Engine plant expansion helping Honda make more products in U.S.

The Honda plant in Anna is the largest Honda auto engine plant in the world, according to the company. The plant recently spent $138 million to expand its production capabilities, and it will now supply steel components for four-cylinder motors made at all of Honda’s North American plants. Those parts used to come primarily from Japan.
Business First of Columbus - by Dan Eaton

Honda spent $138 million to expand its Anna automobile engine plant, but the Shelby County operation won’t be making more engines.

The expansion, which took two years to complete, increases the plant’s steel parts production abilities and makes the 23-year-old plant the North American hub of Honda of America Manufacturing Inc.’s engine operations.

“This has been a major project,” said Honda spokesman Ron Lietzke. “It’s almost the same cost of the new engine plant in Canada.”

The work at Anna has received less public attention than Honda’s other recent North American projects, including the $550 million Greensburg auto plant that is set to open this month in Indiana and the $154 million Alliston engine plant in Ontario. But Anna project leader Jim Hranica said it is equally central to the company’s operations.

Cranking it up

Completion of the expansion is part of a worldwide production reshuffle for the auto maker.

Most manufacturing of four-cylinder motors for Honda’s auto plant in Ontario is moving to an engine plant that opened next door Sept. 15. The Anna plant will take up engine production for Honda’s Greensburg assembly operation and it will continue to make V-6 engines for the Alliston plant.

“We’ve been gearing up to do more V-6 production, but now, with the opening of Greensburg, that is swinging back to four-cylinders,” Hranica said.

The Anna plant, which opened in 1985 to build motorcycle engines, employs 2,750 workers and produces 1.2 million engines a year. The expansion added 100 jobs.

The biggest change is in the manufacture of steel component parts for the four-cylinder motors, which the engine plant will be doing for all of Honda’s North American auto plants. Those parts were mostly imported from Japan.

The Anna plant is increasing and in some cases starting production on cylinder sleeves, crankshafts, camshafts and connecting rods.

“What’s going to end up happening is where we were purchasing parts before, we’ll be able to produce them cheaper here and that’s even without shipping costs,” Hranica said.

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