Assembly line (manufacturing)
An assembly line in manufacturing is a systematic arrangement of workers or machines along a conveyor belt, where each station performs a specific modification to a product as it moves through the production process. This method enhances efficiency by dividing labor into specialized tasks, allowing for rapid and consistent mass production. The concept gained prominence in the early 1900s, particularly through the innovative practices of American industrialist Henry Ford, who implemented the first modern automotive assembly line. By streamlining operations, Ford significantly reduced production times and costs, making automobiles accessible to a broader market.
Today, assembly lines are integral to various industries, from automotive to consumer goods, and have evolved to include advanced automation, where machines often replace human labor. While assembly lines have revolutionized manufacturing and contributed to a culture of consumerism by making products more widely available and affordable, they also raise concerns about job monotony, craftsmanship devaluation, and environmental impact. The assembly line remains a critical component of modern production, showcasing both the benefits and challenges of industrialization.
Assembly line (manufacturing)
An assembly line is a sequence of workers or machines in a factory that are arranged at various stations along a rolling conveyor belt or a similar device. A product travels along the belt. At each station, a worker or machine performs a modification to the product, such as attaching a new component, and then returns the product to the belt. The belt then carries the product to the next station to receive further modifications. By the time the product reaches the end of the assembly line, it is fully assembled. Assembly lines became popular modes of manufacturing in the early 1900s, primarily due to their innovative use by automobile manufacturer Henry Ford. In modern times, factories use assembly lines to create virtually limitless varieties of mass-produced consumer items, ranging from vehicles to toys to food.
Early Developments
The assembly line is an important invention in industry, but it is a relatively new one that only developed in the twentieth century. Prior to the 1900s, world industries still followed the craft production system. In craft production, teams of mostly skilled laborers collaborated to manufacture products one at a time, from start to finish. This system required a great deal of expertise as well as time and expense.
During the Industrial Revolution, improved technology allowed manufacturers to work more quickly and efficiently. More people moved into cities, where large factories overtook small craft shops. Factory workers increasingly adhered to a division of labor, which meant that each worker had a limited and specific task rather than a large task requiring many varied skills. Furthermore, the innovation of interchangeable parts, or parts of products that are made identically, improved manufacturing speed and efficiency. The combination of these factors spelled the end of the craft production system and the beginning of mass production.
By the 1800s, the United States had embraced the system of mass production. Its factories began manufacturing huge quantities of identical firearms, textile machines, clocks, farming equipment, and bicycles. The boon of automobiles in the early 1900s ushered in the next innovation in industrial development, the assembly line.
The First Assembly Lines
American industrialist Henry Ford established one of the first automobile companies in the United States. At first, his workers assembled cars in a traditional manner based largely on old craft-production methods. Basically, a team of skilled technicians began with an automobile chassis, or the basic framework, in the center of the factory floor. Without moving the chassis, the workers began constructing the automobile, following each step in sequence. The workers frequently had to walk to other parts of the shop to get the parts and tools they required. Other times, they crowded near one part of the car, obstructing each other's access to the work area and generally hampering the production process.
Ford noticed this system's inefficiencies—it required a great deal of time, energy, and worker skill to assemble the five thousand car parts into a completed automobile. The difficulties of producing the automobile in turn led to a higher price for the finished product. Since few people could afford automobiles, Ford made fewer sales. Ford searched for a new method of production and found inspiration in an unlikely place. During a visit to a Chicago meat-packing plant, Ford observed an overhead automated trolley system that moved beef carcasses between several stationary workers. Each worker removed one specific cut of beef from the carcass before it moved along to the next worker. This way, the meat could be prepared and packaged far more quickly and efficiently.
The automated trolley made a strong impression on Ford, who envisioned a similar system that would maximize time, motions, and energy and vastly increase the output in his factory. By 1913, he had devised a plan for the first modern automotive assembly line. He tested his plan using one automobile component, a flywheel magneto. Traditionally, a team of technicians could assemble one magneto, step by step, in twenty minutes. Using an assembly line system, with each worker performing one step, Ford was able to reduce production time for the magneto to a mere five minutes. With such a system, he could create four times as many products in the same time, and subsequently sell them for a fraction of the original cost. He soon employed the assembly line system across his entire factory, and began mass-producing simple, inexpensive cars by the millions.
Modern Assembly Lines
Assembly lines became a fixture in many industries throughout the twentieth century and beyond. During that time, they underwent constant development and customization to meet various industrial needs. The most noticeable trend in modern assembly lines is their increased automation. In many industries, computerized machines have replaced human workers on assembly lines. Many modern factories are controlled almost completely by machines, with people required only for maintenance and programming of various schedules and processes to produce the required output.
The assembly line has had a profound effect on world industry, economy, and society. It ushered in an era of mass production and consumerism in which people became more concerned than ever before with procuring manufactured goods. These goods are now more abundant and affordable than ever before. The assembly line theory has also contributed to other innovations meant for convenience, such as limited-access roads and food stations at cafeterias.
Despite its contributions to abundance and convenience, the assembly line has had negative effects as well. Many workers complained that the monotony of assembly line work made jobs dehumanizing and that such labor deemphasized the importance of craftsmanship. Assembly line mass production has also led to environmental concerns about waste and pollution. Some factory operators have found assembly lines to be financially detrimental as well since they are very expensive to operate successfully.
Bibliography
Baudin, Michel. Lean Assembly: The Nuts and Bolts of Making Assembly Operations Flow. Productivity Press, 2002.
Ford, Henry. My Life and Work. Garden City Publishing Co., 1922.
“Ford Installs First Moving Assembly Line, 1913.” A Science Odyssey: People and Discoveries, PBS, 29 Oct. 2014, www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/databank/entries/dt13as.html. Accessed 31 Oct. 2024.
“Henry Ford Changes the World, 1908.” Eyewitness to History, 29 Oct. 2014, www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/ford.htm. Accessed 31 Oct. 2024.
Hounshell, David A. From the American System to Mass Production, 1800–1932. The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1984.
Nye, David E. America’s Assembly Line. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2013.