indians?
- Thread starter models916
- Start date
Here's a little reading on it.
:
Building the Powerplus 100
Performance Assembly Solutions (PAS) is a joint venture between Uniboring (Howell, MI) and Roush Industries (Livonia, MI) that has the ability to take an engine from concept to assembly. With the start of production of the Indian Powerplus 100 engine, it assumes full responsibility for the engine, supplying complete units to Indian as a Tier 1 supplier.
"Based on the assumptions Indian asked us to quote to and what we think is realistic," says Chris Zucker, vice president and general manager of PAS, "we have nine people assembling the engine. So at 110 engines per week, seven are direct assemblers and two are support people." The total area dedicated to assembling the Powerplus 100 is 1,500 ft2.
"Just like we do with the OEMs [PAS was involved on the Aston Martin V12 and builds crate motors for GM's aftermarket unit], we insist that all of our sub-suppliers prove that they are capable of manufacturing the pieces to part-print tolerances with some statistical control," says Zucker. PAS has APQP (Advanced Product Quality Planning) meetings with its suppliers to identify all open issues, and determine whether or not a defect will be caught before reaching the customer. If not, further investigation is done in order to find a solution that works.
Uniboring supplies the finished cylinder jugs, case, and cylinder head castings, while Roush is involved with validating the finished engine. "Roush does 100% cold-test on the Indian engine," says Zucker, "measuring torque-to-turn, oil pressure, oil flow, and compression." In addition, one out of every 30 engines is pulled and sent to Roush where a friction stabilization test and performance verification run are performed. "If that engine meets specification," says Zucker, "and the other engines in that batch have passed their cold-test requirements, they are released for shipment to Indian."
Balancing production flow won't be easy, especially when the supply base stretches from California to the Midwest, and includes Japan. "On certain parts, like the cases, cylinder head and jugs," says Zucker, "we should be able to keep enough of a flow going, based on cycle time, for Uniboring to keep a couple of CNC machines busy all the time." And though Zucker would like to run with a two-week inventory, he knows some parts will have to be built in batches, then shipped to the assembly facility. To make certain no problem pieces are left waiting on the shelf, Zucker plans to sample each lot, and put the remainder on the shelf. "That way," he remarks, "you'll know if you have an inherent problem."
And adding a motorcycle engine to the company's repertoire is an opportunity, not a problem in Zucker's eyes. "We like the diversity of being in the transportation industry, but not on the automobile side with this project," he says, though he's confident that building the Powerplus 100 will "increase our business in that market." He's probably right.
: Building the Powerplus 100
Performance Assembly Solutions (PAS) is a joint venture between Uniboring (Howell, MI) and Roush Industries (Livonia, MI) that has the ability to take an engine from concept to assembly. With the start of production of the Indian Powerplus 100 engine, it assumes full responsibility for the engine, supplying complete units to Indian as a Tier 1 supplier.
"Based on the assumptions Indian asked us to quote to and what we think is realistic," says Chris Zucker, vice president and general manager of PAS, "we have nine people assembling the engine. So at 110 engines per week, seven are direct assemblers and two are support people." The total area dedicated to assembling the Powerplus 100 is 1,500 ft2.
"Just like we do with the OEMs [PAS was involved on the Aston Martin V12 and builds crate motors for GM's aftermarket unit], we insist that all of our sub-suppliers prove that they are capable of manufacturing the pieces to part-print tolerances with some statistical control," says Zucker. PAS has APQP (Advanced Product Quality Planning) meetings with its suppliers to identify all open issues, and determine whether or not a defect will be caught before reaching the customer. If not, further investigation is done in order to find a solution that works.
Uniboring supplies the finished cylinder jugs, case, and cylinder head castings, while Roush is involved with validating the finished engine. "Roush does 100% cold-test on the Indian engine," says Zucker, "measuring torque-to-turn, oil pressure, oil flow, and compression." In addition, one out of every 30 engines is pulled and sent to Roush where a friction stabilization test and performance verification run are performed. "If that engine meets specification," says Zucker, "and the other engines in that batch have passed their cold-test requirements, they are released for shipment to Indian."
Balancing production flow won't be easy, especially when the supply base stretches from California to the Midwest, and includes Japan. "On certain parts, like the cases, cylinder head and jugs," says Zucker, "we should be able to keep enough of a flow going, based on cycle time, for Uniboring to keep a couple of CNC machines busy all the time." And though Zucker would like to run with a two-week inventory, he knows some parts will have to be built in batches, then shipped to the assembly facility. To make certain no problem pieces are left waiting on the shelf, Zucker plans to sample each lot, and put the remainder on the shelf. "That way," he remarks, "you'll know if you have an inherent problem."
And adding a motorcycle engine to the company's repertoire is an opportunity, not a problem in Zucker's eyes. "We like the diversity of being in the transportation industry, but not on the automobile side with this project," he says, though he's confident that building the Powerplus 100 will "increase our business in that market." He's probably right.