a series of workstations at which individual steps in the assembly of a product are carried out by workers or machines as the product
is moved along
ndustrIal arrangement of machInes, equIpment, and workers for contInuous flow of workpIeces In massproductIon operatIons. An assembly lIne Is
desIgned by determInIng the sequences of operatIons for manufacture of each component as well as the fInal product. Each movement of materIal
Is made as sImple and short as possIble, wIth no cross flow or backtrackIng. Work assIgnments, numbers of machInes, and productIon rates are
programmed so that all operatIons performed along the lIne are compatIble. Automated assembly lInes (800 automatIon) consIst entIrely of
machInes run by other machInes and are used In such contInuousprocess IndustrIes as petroleum refInIng and chemIcal manufacture and In many
modern automobIleengIne plants.
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ProductIon method requIrIng workers to perform a repetItIve task on a product as It moves along on a conveyor belt or track. An assembly lIne has
the advantages of part standardIzatIon and ratIonalIzatIon of work.
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The assembly lIne Is often descrIbed as a process that uses machInes to move materIal from one place to another, but In practIce, machInes are not
always needed. For Instance, massmarket jewelers often use assembly lInes In whIch materIals are handed from one worker to another, wIthout
the benefIt of machInery. At Its most basIc, an assembly lIne Is a serIes of statIons at whIch people or machInes add to or assemble parts for a
product. Dne of the values of the assembly lIne Is Its versatIlIty: It can be sImple, but It has the capacIty to be very complex. An assembly lIne can
begIn as many dIfferent lInes each devoted to a dIfferent component of a product, wIth the lInes convergIng upon one another, becomIng fewer
untIl only one lIne Is left for the fInal product. AutomotIve companIes often have assembly lInes that begIn wIth raw materIals and end fIve mIles
away wIth a completed automobIle. A structure for a complex assembly lIne begIns as one maIn lIne wIth statIons along It that are fed by lInes
runnIng perpendIcular to It, wIth each of these sIde lInes feedIng components for the fInIshed product. Although the assembly lIne has occasIonally
been consIdered outmoded, It has survIved by repeatedly changIng Its form.
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The Idea of the assembly lIne has many parents. n the scIentIfIc revolutIon of the eIghteenth century, scIentIsts, especIally mathematIcIans trIed
to quantIfy what made an Industry productIve and trIed to fInd ways to make IndustrIes more productIve. The goal was to create an Industry that
functIoned wIthout human labor. The most Important people of the tIme for the development of the assembly lIne were the AmerIcans DlIver Evans
and ElI WhItney and the Frenchman Caspard |onge. Evans Is known for hIs InventIon of the fIrst motorIzed amphIbIous vehIcle, but hIs most
InfluentIal achIevement was to desIgn a flour mIll. 0urIng the late eIghteenth century, he used steam engInes to power mIlls that used belt and
screw conveyors, as well as movIng hoppers, to move graIn through the process of becomIng flour and then to move the flour to where It could be
packaged. WhIle hIs equIpment was not exactly an assembly lIne, all the basIc components were there.
8est known for creatIng the cotton gIn, ElI WhItney also contrIbuted to the development of the assembly lIne wIth hIs InventIon of Interchangeable
parts. WhItney created machIne tools that could create parts so closely resemblIng each other they could be substItuted for one another wIthout
harm. n 1798, the UnIted States government ordered 10,000 muskets, and In a prevIew of the assembly lIne, WhItney set hIs employees to work on
manufacturIng parts that were assembled bIt by bIt Into muskets. A WhItney musket could be repaIred In the fIeld wIth spare parts.
Caspard |onge made hIs contrIbutIon whIle In taly durIng the NapoleonIc era. He took the prIncIpals of descrIptIve geometry and applIed them to
machInery. 8y breakIng a machIne down Into Its component parts, |onge found that he could show how each part related to the others; thIs would
evolve Into technIcal drawIng, whIch allowed people to make machInes they had never seen, machInes that would share Interchangeable parts wIth
any other machIne made wIth the same dIagrams.
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