MHT starts Motor Bikes As Assembling

MHT SCORE AN AMAZING FEAT
‘As Assembling of Motor Bikes Starts’

Report by Humphrey Lombe

‘Amazing,’ is a descriptive word one can use to refer to what has happened in Choma where 224 electric bikes were assembled in six days by a team that trained for only two weeks in Shenzhen City, China in early March.

{The photo above shows MD Silas Mungala facing down caught in the thick of things during assembling of bikes}

A team comprising five males and two females of MHT members from across Zambia were attached to Futendga E-Vehicle company assembly plant in Shenzhen City, China, initially for a two week period, and efforts to extend training for a further two weeks to a month could not be realised owing to red tape. And while many of us were left pondering whether anything had been achieved in such a short period, or whether this was money spent and had gone down the drain. Without any prior alert call, on April 27, 2011 came this announcement via broadcast email from MHT Managing Director, Silas Mungala, which caught most of us by surprise.

“The Bicycle assembly lines have performed well with operations spanning six (6) days in which 224 have since been assembled. We have made the preparations for sale of the Bicycles which are in four categories.”



This was followed by a cheerful message from MHT Member Number 1 who said he was delighted to have received the first report over the progress made by the technical team who are assembling the electric bicycles.

{The photo on your left shows one of the Model out of the of Assembly line}

“I am delighted to receive your first report and I must admit that I feel excited to see the workmanship of the technicians who learnt the trade only for two weeks, given more time, they can do wonders, adding, ‘We hope to use the same team in our tractor programme from Belarus, ex-Soviet Union,’ wrote member 1 to MD.

The wonder team led by Technical Leader Clark Chilala comprised Gray Nachandwe – Choma, Joshua Chipopa – Monze, Teddy Chilala - Namwala, Patrick Nyirenda – Petauke, Cindy Mudenda and Ruth Mweetwa – Choma.

This an income generating venture supposed to put MHT on a path to self sustainability and for the organisation to make a return on investment and diversifying into other businesses with the hope of resultant growth translating into more money supporting the general membership to exploit their full potential individually and severally. This will go a long in meeting the aspiration of MHT whose objective is to address poverty alleviation by empowering members through education, health and business. But for this to be achieved, the burden lies on the members to stand up and be counted, and move forward the organisation.

The maxim under MHT is for each member to ask himself or herself what is it that ‘am prepared to put in for the organisation to go forward; before I can expect the organisation to give back to me?’

The bikes are in four categories with the big machine having a maximum loading capacity of 200Kg and running on 40 volts current. The smaller one runs on 36 volts current. The Price range is between K4 Million, about US$ 842 to K 3.5 Million, about US$736.

Speaking when they returned from their training stint, Chilala said: “We were taught how to do a complete assembly, which were practical lessons, and we were taught also how to detect faults and repair. We were imparted with knowledge and skill on preventive maintenance including care and maintenance.”

The full training included assembling from scratch to a finished and working product. The stages were as follows:-

1. Balancing of the rim with spokes.
2. Tyre and tube fitting and pumping.
3. Frame mounting.
4. Assembly line.
5. Electrical installations and control module fitting.
6. Cover fitting.
7. Testing of the assembled bicycle.
8. Testing and quality control.

The bikes are to be marketed by members in various locations of Zambia.
They were in Shenzhen City for a two week attachment period acquainting themselves with the way that motor-bike vehicles for transportation are assembled and an assessment will be made if this project can be assimilated by MHT in Zambia.

The training took place at Futendga Factory where all the participants went through the motions of assembling. These included assembling starting from scratch to a finished and tested working product. The stages were as follows:-

9. Balancing of the rim with spokes.
10. Tyre and tube fitting and pumping.
11. Frame mounting.
12. Assembly line.
13. Electrical installations and control module fitting.
14. Cover fitting.
15. Testing of the assembled bicycle on our own.
16. Testing and quality controlling of the bicycle.

The only regrettable thing is that time was short, as a result participants were not afforded adequate training, and efforts to extend their stay for further two weeks proved futile owing to certain encumbrances. A minimum 30 days was required for the trainees to go through rudiments.

‘However, other individuals were a bit slow in catching up but I hope once we start on our own they will definitely improve since it will be team work. The two ladies did well,’ said Clark Chilala, who was one of the participants.



A factory representative said that MHT had acquired 300 bicycles that are in different categories and the biggest machine has a maximum loading capacity of 200Kg and running on 40 volts current. The smaller of these will be running on 36 volts current.

{The photo on your right shows another Model out of the of Assembly line}

“We were taught how to do a complete assembly which were practical lessons and we were also taught how to detect faults and repair. We were imparted with knowledge and skills on preventive maintenance including care and maintenance,” added Chilala.