Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. (Tokyo:7272) has newly established the CN1 carbon-neutral mass-production painting line at its Iwata Main Factory, and began painting motorcycle fuel tanks on February 20. The new painting line uses electricity for all processes that previously used fossil fuels, including pre-treatment, painting, baking, and drying. CN1 is also the motorcycle industry’s first all-electric product painting line in operation (according to Yamaha Motor research).
Conventional painting lines use fossil fuels for each process, such as heating paint and other liquids, heating and humidifying the paint booth, and baking and drying. However, the new CN1 painting line achieves all-electric operation by combining and clearing a variety of technical requirements, such as paints usable at lower temperatures developed together with a paint manufacturer, a compact facility design, and new insulation and air supply recycling technologies.
In addition, innovations in the painting process will also contribute to the creation of new product value and appeal, such as enabling colors and expressions not possible with conventional lines. The new line also contributes to a simpler preparation process that shortens manufacturing lead times, improves high-mix low-volume production capabilities, enables traceability for individual parts, provides a more comfortable working environment that makes line work easier, and more.
Yamaha Motor, in line with its Yamaha Motor Group Environmental Plan 2050, is working toward being carbon-neutral* throughout all of its supply chains, including the company’s business activities by 2050. Furthermore, with Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions, our plans to achieve carbon neutrality at our manufacturing sites – including at group companies – by 2035 and the introduction of this new paint line is part of that goal.
*Emissions as a direct result of business activities (Scope 1 and 2) and emissions outside of these (Scope 3)
