Evolution of the rotary engine
Hiroshima city is the home base of Japanese automaker Mazda Motor Corporation (MMC), whose humble beginnings started
out as a cork manufacturer for bottles in 1920 before emerging as one of the world's premier automobile
manufacturer that spawned the unique rotary engine. It is awe-inspiring, even to the average motoring journalist, when
one considers how a huge atomic ball of fire razed the city to the ground to end the Second World War _ and how its
people, MMC in particular, picked up the pieces and rebuilt the port city of Hiroshima and its automobile industry into
a sprawling industrial metropolis. HIROSHIMA PLANT Approximately 18,000 employees work at ``Mazda city'' in
Hiroshima, while MMC takes immense pride in being the only automaker in the world that makes benzene, diesel and rotary
internal combustion engines. The latest metamorphosis of the rotary engine is the 1.3-litre powertrain of the Mazda RX-8
that has about 250 horses under its bonnet. The Hiroshima plant has a 400,000-unit annual capacity and does commercial
vehicle and passenger car, engine and transmission assembly. Mazda is particularly proud of its Mazda Digital Innovation
(MDI) project (see sidebar), which is the 3D simulation of actual manufacturing processes resulting in cost savings of
up to 30%. ``Instead of the trial and error procedures in making stamping parts or crash tests, Mazda does it on a
computer.'' said Papon Ratanachaikanon, marketing manager for Mazda Sales Thailand. Mazda achieved profits of
65 billion yen (approximately 22.75 billion baht) last year. Yours truly felt like Tomb Raider's Lara Croft upon
arrival at Hiroshima because the new 2.3-litre I4 engine was in Japan while the Ford Escape sport utility
(Tribute's twin sibling) with cosmetic changes was being tested simultaneously in Australia _ on a par with Ms
Croft's save-the-world scenario which involved going to opposite ends of the world at Cambodia's Angkor Wat
and Siberia. The motoring world will have to wait for the culmination of Mazda's I4 2.3-litre engine in Hiroshima
and the new Escape in Australia _ in order to realise what the Mazda Tribute has to offer. Shifting gears back to the
Hiroshima plant, one is quickly reminded that this is the only rotary plant in the world. No one else makes the
triangular-shaped rotors that do the work of your conventional cylinder-piston action except Mazda. HOFU PLANT About 60%
of Mazda's total domestic production originates from the Hofu plant which has an emphasis on passenger car
production. Located about 130km from Hiroshima, it consists of sister plants in the Nishinoura and Nakanoseki districts
which are responsible for passenger car assembly and transmission assembly respectively. Both have their own shipping
yard for the domestic market. A total of 5,753,000 vehicle units have been produced at the Nishinoura plant as of last
year. The facility sits on 240,000 square metres of land with the 3, 6, Premacy and Tribute as its core products. The
Nakanoseki plant has an accumulative production record of 21.5 million units as of last year. Manned by a workforce of
630, its 90,000-square-metre factory space sits on 500,000 square metres of land. According to plant manager S.
Tachikake, Mazda owns the most advanced module system _ assembly of many components into a large single piece or module.
The advantage of the module system has allowed Mazda to reduce work stations from 200 to 119 _ with a 40% reduction in
production line process and 30% increase in productivity. In a nutshell, Mazda showed its stamping shop which featured
three ultra-large 5,200-tonne transfer press machines and 25 smaller press machines, and 1,243 die operations; the body
assembly shop which was manned by 894 robots. Other highlights were the unique triangular rotation fixture and the
flexible mixed-model body assembly line that enables new models to be introduced without any down time on the line; the
paint shop which was off limits but boasts a unique three-layer wet paint system that reduces volatile organic compounds
by 50%, energy by 20% and costs by 25%; the trim and final assembly shop; final inspection where various test procedures
and visual inspection are carried out on each vehicle; and the shipping yards of the Nishioura and Nakanoseki plants
where deliveries for the domestic and export markets are made respectively.
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