Manufacturing New Value

On the left is a conventional aluminum cylinder with a steel liner for the inner wall. On the right is the Yamaha "DiASil Cylinder" that needs no liner or cylinder wall plating. As a unit well suited to the mass-production of high-performance, low-cost cylinders, the DiASil Cylinder manufacturing technology was successful transferred to our manufacturing base in Indonesia.

In 2004 Yamaha Motor successfully developed for the first time in the world a mass-production method for an all-aluminum (sleeveless, un-coated) cylinder named the "DiASil Cylinder" (*1). The production method for this DiASil Cylinder is in fact the fruit of Yamaha's advanced die-casting technology known as the "CF (controlled filling) Aluminum Die Casting Technology" that we have been developing for some years now. Conventional aluminum cylinders for motorcycles have either a cast steel sleeve or nickel plating on the inner wall of the cylinder to improve resistance to abrasion and prevent piston freeze-up. With Yamaha's DiASil Cylinder no liner or plating is needed (see photo). That makes this a mass-production aluminum cylinder with excellent cooling performance as well as nearly full recycle-ability at the end of its product life.
This is another example of how Yamaha's philosophy of customer-oriented product creation is firmly implanted in our manufacturing technology as well. As a high-performance, low-cost cylinder that can be mass-produced, the DiASil Cylinder is a very effective manufacturing technology for the ASEAN region, one of the largest motorcycle markets in the world. When it came time for Yamaha to launch a new flagship model for the ASEAN market, the "T135," plans were initiated for it to use the DiASil Cylinder, and at the same time a project was launched to transfer its high-level manufacturing technology to the Yamaha manufacturing base in Indonesia. Staff from Japan and Indonesia worked together on this project and cleared one hurdle after another until the production of these cylinders was successfully started in Indonesia. Now many customers in the ASEAN region who rely on motorcycles in their daily lives are benefiting from the performance and cost efficiency of the world's first all-aluminum cylinder.

*1 DiASil: The name DiASil stands for Die casting Aluminum-Silicon alloy. An even distribution of hard silicon particles in this alloy greatly increases the abrasion resistance of the aluminum.

Thinner and larger parts for next-generation engineering and manufacturing
Aluminum is light and highly rust (oxidation) resistant and easily manufactured, which is why it is used abundantly in motorcycle and outboard motor parts. However, with conventional die casting methods (*2) it was difficult to manufacture aluminum parts that were both large and thin-walled, and this remained a technological problem in the industry. When Yamaha succeeded in the development of its exclusive CF Aluminum Die Casting Technology this important hurdle was finally cleared and the way was opened to next-generation mass production methods for aluminum parts. With this CF Aluminum Die Casting Technology, the number of pieces needed to make components like motorcycle frames can be greatly reduced along with their overall weight. This also simplifies the manufacturing and assembly processes. In 2007, Yamaha also succeeded in the development of a CF Magnesium Die Casting Technology that made it possible for Yamaha to introduce the world's first magnesium rear frame on a production model for our YZF-R6.

*2 Die casting: In this casting method, molten metal is forced into a metal mold (die) at high pressure.

Theoretical value production, an ongoing quest
Industrial engineering is an analytical method used in analyzing work efficiency. In the factory where Yamaha motorcycles are assembled, a further advancement of this method is used to calculate how much time is theoretically needed to perform each job, and this has led to an exclusive concept we call "theoretical value production." In this concept, the theoretical figure is in effect time that consists purely of "value work." "Theoretical figures" are applied to all work processes in our efforts to further improve productivity in our factories.

Removing organizational boundaries - Yamaha's System Supplier (SyS) system
In Yamaha's motorcycle operations we have adopted a System Supplier (SyS) system that combines the organizational functions of development, manufacturing and procurement into single SyS units for each part or component. By removing the boundaries between these organizational bodies, the parts production process can be made simultaneous in ways that improve quality and reduce lead times, while also improving cost consciousness. At the same time, this system is involved in instruction and training of specialists in our motorcycle manufacturing bases around the world.