Harley-Davidson Motor Co. - V-Rod Assembly,

Kansas City , MO May 2007

Tour #1

Joshua B. Martin

Mechanical Engineering , UK Paducah Campus

Graduated from Heath High School

Harley-Davidson Motor Co.   What is a quality engineer? Basically, a quality engineer is focused on simply making a product better in the manufacturing environment. This is what I do at the Harley-Davidson motorcycle assembly plant in Kansas City . I work primarily with the V-Rod which is the fastest Harley-Davidson ever built. Harley-Davidson paired with Porsche to design the first ever, liquid cooled Harley-Davidson motorcycle. With 115HP to 125HP on the 2007 models, there is plenty of rubber burning power to make you hold on for dear life. The V-rod is assembled in 16 different stations on an assembly line. It starts in station 1 where the frame is prepared with the electrical wiring and fasteners for parts to be installed at later stations. Next is station 2, where the engine is secured to the frame. This process goes on all the way to station 16 where the final parts are put on the bike. At this point, the bike is complete with an engine, disc brakes, lights, security system, and everything else that a bike needs. The final stage is the roll test, where the bikes are actually fired up and ridden for the first time. If there are any problems with the bike, they are found in this stage so that we can ensure the customer gets a safe, great quality bike. So where do I fit in?

Lots of things can go wrong during the assembly process: tools wear out, causing stripped screw heads or nuts, body panels are scratched from dirty fixtures, or brakes fail due to a low fluid level. When these things occur, it is my job to figure out why they happen and how to fix them. For example, we had a problem with scratches appearing on the air box covers. I started to see a pattern in the location of the scratches. All the scratches were occurring right under the Harley-Davidson emblem. These emblems are placed on the cover with a plastic guide. This guide helps to ensure that all the emblems are placed in the same location on the cover. After examining the plastic guides, I discovered that they were dirty. Just a little bit of dirt caught between the guide and the paint of the cover is enough to cause serious scratches. In order to stop these scratches, I had the guides cleaned and dipped in rubber. The rubber is easier to keep clean so that the scratches don't appear again. Another example would be the brakes failing during the final roll test. During my investigation into this problem, I discovered that the brakes were failing due to the brake fluid being too low. The fluid fill process occurs in station 15 on the assembly line. This is accomplished by a machine that attaches to three fill points on the bike. This machine applies a vacuum to the brake system in order to test for leaks. The fill process is interrupted if a leak is detected, so I inspected the machine. I discovered the o-ring on the middle brake fill attachment had a tiny tear which was causing the bikes to fail the leak test. This, in turn, was causing the bikes to be low on brake fluid - just a couple of examples of the assembly problems we encounter everyday. That's part of what makes this job interesting, because it requires constant problem solving. The problems are ever changing and sometimes you get stuck and need a little help.

 There are many people that help me do my job. I go to meetings everyday, sometimes two or three a day. Each meeting has a different focus with a different group of people, but they all have the same purpose: to make a better product for the customer. The meetings I attend include the audit meeting, process operations group meeting (POG), resource work group meeting (RWG), quality operation support role (OSR), production meeting, and the inventory organization meeting.

Everyday, a bike is pulled off of the assembly line by an auditor. The bike is then thoroughly inspected for anything that doesn't match Harley-Davidson's guidelines. The torques on all screws and bolts are checked as well as the fluid levels and the alignment of the wheels. The audit meeting is held the following day. Any problems that were found with the bikes are discussed in this meeting and I am responsible for answering for V-rod. I investigate the problems found and report my findings to the auditors in the next audit meeting.

I also take part in the process operations group meeting or POG. This meeting happens every Wednesday and is focused more on process issues on the line. The assemblers on the line are broken up into five work groups. The members of the POG consist of the engineers from V-rod and one representative from each of the work groups. We discuss scheduling and overtime as well as any current quality issues.

The resource work group meeting or RWG is held every Tuesday and the members consist of the Kansas City plant engineers and the resident engineer from the product development center. The focus of this meeting is current quality issues as well as new product developments that will be implemented in the near future. This gives us a chance to prepare for design changes and new model year production. When a new product or change is introduced, new tooling and fixtures have to be produced to ensure timely production and good quality products.

Each work group as well as the engineering team appoints a quality operation support role or OSR. I am the quality OSR for the engineering team, and I meet with the other quality OSRs every Monday. I am also the facilitator for this meeting which means that I come up with the agenda for the meeting and steer the focus of the group. We discuss current quality issues and ways to fix them. The OSRs communicate this information back to the other members of their work groups so that everyone is aware of the process changes that were discussed.

Fenders, body panels, frames, and tanks are made in fabrication. These parts then go to paint where multiple layers of primer and paint are applied. The parts then go to the assembly lines to be put on bikes. The production meeting is held every morning at the start of production. This meeting is focused on the production numbers from the previous day for the entire plant. Scheduled overtime is discussed as well as the status of parts supply. This is why the production meeting is important. Representatives from every area of the plant attend this meeting so that everyone is aware of the production of the entire plant. This is how we know which parts may be in short supply. If V-rod decides to run an extra hour, then paint has to schedule overtime to support us. If paint works overtime, then fabrication has to work overtime to support paint. It's a chain reaction.

This co-op has definitely been and continues to be a great experience. It's a little less "technical" than I had envisioned; however, the engineering team has been supportive in listening to my concerns and adjusting my responsibilities to further my knowledge and experience. I would recommend this co-op to anyone looking to gain some hands on experience in a real life manufacturing environment. The most valuable lesson I've gained from this experience is understanding the importance of being able to work on a team. Not just engineers, but assemblers, mechanics, paint buffers, truck drivers, and many others. Effective communication with your "team" is imperative.