Local associates develop device utilized across company’s locations in North America
Pandemic times have called for employees to hone their manufacturing, technical and engineering expertise in new and creative ways. During the last year, a team of local Honda associates combined these skills with creativity and teamwork to streamline a previously time-consuming process of taking the temperatures of the thousands of individuals reporting to work each day at the automaker’s facilities.
Greg Cooper, senior technical specialist for manufacturing IT services at the Anna Engine Plant, and Karen Lewis, senior staff engineer for the safety department at the Marysville Auto Plant, led their fellow associates in a project to create a thermal scan kiosk to more efficiently comply with COVID-19 safety guidance.
The devices are able to quickly and efficiently read employees’ temperatures at the same time that associates are also scanning in their ID badges at the beginning of their work day.
Following their local development in the spring and summer of 2020, the one-of-a-kind thermal scan kiosks are now in use at a number of Honda locations across North America.
Prior to the implementation of these quick scan devices, Cooper recalled the parking lot process in use at the Anna Engine Plant, where associates would have their temperatures taken while still inside their vehicles before even entering the building.
“There was a tent out in the parking lot, and associates were out there taking the temperatures of every person coming in,” he said. “The associates tasked with that job had to be out there all day in the elements. We also had to allow ourselves a little extra time to get into work each day because it took some time to scan everyone individually as they were driving in.”
To tackle this problem and create a solution that was less invasive for associates, Lewis said she began working with her safety team members in May 2020. They wanted to test commercially available devices that could scan temperatures, but soon realized that these type of devices could take months to acquire.
Since they were on a tight timeline to improve the situation, Lewis said she reached out to Cooper and the technical experts on his team to provide practical assistance.
In the early months of the pandemic, Cooper said he remembered a device he learned about at an earlier trade show, which utilized thermal technology to scan the temperatures of overhead insulated pipes. He wondered if this technology could be used to scan the temperatures of people, and upon further investigation, he learned that this product also could scan human skin to determine temperature.
Collaborating remotely during Zoom calls and through other communication, Lewis and Cooper and their fellow associates were able to develop a prototype in early June. Then three months later following testing, they were able to roll out the thermal scan kiosks to a number of Honda facilities in North America.
“We had to work out some of the various hiccups, such as when someone was holding a hot cup of coffee in their hands for instance, or talking on their cell phone that was hot, so that kept it interesting for us,” said Lewis, who is a 22-year Honda employee. “It’s really been a wonderful experience all around. The creativity and focus of the group to get this accomplished in just a couple months was amazing.”
“We’re very happy with the way that it worked out,” said Cooper, who began working for Honda as a contractor in 2010, and then was hired in during 2013. “There are so many benefits that people get in being able to have their temperature scanned this way — it’s private and efficient.
“Honda supports innovation, creativity and curiosity, and I’ve been so impressed at how our associates are able to perform under pressure. This was such a humbling
experience that is something I’ll never forget for the rest of my life.”
Stephanie Gostomski, Honda North American corporate communications, said she and fellow associates are thankful for this team’s dedication and their creative solution during a difficult time.
“For all of our associates, many of us have families and children and had a lot of concerns on our plates during the pandemic of how to keep our loved ones safe. This was performed in such an innovative, private and respectful way.”