Plant plays a part in Mazda's SKYACTIV plans

Mazda is tackling the rush into new automotive technology from above and below the waterline. The tip of the iceberg, to use the manufacturer's own metaphor, is the SKYACTIV vehicle systems technology. SKYACTIV will keep Mazda at the forefront of drivetrain technology through to 2020 and beyond, the company anticipates.

But as automotive technology progresses, staying with the rivals (or preferably ahead of them) will require faster response times from R&D teams, faster implementation of new production facilities and enhanced workflow processes for improved economies of scale and cost efficiencies. All this is encapsulated in Mazda's Monotsukuri Innovation.

One example of 'MI' in action is the Mazda3 SP20 SKYACTIV (pictured) — a car that costs less than hybrids, delivers levels of fuel economy similar to a diesel of commensurate specification, but is a petrol-engined car that's easy to drive and concedes nothing in terms of comfort, safety and performance.

While the mechanicals are the major factor in the SP20's all-round competence, the car's competitive pricing stems from the company being able to build its 2.0-litre engine on the same production line as a 1.3-litre SKY-G engine that shares its architecture — and the Cyclone 3.7-litre V6 that powers the CX-9. The V6 is an engine very different in character, but the production line can work flexibly with all three engines by virtue of generic machines, readily redeployable variable jigs and higher levels of automation.

Automation combined with flexibility can typically slow the output rate, but Mazda has compensated in other ways; increasing the speed of the processes for tightening fasteners fitted to the engines, for example. Mazda has also developed a means of machining the engine blocks faster, for the same reason, and the engines are transported around the plant from one process to the next by overhead carrier robots. This marks a significant reduction in time taken, in contrast with traditional methods of drawing batches of engines around the plant on a trolley.

Cyclone and SKYACTIV engines can be built alongside each other even though the manufacturing times are different for the two units. The Cyclone V6 takes 7.83 minutes longer than the SKYACTIV engines, so Mazda introduced a bypass conveyor that allows the SKYACTIV engines to leapfrog the V6s on the line.

With the added flexibility the MI process has brought to the engine plant at Hiroshima — and the SKY-D diesel engine is planned to go into production there as well — Mazda has seen total efficiency improve 10 per cent to 95 per cent. The time required to produce engine blocks has fallen from 6.6 hours to 1.3 hours — an 80 per cent gain.

And MI is also carried through to vehicle assembly. Mazda has established innovative tools and procedures to allow flexible vehicle production at higher output rates without risk to the workers and without added cost. During a visit to the plant, motoring.com.au was shown the 'Jumping Grasshopper', a stretcher-like trolley for the transportation of parts over steps and platforms where there's no room for ramps.

The Jumping Grasshopper is just one labour-saving device developed by Mazda's production engineers to improve efficiency and occupational safety on the factory floor. Above the factory floor the carrier robots can work flexibly with vehicles of different dimensions to move the bodies from one process to another, just like the engines. The line moves so fast that the engines are fitted as the body moves along the line. There's no stopping for what is the most important major sub-assembly in the car.

According to Mazda, all the innovative production processes in the world wouldn't help if the company were building engines and bodies as it had done in the past. MI relies on a common architecture concept and bundled production planning, which incorporates design trends between five and 10 years ahead in the development of new vehicles. Mazda is working on a common architecture plan based around five phases. Currently the company is at Phase 3 — variants in the same market segment based on a mother platform. In actuality, the company is yet to catch up with most Australian manufacturers, which seem to be at Phase 4 already: multiple models in same/near segments, with multiple top hats and built from modules and parts spanning the various models.

The ultimate goal for Mazda is to reach Phase 5, which is bundled product planning for all models, multiple top hats for models in multiple segments and all built on standard, but modular platforms.

Common architecture will come to rely on a series of common elements and variable elements. The latter comprise overhangs, floor height and wheelbase, but many, if not most structural elements will be shared. Four examples of this idea at work provided by Mazda were the C-segment sedan (Mazda3), C-segment SUV/MPV (Mazda5/Premacy, CX-5/7), C/D sedan (Mazda6) and C/D SUV/MPV (CX-9). It's planned for all of these distinct models to be built on the same production line, sharing much of the platform architecture. Heavier duty vehicles (such as SUVs) will be built with more structural members, for added strength. For the moment, just two of the models are built on the vehicle assembly line at Hiroshima: the Mazda5/Premacy and the CX-7.

The visit to the plant at Hiroshima was interesting for the way Mazda's MI processes contrasted with what we see in place at Altona, Campbellfield and Elizabeth. Australian plants have developed flexible production methods almost by evolutionary process forced upon the respective companies by costs and declining sales. Mazda's production processes are headed in the same direction — but by design.

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