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Honda recently honored 16 suppliers that provide indirect products and services to five Honda automotive plants in Ohio and Indiana. Driven by record auto production in North America in 2014, Honda also announced that purchasing for Maintenance, Repair and Operational (MRO) services in the Central Region set a record of $1.5 billion for the fiscal year ending March 2015.

The MRO purchasing milestone resulted in the production of 905,485 automobiles in the region at three auto plants in Marysville and East Liberty, Ohio, and Greensburg, Ind. MRO purchasing also supports operations of Honda's engine plant in Anna, Ohio and transmission plant in Russells Point, Ohio.

Different from suppliers that provide parts and materials for the mass production of Honda products, the more than 5,000 MRO suppliers support Honda plants by providing a wide variety of equipment, products and services that support the manufacturing of automobiles, as well as their engines and transmissions. These companies include local businesses as well as national companies, and many have grown along with the expansion of Honda's automobile manufacturing in North America since Honda began U.S. auto production at the Marysville Auto Plant in 1982.

"Indirect suppliers support nearly every aspect of our business," said Tom Lake, vice president for Purchasing at Honda North America, "The 16 suppliers recognized today have truly gone above and beyond, providing extraordinary support to Honda in 2014. We never could have achieved so much in a single year without their strong efforts."

In 2014, Honda manufactured a record 1.8 million automobiles in North America, which led to the purchase of $26.3 billion in parts and materials in the region from 713 parts suppliers, also an all-time annual record. Parts purchasing for Honda plants in Indiana and Ohio last year totaled $11.9 billion from suppliers in North America, including more than 200 in Ohio and Indiana.

The 16 award winning suppliers were honored for achievements in the categories of Special Recognition, Outstanding Value, Performance Excellence and Supplier of the Year at a ceremony at the Honda Heritage Center in Marysville, Ohio.

Bill Easdale, vice president of Honda of America Mfg., Inc., talked to suppliers about the importance on the new Technical Development Center at the Honda Heritage Center and the importance placed on making sure associates are prepared for the high-tech manufacturing challenges of the future.

"We are committed to innovation and continuous improvement," Easdale said. "So, as technology changes we often replace equipment and you can see that in all of our plants which remain state of the art even decades after beginning production."

Easdale continued, "But our spirit of renewal is completely different with people. As the technologies in our products and in our processes become more complex, we don't replace our associates," he said. "We help them develop new skills. In this way they, too, stay current with this fast-changing industry."

About Honda in Ohio and Indiana

Honda of America Mfg., Inc. employs 10,000 Ohioans at the Marysville Auto Plant, East Liberty Auto Plant and Anna Engine Plant, along with operations that support its manufacturing.
With capacity to produce 440,000 automobiles per year, the Marysville plant currently is producing the Accord Sedan, Coupe and Hybrid models, and the Acura TLX and ILX Sedans. The East Liberty plant produces the Honda CR-V and Crosstour, and the Acura RDX, with capacity to manufacture 240,000 automobiles per year.

Honda's engine plant in Anna, Ohio has capacity to produce more than 1.18 million V-6 and four-cylinder engines per year, primarily for Honda's auto plants in Ohio, Indiana and Canada. In addition to production of these engines along with high-precision steel engine components, the Anna plant also manufactures sophisticated pulley components for Honda's continuously variable transmissions (CVTs).

Located in Russells Point, Ohio, Honda Transmission Mfg. of America, Inc. employs 1,125 associates and has capacity to produce more than 1 million automatic transmissions and CVTs per year. The plant also manufactures gear sets, four-wheel-drive systems and four-wheel-drive transfer components.

Honda Manufacturing Indiana, LLC (HMIN) in Greensburg, Ind., became Honda's fourth auto plant in the U.S. and its seventh in North America when it began production of Civic sedans in October 2008. With employment over 2,000 and capital investment exceeding $800 million, HMIN primarily manufactures automobiles for the United States, with some Civics produced for export to markets outside of North America. HMIN maintains one of the lowest environmental footprints of any automobile plant in Honda's global production network.

About Honda in North America
Honda established operations in America in 1959 and now employs more than 40,000 associates in its North American sales, R&D and manufacturing operations with total capital investment in North America exceeding $22 billion. Based on its longstanding commitment to "build products close to the customer," Honda operates 16 major manufacturing facilities in North America producing a wide range of Honda and Acura automobiles, automobile engines and transmissions, Honda all-terrain vehicles, power equipment products, such as lawn mowers, mini-tillers and general purpose engines, and the HondaJet advanced light jet.
Eight Honda auto plants in the region, including four in the U.S., have the capacity to produce 1.92 million automobiles each year. In 2014, more than 97 percent of the Honda and Acura automobiles sold in the U.S. were produced in North America. Those plants today manufacture 12 different models, including five passenger cars and seven light trucks using domestic and globally sourced parts. A fifth U.S. auto plant, the Performance Manufacturing Center, is under construction in Marysville, Ohio, and will be the exclusive global production location for the next generation Acura NSX supercar. Honda also operates 14 major research and development centers in the U.S. with the capacity to fully design, develop and engineer many of the products Honda produces in North America.

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