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Executive Report: High-powered Honda Alan Guthrie visited Honda’s massive European hub in Ghent to find out the reasons for the popularity of the manufacturer’s industrial engine range, and the extensive backup it offers to the hire industry. Stop to consider your company’s hire fleet for a moment and you will probably be struck by how many machines in it are powered by Honda petrol engines. Indeed, the manufacturer estimates that its share of the market for supplying power units for products in the industrial, lawn and garden, and construction markets could be as high as 80% in the UK. Since the mid 1980s, it claims to have sold more than 1.5 million engines in this country, averaging over 100,000 per annum. Honda Europe, based at Ghent in Belgium, serves the manufacturer’s markets in the UK and other countries, supplying engines, spares and technical support, as well as logistical backup, across its entire product portfolio, including cars, motorcycles, power equipment and accessories. Honda prides itself on the scale and reach of its operation and can supply 98% of parts to dealers within 24 hours. Massive Ghent complex EHN recently visited the Ghent facility with personnel from Honda Engines UK and Bolton-based Seddons (Plant & Engineers), Honda’s largest UK power equipment dealer, which last year acquired the special engine and generator dealership, Brownpower of Rugby, itself a Honda dealer. The massive Ghent complex also includes Honda’s European Engine Centre (EEC), created in 1994 to develop sales and to form closer relationships with customers and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). EEC Business Unit Manager, Patrick Desmet, says Honda describes this as ‘glocalisation’, combining a global focus with local requirements, and with production close to sales markets so that appropriate solutions can be developed for specific customer needs. As John Lancaster, one of the Honda Engines UK Area Managers, based at Swindon, says “we aim to work closely with OEMs as they build prototype machines, assessing them for power output, noise, emissions, and other criteria, and we can approve the use of the engine for that application. This helps develop better products.” The engine line-up ranges from 1.5-24hp. It includes light-duty models, typically for consumer equipment, and heavy-duty engines for professional products like those in hire fleets, such as concrete mixers, compaction plates, vibrating pokers, rammers, generators, welders, pressure washers, floor saws, rotavators and many other gardening and landscaping machines. The most commonly used engines are those between 1.5-13hp, and particularly the models in the 5-6hp category. Hugely popular GX engine range Patrick Desmet believes that Honda’s strong market position was achieved following the launch of its GX four-stroke overhead valve engine range in the 1980s, which has been constantly upgraded and is still hugely popular. “It set a trend in motion. Manufacturers, hirers and users liked their easy starting, cleaner combustion, low fuel and oil consumption, and reliability. An inclined cylinder made the engines lighter and more compact, and oil alert was incorporated.” The current GX range includes horizontal and vertical shaft designs and meet the strictest CARB and EPA standards. A dedicated 8,000m2 warehouse in Ghent can accommodate 145,000 engines, and extra storage is available during peak periods. During EHN’s visit, 140,000 engines were in stock, 50% of which had already been ordered by customers. The site also houses a huge spare parts warehouse which features sophisticated computerised systems for rapid and precise picking, packing and despatch throughout the Honda Europe network. There are more than 300,000 parts numbers of products for Honda engines, motorbikes, cars and power equipment. Honda continues to develop its engine technology, such as the innovative iGX440 engine. The power unit has an electronic control unit that can regulate the throttle, choke, ignition timing and oil alert system, and a programmable governor gives operational flexibility and facilitates troubleshooting. This had led to the development of water pumps that can be automatically activated by remote switches based on water level, lawnmowers that can automatically vary engine speed based on load so that the engine does not slow down in thick grass, generators that can start automatically as required and stop or return to idle when not in use, and pressure washers that automatically start or stop when the user squeezes or releases the trigger handle (as EHN first reported in September 2006, Demon International has worked with the company to develop its Tornado P5 pressure washer incorporating the iGX440 engine). As well as improving operational flexibility, this helps reduce emissions and fuel consumption. Other developments include digital ignition for mini four-stroke engines, and ‘start up’ oil alert for use on mixers and rammers, developed with input from hirers as well as OEMs. Reducing engine emissions Honda is also working to reduce the emissions from all its general-purpose engines sold in Europe. It is tackling hydrocarbon emissions that are a known cause of urban ozone, and reports that it has achieved reductions in levels of hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides of 17%. Developments such as this are significant, as more hirers are seeking to reduce their - and their customers’ - carbon footprints. An indication of the popularity of Honda engines within the hire industry is the number of suppliers offering Honda-powered equipment that will be exhibiting at the Executive Hire Show on 6 and 7 February. These include Belle, Brendon, Camon, Cormidi, Demon, Dynapac, Hilta, Husqvarna, Imer, JCB, Karcher, MBW, Midland Power, Muck Truck, Multiquip, Pramac, SDMO, SPE, Saint-Gobain, Stephill, Terex, Timberwolf, Trelawny and Wacker, amongst others. Seddons, which has been a Honda Engines and Power equipment dealer since 1981, will also be exhibiting, with a line-up including its own Seddons Johnson Bowser Jetter and its high-tip tracked power dumpers. “As a Honda dealer, we can provide the equipment, parts and support that OEMs and hirers need, as well as advice on appropriate replacement engines,” says Phil Winnington, Seddons’ Sales & Marketing Director. “We also supply direct to smaller OEMs with reduced production runs, where it is more efficient and effective for us to work with them at an individual level. Both Seddons and Brownpower have more than 2,000 engines and literally millions of pounds worth of spares readily available, across a network of regional depots. In 2006, Seddons supplied more than 60,000 Honda parts and helped many hirers identify the correct spares to service their machinery. “Above all, as part of the Honda Europe network, we can provide hirers with the service they need in order to maximise hire revenues, with rapid parts delivery, and we can also arrange training for workshop personnel either at our training facilities or at their own premises. Honda petrol engines are proven throughout the industry, fitters working in hirers’ service departments are familiar with them, and their reliability means that, in many instances, quick payback periods can be achieved.” • Executive Hire News › Archives › November 2007 › Executive Report › High-powered Honda
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