Only supplier cost and quality stood between Kumamoto and total loss of domestic production
- Joint line redesign attacks cost at the design stage, where price negotiation cannot reach
- Monthly visits create a continuous improvement loop instead of one-off pressure
- Part-shape and drawing changes made small lots flow on shared lines, cutting setup and inventory
- Success models built with one supplier were meant to spread across all domestic suppliers
What can be applied
When cost pressure is existential, the buyer who enters the supplier's factory and redesigns both part and process captures savings that price negotiation alone can't.
Aftermath
Honda kept domestic two-wheel production alive at Kumamoto by concentrating output and deepening supplier collaboration, and the plant later became Honda's global mother factory for motorcycles, supporting production sites in 31 countries and regions. Honda's purchasing organization formalized supplier production-line improvement as part of its work with parts makers.
Sources
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