Most manufactured consumer products are assembled.

Each product consists of

multiple components joined together by various assembly processes (Section
2.2.1). These kinds of products are usua.Iy made on a manual assembly line,
which is a type III M manufacturing system in our classification scheme (Section
13.2). Factors favoring the use of manual assembly tines include the following
Demand for the product is high or medium.
The products made on the line are Identical or similar.
The total work required to assemble the product can he divided into small
work elements.
It is technologically impossible or economically infeasible to automate the
assembly operations.
Products characterized by these factors that are usually made on a manual
assembly line are listed in table 17.1 Several reasons can be given to explain
why manual assembly lines arc so productive compared with alternative methods
in which multiple workers each perform all of the tasks to assemble the products:
Specialization of labor. Called "division of labor" by Adam Smith (Historical Note
If.1 j, this principle asserts that when a large job is divided into small rusks and
each task is assigned to one worker, the worker becomes highly proficient at
performing the single task. Each worker becomes a specialist. One of the major
explanations of specialization of labor is the learning curve (Section 13.4).
Interchangeable parts, in which each component is manufactured to sufficiently
close tolerances that any part of a certain type can be selected for assembly with
its mating component. Without interchangeable parts, assembly would require
filing and fttting of mating components, rendering assembly line methods
impractical
Work principle in material handhng (Table 9.3, principle 3), which provides that
each work unit flows smoothly through the production line, traveling minimum
distances between stations.
Line pacing. Workers on an assembly line are usually required to complete their
assigned tasks on cach product unit within a certaincycle time. which paces the
line to maintain a specified production rate. Pacing is generally implemented by
means of a mechanized conveyor.
In the present chapter, we discuss the engineering end technology of manual
assembly lines. Automated assembly systems are covered in Chapter 19.
TABEL
FUNDAMENTALS OF MANUAL ASSEMBLY LINES
A manual assembly line is a production line that consists of a sequence of
workstations where assembly tasks are performed by human workers, as
depicted in Figure 17.1. Products are assembled as they move along the line, At
each station, a portion of the total work is performed on each unit.The common
practice is to "launch" base parts onto the beginning of the line at regular
intervals. Each base part travels through successive stations and workers add
components that progressively build the product. A mechanized material

transport system is typically used 10 move the base part along the line as it is
gradually transformed into the final product. However, in some manual lines, the
product is simply moved manually from station-to-station. The production rate of
an assembly line is determined by its slowest station. Stations capable of
working faster are ultimately limited by the slowest station.
Manual assembly line technology has made a significant contribution to the
development of American industry in the twentieth century, as indicated in our
Historical Note 17.1. It remains an important production system throughout the
world in the manufacture of automobiles, consumer appliances, and other
assembled products made in large quantities listed in Table 17.1.
Historical Note 17.1 Origins of the manual assembly line
Manual assembly lines are based largely on two fundamental principles. The firsl
is division of/abor,argued by Adam Smith (1123-1790) in his book Tht Wtalth
ofNal/o"" published in England in 1776.Using a pin factory 10 illustrate the
division of Jabor, the book describes how 10 workers, specializing in the various
drsunct tasks required to make a pin, produce 48,000 pins/day, compared with
only a few pins that could be made by each worker performing allofthe tasks on
each pin. Smith did nol invent division of labor; there had been other examples of
its use in Europe for centuries, but he was the first to note its significance in
production.
The second principle is InttrcAangtablt parts, based on the efforts of Eli Whitney
(1765-1825) and others at the beginning of the nineteenth century [16].In
1797,Whitney contracted with the u.s. government to produce 10,000 muskets.
At that time, guns were traditionaUymade byfabricating each part individually
and then hand-fitting the parts together by filing.Each gun was therefore unique.
Whitney believed that parts could be made with greater precision and lhtln
assembled wlthout the need lor fitting.After working for several years in his
Connecticut factory, he traveled to Washington in 1801 to demonstrate the
principle. Before President Thomas Jefferson and other government
officials,Whitney picked components at random for 10 muskets and proceeded!Q
assemble the guns.No special filingor fitting was required. and all of the guns
worked perfectly. His achievement was made possible by the use of special
machines, fixtures, and gages that he had developed in his factory.The principle
of interchangeable parts tuuk many years of refinement before becoming a
practical reality, but it revolutionized methods uf manufacturing. It is a
prerequisite for mass production of assembled products.
The origin, or modern production trues can be traced to the meat industry in
Chicago, llIinois and Cincinnati, Ohiu. In the mid- and Jate-1800s,meat packing
plants used unpowered overhead CDnveyorsto move slaughtered 'lock from one
worker to the next.The.,e unpowered conveyors were later replaced by powcrdnven chain conveyors to create "disassembly lines," which were the
predecessor ufthe assembly line.The work organization permitted meat cutters
tu concentrnte on single tasks (division of labor).
American automotive industrialist Henry Ford had observed these meat-packing
operation>. In
1913,heandhisengineeringcolleagucsdcsignedanassemblyJineinllighlandPark,Mich
igan 10 produce magneto flywheels. Productivity increased fourfold. Flushed by

success, Ford applied assembly line techniques to chassis fabrication. Using

chain-driven conveyors and workstations arranged for the ccnvemence and
comfort ofhis assembly line workers, productivity was increased by afactor of
eight,compared with previous single-station assembly method" These and other
improvements resulted in dramatic reductions III the price of the Model T
Ford,which was the main product 01the Ford Motor Company at the time. Masses
uf Amerieans could now afford an automobil~ because of Ford'S ucbievcmCnlln
C<.>streduction. Tilis stimulated further development and use of production line
techniq ues,ineludingautomated transport lines.It also forced Ford's competitors
and suppliers to imitate his methods, and the manual assembl) line became
intrinsic to American industry.
17.1.1 AssemblyWorkstations
A workstation on a manual assembly line is a designated location alung the work
flow path at which one or more work elements are performed by one or more
workers. The work elements represent small portions of the total work that must
be accomplished to assemble the product. Typical assembly operations
performed at stations on a manual assembly line are listed in Table 17.2. A given
workstation also includes the tools (hand tools or powered tools) required to
perform the task assigned to the station.
Some workstations are designed for workers to stand, while others allow the
workers to sit. When the workers stand, they can move about the station area to
perform their assigned task. This is common for assembly of large products.such
as cars, trucks.and major appliances. The typical case is when the product is
moved by a conveyor at constant velocity through the station. The worker begins
the assembly task near the upstream side of the station and move, along with
the work unit until the task is completed, then walks back to the next work unit
and repeats the cycle. For smaller assembled products (such as small appliances.
clcctr~)[lic devices, and subassemblies us~d on larger product.s), (he
workstations are usually designed to allow the workers to Sit while they perform
their tasks. This IS more comfortable and less fatiguing for the worker and is
generally more conducive to precision and accuracy in the assembly task.
Weh"ve previosly defined manning lew Iin Chapter 11 (Section 11.2 ..1) for
various types of manufacturing systems. For a manual assembly line, the
manning level of workstation L symbolized M,. is the number of workers assigned
to that station; where i =0 1.2, ... , n; and n = number of workstations on the
line. The generic case is one worker: M, = 1. In cases where the product is large.
such as a car or a truck, multiple workers are often assigned to one station, so
that M, > 1. Multiple manning conserves valuable floor space in the factory and
reduces line length and throughput time because fewer stations are required.
The average manning level of a manual assembly line is simply the total number
of workers on the line divided by the number of stations; that is,
where M = average manning level of the line (workers/station), w = number of
workers on the line. and n = number of stations on the line. This seemingly
simple ratio is complicated by the fact that manual assembly lines often include
more workers than those assigned to stations, so that M is not a simple average
of M, values. These additional workers, called utility workers, are not assigned to
specific workstations; instead they are responsible for functions such as (l)

helping workers who fall behind, (2) relieving workers for personal breaks, and
(3) maintenance and repair duties. Including the utility workers in the worker
count, we have where Wu = number of utility workers assigned to the system;
and w, = number of workers assenec specrncauy to station ifor j = 1,2, ., n.The
parameter W, is almost always an integer, except for the unusual case where a
worker is shared between two adjacent station>.

17.1.2 Work Transport Systems

There are two basic ways to accomplish the movement of work units along a
manual assembly line: (1) manually or (2) by a mechanized system. Both
methods provide the fixed routing (all work units proceed through the same
sequence of stations) thai is characteristic of production lines.
Manual Methods of Work Transport. In manual work transport, the units of
product ~re passed from station-to-station by hand. Two problems result from
this mode of operaoon; starving and blocking. Slanting is the situation in which
the assembly operator has completed the assigned task on the current work unit,
but the next unit has not yet arrived at the station. The worker is thus starved tor
work. When a station is blocked, it means thai the operator nas completed the
assigned task on the current work unit but cannot pass the