U-Shaped Assembly Lines

Introduction

Manufacturers often produce high-volume products using assembly lines, where each unit is built incrementally as it moves through a series of workstations. Typically, each workstation is manned by one operator, who repeats a portion of the assembly process on every unit moving on the line. Schonberger (1982) noted that most Western manufacturers arrange assembly lines in a straight-line layout, while their Japanese counterparts prefer U-shaped layouts. In general, this continues to be true, but some evidence suggests this is changing. For instance, a recent article in the Wall Street Journal (July 2, 1997) documents how Nokia, a manufacturer of digital cellular phones from Finland, successfully converted their 120-meter-long assembly line into several U-shaped assembly lines.