Harley goes full throttle
Building engines with monorails pays off with better ergonomics, space savings, and system flexibility.
By Tom Feare -- Modern Materials Handling, 11/1/1999
To Harley-Davidson riders, the call of the road is strong and clear: Just go anywhere. Soar with the freedom of an eagle. Rev the engine so it rumbles and roars just a bit, with that distinctive Harley sound as the miles roll by comfortably.Freedom of movement, flexibility, and operator comfort are vital to the Harley experience out on the road. In the two plants in the Milwaukee area where they build engines for Harleys, these same features are no less important in the materials handling technology at the heart of manufacturing motors for the bikes.
Automated electrified monorail (AEM) systems in two plants offer more freedom of movement for assembly workers as well as space savings on the floor compared to floor-mounted materials handling systems. During assembly, engines travel on L-shaped carriers suspended from the AEMs. By design, the carrier enhances ergonomics (photo, pg. 42).
Before engines become part of Harley bikes, the manufacturing path they follow starts out at a finely-tuned, deliberate pace with an eye on quality. Yet the flexibility inherent in AEM technology proves to be a big advantage when it comes to change, in contrast to harder kinds of automation, according to Harley managers.
JIT assembly
From the start of assembly to finished engines, production works on a just-in-time basis. Machined parts made in the plant flow just-in-time to their points-of-use alongside the assembly lines. Meanwhile, JIT deliveries of purchased materials and parts from outside vendors keep the lines and workstations re-supplied at all times.
Meanwhile, assembly technicians are ready to build any motor type among the many kinds that the company offers-and to work in comfort.
"We build every model every day," says Don Poznanski, plant manager, powertrain operations, at Harley's Pilgrim Road facility near Milwaukee. "We're a JIT supplier to our internal customers, the final assembly plants, and we require JIT for purchased materials and parts on our inbound side as well."
Together, this plant and the Capitol Drive plant nearby in the city of Wauwatosa will build some 172,000 engines a year to keep up with rapidly growing motorcycle demand. AEM systems (Assembly Technology & Test, Livonia, Mich.) have been at the core of Harley's materials handling approach to engine manufacture ever since 1990 (timeline graphic).
Flexibility to deal with product design changes and to make adjustments to work flow and cycle times are among the benefits of AEMs, say Poznanski and Scott Heinle, senior manufacturing engineer at the Capitol Drive plant.
"We build two basic types of engines at the Capitol Drive plant," says Heinle, "a 883 cc engine and a 1,200 cc engine. But together there are 27 different engine varieties. Each one is just a little bit different from the other 26 engines. And so assembly on the line differs slightly."
The Pilgrim Road plant, meanwhile, builds 31 slightly different engines, points out Kevin Martin, project leader. Comparing the many different engines to variously colored, flavored jelly beans, he explains how, with monorail technology, "we can jelly-bean or order the flow of engine types in any sequence we want, depending upon production schedules to supply our customers."
Adds Heinle: "We are capable of batches of one at the Capitol Drive plant. But more typical are batches of 5 to 10 engines progressing along the monorail line at any one time."
AEM systems also have the flexibility, Heinle observes, to respond easily to required line setup and balancing changes, to changes in the rate of work flow or cycle time, to modifications in workstation locations, to any need to add or to remove workstations, and to alterations in the systems in other ways.
"We try not to make changes too often," adds Martin, "because it can be disruptive to our technicians." Even so, when the total number of engines produced on one shift versus another shift varies significantly, the lines may need rebalancing, he explains.
Some line changes can be made so swiftly, however, hardly anyone notices. "Say, for example, we have a problem with an I/O card, with a PLC, or with the ladder logic at some point in one of the AEM systems," notes Heinle.
"We can troubleshoot the problem over a phone line with a modem with our monorail vendor 500 miles away," he explains. "Then, over the lunch hour, we usually can make the necessary changes to fix the problem."
All-around access to WIP
With the continuous chain assembly technology previously used, "operators had to chase the line and the work pieces," recalls Poznanski. "They had to move with the product."
Now, however, operators remain virtually stationary as work-in-process comes to their workstations. "It's also an open environment," Poznanski adds. Operators have 360 degree access to the engines. Thus, their work effort is not limited as it might be by some assembly line conveying and transporting technologies to accessing an engine only on one side or one region of the workpiece, explains Heinle.
The L-bar carriers can rotate and tilt, moreover, and they are designed so an engine can be positioned at a 45 degree angle to the vertical axis or moved to either a full horizontal or full vertical position, further enhancing ergonomics, Heinle explains.
"We try to keep a series of engines in a set, fixed position on the carriers," adds Martin, "each positioned horizontally, for example, for a sequence of steps along the line. But if we have to change the engine's position, the carrier's design gives us that flexibility," he says.
Supermarket for engines
To complete assembly, finished engines will pass through 22 workstations at the Capitol Drive plant. Over at Pilgrim Road they go through 34 workstations and one of 6 test stands. Both plants run two shifts per day. Currently, they under utilize the total number of carriers and thus potential workstations on their AEMs. Should more capacity be required, however, options include adding more workstations and going to a third shift.
Finished engines, which are secured to their individual metal "mini-pallets," are manually sorted at the end of the AEM line into what Poznanski calls a "supermarket" system. It consists of a bank of carton-sized, gravity flow racks with different rack lanes for different engine types.
Sorted by engine type, options, or other variations, the engines on their pallets are ready to be packed and sequenced into special shipping racks for transport to other Harley plants on a just-in-time basis.
Engines from the Capitol Drive plant for Buell (a Harley division) bikes will go to a plant in East Troy, Wisc.; meanwhile this plant's engines for Harley Sportster models will ship to Kansas City, Mo. Engines from the Pilgrim Drive plant will go to York, Pa. for final assembly for other Harley models.
Meeting growing demand
Today's popularity of Harley motorcycles puts pressures on this American manufacturing legend to supply constantly growing numbers of potential customers. Even so, the AEM technology has stood the test of a decade's worth of experience and proven successful.
"We have plenty of growth potential," says Poznanski. "Engine assembly definitely isn't a bottleneck in our operations," he adds. "We're continually changing how we do business, yet the monorail technology has been very flexible to meet our needs."
Automated electrified monorails allow smooth expansion over time at two plants
1990
Capitol Drive plant. Assemble XL engines on 220 ft of track, 27 carriers.
1993
Capitol Drive plant. Add testing, crating functions to FL engine assembly with 455 ft of track, 20 carriers.
1994
Capitol Drive plant. Expand XL assembly line for more capacity. Change to drive-through test stands. Add 218 ft of track, 6 carriers.
1995
Capitol Drive plant.
Install new AEM line for FL engines. Add 745 ft of track, 52 carriers, 7 trolleys.
1997
Pilgrim Road plant. Move FL engine assembly to this plant for expansion purposes. Be ready to assemble new engine in this plant. Add 1187 ft of track, reuse carriers from prior systems.
1998
Capitol Drive plant. Reconfigure original FL assembly for XL engine building and test line. Add 89 ft of track, 18 carriers.
Manufacturer Profile
HARLEY-DAVIDSON
CAPITOL DR., WAUWATOSA, WISC.PILGRIM RD., MILWAUKEE, WISC.
Technicians at plants at these twolocations build engines for Harley and Buell motorcycles. To keep up with growing demand, Harley will build 172,000 engines a year at these two plants.
EQUIPMENT SUPPLIER
Automated electrified monorail: Assembly Technology and Test Livonia, Mich. 734-522-1900
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