Honda in the driver's seat

ANNA — It says something about the state of Honda's Ohio operation that, when asked about their biggest move over the past year, their P.R. guy pauses.

This in a year when the company announced a $70 million expansion at its Russells Point plant, celebrated a 35th anniversary at its Anna plant and managed to increase production by more than 120,000 cars and light trucks over the year before. All that, and spokesman Ron Lietzke leads off with the company's considerable efforts to “green” up operations.

“On April 1, 2011, all four Honda plants in Ohio will achieve nearly zero waste going into local landfills, a major accomplishment that has involved virtually all Honda associates,” Lietzke said.

With with all of Honda's plants in Ohio, the Anna plant last year started using washable dishware as part of the initiative to eliminate all waste going into local landfills by spring 2011. Honda's plants in Ohio already had eliminated nearly all landfill waste from its manufacturing operations by reusing, recycling or processing solid waste for energy recovery. At the Anna Engine Plant and Honda Transmission, major initiatives include the recycling of all casting sands for use in cement products and as soil mulch.

The ecological move is just one aspect of Honda's growth as the company comes up on its 30th year in Ohio. Its plants have continued making significant investments to streamline plant operations, increase manufacturing capabilities and reduce impact on the environment. And the biggest news for the region, they plan to add 200,000 square feet to the Honda Transmission plant, a $70 million project that will add more than 100 new jobs at the Logan County site.

Anna is home to Honda's largest auto engine plant in the world, where Ohioans manufacture four-cylinder and V-6 engines primarily for Honda's auto plants in Ohio, Indiana and Canada. In addition to producing the engines, the plant casts and machines most of the steel and aluminum parts that go into them.

Honda also operates the Russells Point plant for the manufacturing of automatic transmissions and four-wheel-drive assemblies for automobiles produced in North America. This plant also forges and machines the high-precision gears for these products.

In addition to manufacturing, Honda has established substantial R&D and engineering operations in Ohio, along with a large regional parts distribution center and other operations that support the company's product development, manufacturing and sales in North America.

Most of all, the company is positioning itself to take advantage of what officials hope will be a serious improvment in the car market in the coming year. That means staying lean and flexible even as the company grows.

“Honda is using its flexibility to respond quickly to customer demand for its products, while also streamlining plant operations and parts logistics. This includes working in close partnership with its 600 domestic suppliers in North America, including 150 in Ohio,” Lietzke said.