>>Stamping
>>Welding
>>Paint
>>General Assembly
>>Engine
>>Quality
>>Production Control

Stamping
In the Stamping Shop, the vehicle begins to take shape.  Housed in the shop are large rolls of steel, each weighing between 20,000 and 40,000 pounds.  Cranes are used to lift the rolls and put them into the blanking machine, where rectangular pieces, thin as a dime, are cut and stored in racks.  The pieces are automatically moved to one of two large, stamping presses with dies molded into various shapes. Over 5,400 tons of pressure transforms the steel blank into a specific body part. 

Welding 
The Welding Shop containing 280 robots capable of maneuvering and welding body parts. These amazing automated machines position stamped body parts and accurately weld them together to form the vehicle body, called a “body-in-white.”  Both the Sonata and Santa Fe vehicle bodies move down the same assembly line at HMMA.  Team Members attach hinges, doors, hood and trunk, then check the quality of each car body to confirm the welding process is perfect.

Paint
The completed “body-in-white” moves from the Welding Shop, along a trestle into the Paint Shop for the nine-hour painting process.  The vehicle first rotates 360 degrees in a unique electrocoat bath to prepare the entire body for paint.  Eighty-one robots apply primer, a base coat using one of 15 different water-based paint colors, and a final clear coat which provides a beautiful shine and long-lasting protection.  Since the Paint Shop is an environmentally-controlled area, Team Members must wear special overalls and gloves to protect themselves and the paint’s finish. A single particle of dust can affect the overall quality of a vehicles paint finish.  The Paint Shop has over four miles of conveyor systems to move the vehicle bodies through each different process.  After drying, the freshly-painted vehicle body heads to General Assembly.

General Assembly
General Assembly houses approximately 1,150 Team Members who install a variety of parts to complete the vehicle.  The painted vehicle body moves through the trim area where wires, brake controls, and other parts are quickly connected inside the vehicle, under the hood, and in the trunk. The doors are taken off early in the process and sent to another area where speakers, power windows, door seals and other parts are installed.  In the chassis area, the underside of the vehicle is completed and the engine and drive train are connected to the body.  After the tires, battery, front and rear glass, and seats are installed, the doors are reattached to the vehicle.  Oil, engine coolant, gasoline and other vital fluids are added, and then the vehicle is started for the first time. A roll booth tests the braking system and then the vehicle is driven on a two-mile test track to check for rattles or other issues.  A shower test checks for leaks and once a vehicle meets all quality standards it is ready to be shipped to a dealer in North America. 

Engine
HMMA takes pride in having its own Engine Shop.  The Hyundai V-6, 3.3l engine, producing 235 horsepower is made here on site in Montgomery. Castings of engine blocks, heads and crankshafts are delivered from suppliers and machined to HMMA’s exact specifications. Over 150 computer-controlled machines perform precision cuts to these engine parts.  A sophisticated test laboratory performs precision computer measurements to ensure the machining process cuts and drills the metal to proper specifications.  After machining and precision measurement testing, the parts are moved along a conveyor system to engine assembly where Team Members follow detailed procedures to assemble pieces of the engine.  All engines are first cold-tested for leaks, then hot-tested, by starting the engine to ensure it meets manufacturing specifications.  A Hyundai transmission is then married to the new engine to complete the assembly process.  After a final quality check, the engine is sent on a trestle to the chassis section of General Assembly where it is attached to the drive train and the rest of the vehicle. 

Quality
Quality checks are built into each step in the production process. Each vehicle has to pass a series of stringent tests, including satisfactory performance on a two-mile test track. 

Production Control
In the production control department, HMMA manages whole supply chain activities and the network, beginning with our customer order, moving from suppliers to manufacturers, then distributors to dealers, and then customers along a chain.