Nitta Plant to become mother plant for unit production as part of process of establishing global production structure; ground-breaking ceremony for frame, cabin, vehicle assembly plant held at Koga Plant.
Hino Motors, Ltd. (Hino) is moving forward in its push to establish a global production and supply structure. To this end, the company is reorganizing and streamlining its processes, with domestic efforts centering around the Koga Plant in Ibaraki, and the Nitta Plant in Gunma.
As part of these initiatives, on February 12, the company held a ground-breaking ceremony for a large-sized engine production plant in the premises of the Nitta Plant. The company plans to relocate this process from the Hino Plant in Tokyo to the Nitta Plant, and operations at the new facility are scheduled to begin mid-2016.
The Nitta Plant currently already produces small- to medium-sized engines, so with the commencement of large engine production at the new facility, all engine production will be consolidated at Nitta.
In addition to measures for improving efficiency, the company plans to equip the new large engine plant with production-line capabilities that offer ability to produce medium-sized engines as well, giving the plant more flexibility in accommodating fluctuations in the quantities and types of engines needed.
Hino is pushing forward with the development of modularized “market best-fit products” in conjunction with the optimization of its global production and supply structure as part of the company’s efforts to deliver vehicles that meet the needs of a diverse range of customers as quickly as possible.
Parts have been broadly categorized into two categories based on a modular concept: core parts, or the essential parts that make up Hino vehicles; and peripheral parts, which are used to customize vehicles to meet customer requests. The company plans to commonalize and centrally produce the core parts in Japan.
Based on this plan, production processes for engines, transmissions and differential gear carriers will be centralized at the Nitta Plant—the mother plant for unit production—to enable integrated production. The plant will supply these components to the Koga Plant and various other plants both in Japan and overseas. The centralization and optimization of production processes are well underway, as can be seen, for example, in the start-up of the facility for differential carrier at the Nitta Plant, where the production processes to be transferred from the Hino Plant in Tokyo, starting with large-sized last July.
Additionally, just as the Nitta Plant is planned to function as the mother plant for unit production, the Koga Plant will become the mother plant for medium to large vehicle production. With the KD plant having started up in 2012 and production at the axle plant to begin in a few months, a ground-breaking ceremony was held for the frame plant, cabin plant, and vehicle assembly plant on February 9. These plants will also begin operation one-by-one from mid-2016 onward, with full-scale operations to begin at the Koga Plant early in 2017.
Through the optimization of these production and supply structures, Hino aims to improve productivity and logistical efficiency, and also to respond flexibly to the needs of the market so that we are able effectively contribute to our customers’ businesses and continue to be the brand of choice.
＜Overview of Plants＞
| Location | Nitta Plant (Gunma) |
Koga Plant (Ibaraki) |
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| Plant name | Large-sized engine plant | Chassis plant | Vehicle assembly plant | Cabin plant | |
| Axle plant | Frame plant | ||||
| Building area | Approx. 28,000㎡ | Approx. 13,000㎡ | Approx. 12,000㎡ | Approx. 61,000㎡ | Approx. 22,000㎡ |
| Start-up date | Mid-2016 | Early FY2016 | Early 2017 | Mid-2016 | Early 2017 |
