Assembly line is the process in which a whole activity is broken down into smaller steps for the manufacture of a good and is completed in a fixed sequence. It is the most prominent method for mass manufacturing in companies. The process of assembly lines helps in the reduction of labor costs because the workers have the training to perform their specific duty. Hence, instead of hiring a single craftsman to assemble or create a single wood piece, they can hire multiple workers to perform different duties like adding bolts or legs to machines.
In assembly lines, the products move step by step through a workstation to a workstation. Different activities are performed in steps. With technological advancement, automated assembly lines have also been reducing the burden on companies by necessitating reduced human supervision.
For instance, Henry Ford launched different assembly lines in 1908 for the development of Model T Cars. With this development, the whole outlook on the manufacture of goods was transformed. Before this, only one worker was performing the whole process which was a burden on both time and money.
Assembly lines employ workers or machines to perform a single specific task. This leads to maximum efficiency and productivity of the workers and more value is derived from less investment.
Companies usually implement the DFA (Design For Assembly) method to assess the design of the product and determine a better sequence and how each task can have some underlying issues which can be solved beforehand. Then the tasks are divided into automatic, robotic, and manual, and then the assignment to humans or machines is done on the floor level of management.
Other considerations for assembly lines
With the help of concurrent engineering, companies can now create the design of their goods with the assembly line in mind. This enables the engineers to create new products with the aim of mass production, including the task order, tasks and layout of the floor of the factory. Hence, it helps to reduce the lead time between the initial prototype or initial release and the final product.
Modern assembly lines constitute both digital and manual labor. The technology is coming up with sensors and IoT devices that gather data from machines and humans in real-time. Moreover, advanced robotic technology being rolled out has led to successful collaborative work of humans with machines and led to further efficiency.
