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Assembly line balancing is “the problem of assigning all the tasks to a series of workstations so that each workstation has no more than can be done…. and so that idle time across all workstations is minimized” (Jacobs, Chase, & Aquilano, 2009, p.228). Since machines can be synced with one another, processes flow in a consistent, calculated manner. Having a facility laid out in this manner allows for high efficiency, because packages are continuously being processed through the system at high speeds and low costs.

One of the biggest needs for improvement was the assembly process. Although several changes were made throughout the years, quality and efficiency still fell below expectations. Hinrichs implemented the newly developed assembly which consists of two separate work stations that allowed operators in the adjacent stations to share the expensive balancer machine. These assembly cells were much more efficient as workers were no longer forced to wait for another person or machine in the process. Each cell was built like the other with quick turn set-up which created flexibility in the process while also reducing tooling inventory by almost a half. Now cells

The production-line approach allows companies, such as fast-food restaurants, to use a workstation approach and/or an

In the era of consumerism, abundance of essential products is critical to supply the high demands. This would have been very difficult without Henry Ford and his excellence in operating the assembly line. Assembly line is one of the most reliable and durable production techniques ever invented. In the 20th century, assembly line was amongst one of the most remarkable technological advancements. Nearly all the products that we use nowadays, we would not have it in the amount we need and at the prices we have it without the assembly line. The assembly line has played a major role in modifying the world and it is the main force behind every industry on earth. The use of assembly line in industries such as automotive, arms, and food has played a key role in supplying the world with essential products while minimizing the total cost. The operation of assembly line in various industries has assisted the world in providing crucial products that we need to make our lives easier.

Ford realized that he must change his methods of production in order to decrease the price of his automobiles. His invention of the assembly line actually started before the Model T came out, but Ford did not know it at the time. The Model N was built prior to the Model T. The workers on the Model N automobiles placed the parts in order along the floor while the “under-construction” auto was on skids and moved down the line. The workers placed their respective parts on the machine as it passed by. For the Model T, Ford tried to make his process even better. He broke the assembly process into 84 small steps. On top of this, workers were trained for only one of the 84 steps. By having a machine that could make interchangeable parts faster than any human, the process accelerated quickly and there was no shortage on supplies. With the combination of the new parts machine, line of workers trained per step, and an order of parts, the assembly line was born. Figure 1 below shows the wheels and hubcaps of Model T cars being assembled using the assembly line. The excessive amounts

Smithfield produces a variety of products that all require specialized equipment. Since these outputs and operations are standardized, the specialized equipment is a huge fixed cost that is distributed over a large volume of outputs that result in a low per-unit cost. The continuous type of material handling requires conveyors and other standardized equipment where all the outputs follow the same path. This “standardization of treatment provides for a known, fixed throughput time, giving managers easier control of the system and more reliable delivery dates” (Meredith, p.52). The flow shop transformation system also allows for better control of routing and scheduling, and minimizes the amount of skilled labor required. This minimization gives

In existing layout the production line is very long, starting from preparatory to the end of assembly. Because of this, communication and information flow is difficult and for each and every thing supervisor has to walk around the line frequently. In case of new layout (cellular layout) the information flow is effective and quick. Because, the group of people who are in the same cell, works in compact area where each operator is in direct contact with other operator of the cell and they know each other’s job inside the cell. This makes information flow fast and accurate. Whereas this cannot be achieved in long assembly line; where one operator is in contact with only two operators (one operator before and one operator after his operation) so neither he can give any suggestion nor he knows the issues of other operation i.e. workers are not participating in each other’s work, rather working independently.

It remoulds the manufacturing industries with optimized productivity by making a radical departure from traditional mastery of a craft and rationalizing work, skills and routines. It is the most common strategies conducted in nowadays large scale secondary industries as its outputs are easily quantifiable and predictable. Also, other industries are adhered to the principles of assembly line (Whitfield, 2004). McDonald is one of the typical examples that demonstrates the incorporation of it into the service industries. Staff mechanically repeat the same specialized task, frying French fries, making hamburgers, filling cups with soft drinks and etc. Customers also inherently conform to the rationalized business mode of McDonald by filing forward in queues to get the meal as if on a conveyor belt. This illustrates that the influence of the assembly line is wide-ranging, profound and long-lasting.

As a result, many other factory owners began to duplicate what Ford was doing in his factory to minimize their own costs. Now after almost a century, the moving assembly line has been perfected and is used in nearly every factory around the world.

With assembly-line production, job skills become highly specific to the technology and procedures used in a given plant. Such jobs are considered semi-skilled because they require a specific skill but one that can be learned in a relatively short time... The organizations of production around an assembly line…and other forms of advanced mechanization are organized under scientific management [where]…the worker was to execute diligently a set of motions engineered to ensure the most efficient performance of a given task. (Hodson, R. & Sullivan, T.A., 2008, p. 27)

In the early stages of manufacturing quality and cost went hand-in-hand, if one went down so did the other but now quality is maintained at an excellent standard and cost is going down; engineers are racing to the bottom in price. This is achieved by the engineers that have created a system of work that is the assembly line, allowing for more affordability and profitable, and leading to innovation. By implementing the assembly line system of work, it requires simple tasks to be accomplished by multiple people at a constant pace, which results in cost efficient production. This system allows more product to be produced in a smaller period of time to meet the demand of the people, as the price is cheaper. However, profit is not changed

The third core competency is Boeing’s dynamic assembly line. This was a valuable change to Boeing because it reduced assembly time by 50%, or from 22 days down to 11 days. The planes move 80 feet every shift and lights determine the status of the assembly line. Dynamic assembly lines are costly to imitate and rare due to the size of the plant and the components used in order to pull such a large craft throughout the building. The only substitute of a dynamic assembly line is a static assembly line, and the dynamic one performs much more efficiently.

Boeing made use of lean techniques in their production system and increased its production by 50% and also reduced its floor space by 40%. Assembling a Boeing 737 is a typical job. Workers should take 367,000 parts, an same number of bolts, rivets, other equipment and 36 miles (58 kilometres) of electrical wire and then keep them all combined to make an airplane [2]. Engineers to machinists were involved in lean (reducing waste) in the factory. By creating an assembly line, aircraft will pass through the workers were they going to concentrate on assembling. Allocating all employees in the factory building and organising special teams helped a lot to solve the errors in the assembly line [2]. In the assembly line, there are eight beacon lights which reflect the production status. If everything is good it shows green colour. If an error occurs, the worker will press a button and the green light will changes to yellow and the panel board will shows the category of the problem(which category it is related to). The worker will pass on to a computer and writes about the problem in a brief manner and the problem should be assigned to special team to solve it within 30 minutes if not, the light turns to purple and the assembly line will shuts down. This moving assembly is the icon of factory’s lean strategies.

The Ford Production System (FPS) would utilize a pull-based production process that synchronizes production and ensures flow and stability throughout the production process. Ordered assembly drives costs down by providing Ford and its suppliers when and where supplies are needed. This also reduces overstocking of supplies.

Process. It can be said that processes currently do not follows any flow structure: production is planned without any solid criteria and there is no single flow route for either materials or machinery. This unstructured work floor causes: joinery department job shops are untidy and congested (joiners are working on several part-finished items at once, single pieces of equipment are shared by 10 or more joiners, joiners try to fit in with each other over the use of machinery, etc.) and big allowance of waste and timbers defects are found around the workshop. Despite of this chaos, it has been identified that the specific case of the manufacturing and assembling staircases follows a repeatable process steps (although staircases are different): cutting timber, sanding, machining and tenoning, which makes this process potentially standardised. Therefore, it can be said that Lean principles can be applied to this process. However, in order to identify the applicability of Lean principles to the rest of the processes, more information should be provided.