Why Royal Enfields new plant means better quality motorcycles
Ever since Royal Enfield started its operations in India they have been based at their manufacturing facility at Thiruvottiyur in Chennai. This was in 1955 and since then RE has proudly manufactured its motorcycles that have been 'handcrafted in Chennai'. Even though they faced a slump a few years back, they have steadily been clawing back their stake in the motorcycle market in India with a steady onslaught of new models. This started with the Electra and Thunderbird to the more recent Classic 500, Desert Storm and the Thunderbird 500. But a growing portfolio is not the only factor that defines the success of a motorcycle manufacturer. With waiting periods that are running close to an entire year, an expansion in production capacity has never been more necessary than now.
This is exactly what Royal Enfield's new manufacturing facility at Oragadam hopes to accomplish. With the first motorcycle assembled at the new plant being rolled out RE hopes to be able to better cater to a demand and supply situation that is leaning heavily towards the deficit side of the spectrum. The Chennai based manufacturer hopes to increase their production to 2.5 lakh units per year by 2014 thanks to this plant. Right now, the 50-acre facility has an installed capacity of 1.75 lakh units which the manufacturer hopes to hit by the end of this financial year. This shouldn't be too hard considering demand has almost doubled for Royal Enfields over each of the past two years.
When asked about the product split among models between the two factories, RE said that both facilities will together handle manufacturing of the entire range. While the paintwork and final motorcycle assembly will be moved to the new plant, engine assembly will remain at Thiruvottiyur. The new plant features state of the art assembly lines and an all new paint shop capable of handling everything from the base coats to final finish of all components (chroming however will still be done from the old plant). While there are provisions for moving engine assembly to the new plant, RE doesn't seem to be in a hurry. Right now they are looking at rapidly increasing dependency on the new plant while proportionally reducing that on the old plant.
The Oragadam plant has a higher level of automation than the older one with state of the art inventory and assembly systems being put into place. RE says that the quality of products coming from the new facility will see a significant increase. They are also looking at implementing a chassis/ engine number based data bank which will hold all data about motorcycles assembled at the plant. This, they feel, will help greatly in diagnosing issues with the motorcycle in after sale.
While the assembly system in place at the new plant will definitely aid in improving quality of products a great deal, we feel a more comprehensive improvement would have been possible had engine assembly systems too been revamped at the same time. With the new plant, fit and finish will definitely improve but whether this quality improvement will trickle down to engine components since the Thiruvottiyur plant can now afford to concentrate more on machining and assembling engines remains to be seen.
