Honda engineers embrace Lean Manufacturing principles in Tiger Motors Lab
Published: May 10, 2024 11:45 AM
By Carla Nelson
More than 30 Honda Alabama Auto Plant employees recently visited Auburn University’s campus to participate in Lean Manufacturing training hosted by Industrial and Systems Engineering’s (ISE) Tiger Motors Lab.
The training, led by Tom Devall, director of the Auto Manufacturing Initiatives in ISE, was a full day that included lessons on standardization and continuous improvement, as well as Lean and mass production runs in the Tiger Motors Lab, commonly referred to as the Lego Lab.
The Auburn University Samuel Ginn College of Engineering and Honda Alabama currently have an educational partnership in place through which more than 15 Honda associates are pursuing online graduate certificates through ISE. This on-campus activity was an opportunity for employees to receive hands-on experience while exposing additional Honda associates to the teachings.
Cody Cline, a manufacturing controls senior engineer, is currently earning the Automotive Manufacturing Systems graduate certificate. The Lean Manufacturing course was part of his graduate work, and he was excited to have the opportunity to visit the lab.
“Seeing how an assembly line can run Lean without needing large inventories of parts lineside or in buffers between departments was so informative,” he said. “By seeing how a pull system works in practice, I was really able to connect the concept to a real-world scenario.”
Brian Burton, a manufacturing process senior engineer, said understanding Lean Manufacturing principles and applications is important for the engineers and daily operations.
“The training was awesome,” Burton said. “Our instructor, Mr. Tom Devall, delivered excellent course content and shared more than a century of manufacturing knowledge. With his industry experience dating back to the late ’70s, he explained how automotive manufacturers share similar systems, methodologies and most importantly, why. The training turned into an enlightening history lesson.”
Burton added that he thoroughly enjoyed the lab activities and found that many concepts were directly related to his job at Honda.
“I will continue to work at reducing waste in our processes and work to understand concerns from the floor to make improvements for production,” he said. “As engineers, our purpose every day is not to build cars, it’s to get better. That lesson from the training gave me a different perspective of approaching my daily work.”
Media Contact: , carla@auburn.edu, 334-844-1404
The Lean Manufacturing training, led by Tom Devall, director of the Auto Manufacturing Initiatives in ISE, was a full day that included lessons on standardization and continuous improvement, as well as Lean and mass production runs in the Tiger Motors Lab, commonly referred to as the Lego Lab.
