Noice, Vibration and Harshness Analysis for Honda
Technical Innovation Finds True Root Cause of Customer’s Problem Yielding Significant Savings
About the Customer
Honda's first overseas subsidiary was established in 1959. The company has invested more than $10.6 billion in its North America operations, including 16 major manufacturing facilities employing more than 34,000 associates, to produce Honda and Acura automobiles, motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles, personal watercraft, lawn mowers, general-purpose engines, and other power equipment products. ATC Drivetrain has been a valued supplier to Honda since 2002 and is a three-time recipient of the Honda Supplier Award.
Customer Need
Honda was experiencing an unusually high occurrence of customer complaints due to transmission noise. In fact, up to 30% of end-user complaints in total were due to transmission noise. The original technical position or solution to the problem established in the remanufacturing process was that the gears "needed to be inspected better."
How ATC Drivetrain Delivered
ATC Drivetrain implemented Noise, Vibration, and Harshness (NVH) analysis hardware and customized software on our final QC test equipment. Unprecedented in the remanufacturing industry, each of our final QC test machines was up-fitted with this sophisticated system to analyze noise and vibrations. Our engineers worked directly with Honda engineers to develop specifications that met the same stringent criteria as used in Honda’s OE transmission plants. In the process, our engineers identified that the gears were more "victims" than cause, and that the true root cause was wear in a particular feature of the case casting.
Successful Results
The warranty rate was cut nearly in half in less than a year, and Honda has realized over $6 million in warranty costs avoided over the last three years.