Design of Assembly Systems – Assembly

lines, cells and shops

Classification of Production Systems

Manufacturing
(Discrete Production)
Fabrication
Assembly
(Processing)
Fixed Position
Job Shop
Assembly Shop
Manufacturing Cell
Assembly Cell
Transfer Line
Assembly Line
Linear (Manual)
Rotary Paced
Intermittent
Continuous
Unpaced
Asynchronous
Synchronous
Assembly systems – general features

 Fixed position assembly

 Assembly shop and Assembly cell

 Assembly line

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Assembly systems – general features

 Classification according to the layout configuration

Fixed Position *

LAYOUT Assembly Shop *

Assembly Cell

Assembly Line
Assembly systems – general features

 Classification according to the production mix management

Single-model

PRODUCTION MIX
Multi-models
MANAGEMENT

Mixed-models
Assembly systems – general features

 Single-model system (ref. line) establish one

assembly line for each product
 Suitable for high volumes and stability of product
demand
 PROS
 Low management issues
 CONS
 Low flexibility
Assembly systems – general features

 More products are assembled on the same system (ref.

line): batch production
 Setup time are relevant (to substitute the components to be
assembled)
 Cycle time (CT) and number of workstations depend on the
product to be assembled
 Need of good balancing and scheduling of all the products
to be assembled on the same line (trade-off)
 High inventory of finished product (demand is not precisely
satisfied)
Assembly systems – general features

 With respect to a single-model line, more products are assembled in

the same line
 With respect to multi-model, the production batch size is equal to one
(thus need for dramatically reducing setup time)
 They are implemented with continuous and unpaced (often asynchronous)
lines
 PROS
 Opportunity to follow the demand

 CONS
 Need (compulsory) to reduce setup time
 Need to properly schedule the products to be assembled
 Difficult to manage component flows
 Difficult to manage parallel workstations
Assembly systems – general features
 Assembly cycle is the sequence of operations needed for assembly: it can be
represented in a table with data related to any single operation

Oper. # Preced. Descript. Tools. Code Average Std. Dev.

time Mk Sk
1 - xxx xxx xxx 1,21 min. 0,3 min
2 1 2,3 min. 0,35 min
3 1 2,2 min 0,3 min
2 3

Flow and precedence's of an 9 10

assembly cycle can be
6 7 8
represented by a chart
1 38
(assembly Graph), see example: 11

4 5

35 36 37
Assembly systems – general features
1 2 3

5 7 8
4

11
2 3 5 6 7 8 10
9 11 12 13

14 15 16 17 18

24
19 20 21 22 23

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Assembly systems – general features

Average assembly time Mk for each operation k and associated standard deviation
Sk can be defined using the following methods:
1) work sampling
2) standard times
3) MTM method

Normally, these methods calculate the duration of each assembly operation by

composition of elementary operations, therefore, first the values mi and si of each
elementary operation, belonging to operation k, are calculated, then the duration
Mk of the resulting assembly operation and its standard deviation Sk are calculated
by composition, this way:

Mk   mi sk   i/n
s2

i k i k
The above relationships are based on the assumption of statistical independence
among the various elementary operations of which k is made.
Assembly systems – general features

 In determining the assembly

times of manual assembly, it
must be considered the so
called “learning curve” that
affects the work time due to the
operator’s learning effect. In Learning Curve
fact the assembly time for a
given activity decreases with
the number of repetitions of the
activity itself, tending towards
an asymptote after some time
(normally the steady state time
is less than half of the initial
time)
Assembly systems – general features

 Methods to calculate assembly times

Work sampling
 It consists in the observation of specific assembly operations
and in the calculation of the average duration and standard
deviation (Mk, Sk) of each operation using the standard
statistical approaches.
 The method requires to create a sample of each operation’s
duration by registering the assembly time of the repetition of
the same operation. To provide reliable data, it is required to
have a meaningful sample size.
 A drawback of the method is that it requires the availability of a
real assembly station to monitor and collect data.
Assembly systems – general features

 The work sampling method can be outlined this way:

 Step 1: Choose and identify the assembly operation to monitor
 Step 2: Inform the operator of the work sampling study
 Step 3: Divide operation in smaller components (max duration 5-30
secs each)
 Step 4: Calculate the required number of repetitions (accuracy)
 Step 5: Measure the elapsed time for each work component
(precise timing) and store captured data
 Step 6: Calculate the average assembly time and its standard
deviation
Assembly systems – general features

 Methods to calculate assembly times:

 Standard times
 Standard times are called the data on elementary
assembly operations calculated with the work sampling
method in a company (i.e. in real assembly conditions)
and stored in the company data-base. This way a data-
base is made available with data related to “basic”
assembly operations.
 Therefore, if real data of elementary operations have been
correctly collected and transformed in standard times, the
duration and standard deviation of a new assembly
operation can be calculated by composition of the
standard times of the available elementary operations
data.
Assembly systems – general features

 Methods to calculate assembly times:

 MTM (Motion Time Measurement) method is based on
the assumption that, based on an archive of
elementary operation data (where duration and
standard deviation are assigned, based on custom
parameters of the operations like the weight lifted or
the angle of movement) it is possible to compose any
complex operation and calculate its average duration
and standard deviation. Nowadays the use of CAD
computer programs makes this approach much more
easy and precise then in the past.
 In fact, CAD-like computer programs allow to model
any movement of the operator and his interaction with
the equipment. After that, automatically, the computer
program can generate the exact sequence of the
various elementary operations and pick up
corresponding data from MTM tables, thus calculating
the final values of Mk and Sk.
MTM (Motion Time Measurement)

 MTM (Motion Time Measurement) is the most commonly method used

 A database of elementary operations is used to calculate by operations
composition the average time and the standard deviation
 Based on basic (elementary) human movements
 Method for calculating:
 Tables of elementary human movement times under different circumstances are
available
 Times are expressed in “TMU”s – Time Measurement Units (1 TMU = 0.00001
hr = 0.036 secs)
 Add the times of the different elementary movements necessary to compose the
needed operation and convert to seconds or minutes
 Advantages:
 Quicker and cheaper than time study (work sampling)
 Reliable (based on large number of studies)
 Planning and estimating new jobs
 Useful for short runs
 Rating already incorporated
Example of a MTM reach table

Reach operation table: how to calculate the TMU of a reach activity

Distance Time (TMUs) Hand in Cases and descriptions

moved Motion
(inches) A B C, D E A B
=<0.75 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 1.6 1.6 A Reach to object in fixed location, or to
1 2.5 2.5 3.6 2.4 2.3 2.3 object in other hand or on which other
2 4.0 4.0 5.9 3.8 3.5 2.7 hand rests
B Reach to single object in location which
3 5.3 5.3 7.3 5.3 4.5 etc may vary slightly from cycle to cycle
4 6.1 6.4 8.4 6.8 4.9 C Reach to object jumbled with other
5 6.5 7.8 9.4 7.4 etc objects in a group so that search and
6 7.0 8.6 10.1 8.0 select occur
7 7.4 9.3 10.8 etc D Reach to a very small object or where
8 7.9 10.1 11.5 accurate grasp is required
E Reach to indefinite location to get hand
9 8.3 10.8 etc in position for body balance or next
10 8.7 11.5 motion or out of way.
12 9.6 etc Hand in Motion – replace above A & B
14 10.5 times if the operators hand is already
etc etc in motion
Assembly systems – general features

 Fixed position assembly

 Assembly shop and Assembly cell

 Assembly line
Fixed position assembly – general features
In a fixed position assembly, the product is assembled in a
single site, rather than being moved through a set of
assembly stations. Materials (i.e. components), equipment,
tools are brought to the site.
Fixed position assembly – general features
Examples
Examples

Workbench
Examples
Examples

 See these videos

 https://vimeo.com/112937014
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HB5BAfEH45Q
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBCDgoabHF4
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L27ZtsU0a40
Fixed position assembly – Strengths

 High flexibility
 Low investment
 Job enlargement, enrichment and rotation for the
employee
Fixed position assembly – Weaknesses

 Potentials for intertwining of material flows

 High WIP
 Large space requirement
 Labour training might be difficult and time-consuming
 High cost for workforce
Rough design of a fixed position assembly

Number of single sites /stations

The number of stations Nj for the product j can be

calculated as follows:
Nj = PCj x Tj
where:

PCj = requested production capacity for product-type

j [pieces/h]
Tj= time required in order to complete the assembly
process on a piece of product-type j [h/piece]
Assembly line – general features
Each assembly line consists of a series of stations where
the product is progressively assembled.
Assembly line – general features
Examples

In the 1910‘s , Walter Flanders designed the first assembly line at Henry Ford‘s car factory.
Examples

 Some historical videos…

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdwH84AT5fU
 http://www.history.com/topics/henry-ford/videos/
history-of-the-holidays-the-story-of-labor-day
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgL1ZL_sh08
Examples

Today’s assembly line in a factory manufacturing wire harness solutions and electrical
assemblies
Examples

 See these videos

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovMz2gTjvFA
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tb_1TrpUrmQ
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wR1jETyBl6w
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSrQkdfi1-w
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUzh9PBebsE
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6umIEl6Sv8A
Assembly Lines – Strengths

 Rationalization of material flows

 Low WIP
 Limited space requirement
 Labour training might be easy
 Low cost for workforce
Assembly Lines – Weaknesses

 Low flexibility
 Long time required to start new productions
 Repetitive work
 Line balancing might be difficult

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