Honda Parts Maker Expands Kentucky Plant

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Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated, Houston, Texas). Richmond Auto Parts Technology (RAPT), a subsidiary of Aichi Kiki Company Limited (Nagoya, Japan), part of the Honda Group (Japan), is undertaking a third expansion at its Richmond, Kentucky, plant. The plant produces gears for Honda North America Incorporated (Torrance, California). Construction is scheduled to begin March 1, and be finished October 31, 2003. Denham-Blythe (Lexington, Kentucky) has been chosen as general contractor for the project, and major contracts have already been awarded.

The $3.5 million project includes the addition of another 87,000 square feet of manufacturing space to the existing 100,000 square foot plant, with a high bay to accommodate heat-treat operations, and 20,000 square feet of new warehouse space.

Adjacent to the expanding RAPT plant, a sister company, Asahi Forge of America, a recently-formed division of Asahi Forge Company Limited (Niwa-gun, Aichi, Japan), is building a 65,000 square foot plant, representing a $19 million investment. This plant represents Asahi Forge's first presence in North America. Asahi Forge of America specializes in cold-press forging for the automotive industry. (See related article.)