Chaku Chaku lines and many other manufacturing cells and manufacturing lines have one (or more) operators working on different processes throughout the cycle. However, with this multi-machine handling, a worker must not skip a process if there are technical problems. Doing so—even with the best intentions—will increase fluctuations and cause waste. Let’s have a look at an example of why skipping steps is not so good.
Assembly Line
Fluctuations on Continuously Moving Assembly Lines 3—The Value of Team Leaders
In my last two posts I described the impact of fluctuations on the duration of the work on a continuously moving assembly line. One key tool for reducing fluctuations on Toyota assembly lines is the team leader, the frontline support for operators. Team leaders reduce fluctuations in general by taking over irregular tasks like delivering material, taking away trash, and explaining situations to a manager. They also reduce especially long fluctuations by supporting the operators in their own work if there are problems, thus reducing stops of the line. This post will look in more detail at the beneficial effects of team leaders on a moving assembly line.
Fluctuations on Continuously Moving Assembly Lines 2—Waiting Times
In my previous post I posed the problem of decoupling fluctuations on continuously moving assembly lines. You cannot decouple using inventory; you can decouple only long-term fluctuations using capacity, while all other fluctuations are decoupled using time. In my last post I introduced the topic and urged you not to have workers between different stations to handle fluctuations. In this post I will look in more detail at the waiting time of the workers due to fluctuations in the work duration for the stations.
Fluctuations on Continuously Moving Assembly Lines 1—Don’t Move the Workers Around!
A lot of industries use continuously moving assembly lines. This is common in automotive, but also in many others. The challenge is to manage the fluctuations. You cannot decouple using inventory; you can decouple only long-term fluctuations using capacity, while all other fluctuations are decoupled using time. This is the first blog post of a series digging deeper into how to handle or NOT handle fluctuations on continuously moving assembly lines. This first post looks at the effect when workers move among different stations.
A Frequent Mistake—Undoing an Assembly Line—Part 2
Assembly lines are THE way to do mass production. Yet, with constant regularity people try out to undo the assembly line, only to fail in their endeavor. In my previous post I looked at examples by Volkswagen in Salzgitter, Volvo in Kalmar, and Opel in Bochum, who all tried, just to switch back to an assembly line afterwards. This second post in this series has more historical examples of when people tried and failed to undo assembly lines in mass production.
A Frequent Mistake—Undoing an Assembly Line—Part 1
Assembly lines are everywhere in mass production. From mobile phones to cars to airplanes, almost all items produced in large quantities come from an assembly line. Just look around you wherever you are and try to find a produced item that did NOT come from an assembly line. My general recommendation is that if you can make it on an assembly line, then you probably should make it on an assembly line.
However, assembly lines are not always loved by the workers. Every few years, another—usually European—car maker is in the news about undoing the assembly line in favor of group work, box assembly, assembly stations, and the like. So far, all of these initiatives have dwindled and died, simply because the assembly line is the best! Let’s have a look at the long list of car companies that tried and failed with undoing the assembly line. The assembly line is still king in manufacturing!
The Evolution of Automotive Assembly Line—Part 2
In my previous post on the automotive assembly line I showed how the earliest chain-driven assembly lines evolved to modern moving platforms. However, in automotive assembly, you also need to work underneath the car. While I have seen truck assembly lines where the entire undercarriage is flipped on its back, in automotive, this is usually done while the car is hanging. Let’s have a look how this is done, and then I’ll wrap up this post with the last bit of the assembly line where the car stands on its own wheels.
The Evolution of Automotive Assembly Line—Part 1
Automotive assembly is one of the pinnacles of modern manufacturing, having a very complex product of 30 000 parts as well as mass production in large quantities. The modern automotive moving assembly line is hence one of the most complex manufacturing operations in the world. In this two-post series I will look at how this changed over time, and the different ways there are to move cars along the assembly line.