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1.Introduction
Theprocessofassemblygoesbacktoancienttimes,butpracticallyuntilthemod-
ernageitwascarriedoutsolelythroughmanuallabour,sometimeswiththehelpof
toolsanddevicesenablingthetransferofheavyloads.
Inthebeginningofthe18thcentury,machinepartsstartedtobecombined
basedonpre-matching.Operatorsandassemblersoftenhadtolearnthisprocess
foryears,andthosesufficientlytrainedwereabletoassemblethefinalproduct
fromitsindividualcomponents.Demandapparentlydidnothaveasignificant
impactonthenumberofassemblersand-consequently-thenumberofendprod-
uctsmanufactured.Thedeliverytimewasverylongandthepossibilityofexactly
duplicatingaproductwaslow.Thefirstmajorchangetookplaceatthebeginning
ofthe19thcenturyinthearmamentsindustry,whereindividualpartshadtobe
fullyinterchangeable,withouttheneedtoadjustthem.Thisideawasfirstimple-
mentedbyDanielE.
Whitney,aninventorandentrepreneurworkinginthedefenceindustry.After
receivinganorderfor10,000musketsfortheUSfederalarmoury,hefirstde-
signedthetoolsrequiredtomakewholebatchesofidenticalcomponents.These
interchangeablecomponentsenabledthemassassemblyofmuskets.Whitneywas
alsothefirsttoadopttheproductmodel,whichwasakindofdimensionalstand-
ardusedforverifyingthemanufacturedcomponentspracticallyuntilthebegin-
ningofthe20thcentury,whendimensionaltoleranceswereadoptedintechnical
drawings.Thisenabledtheproductionofcomponentswiththeassumeddimen-
sionaltolerancesinmultipleproductionplants.Italsomadeitpossibletoseparate
themanufacturingprocessofcomponentsfromtheassemblyprocessoftheend
product.Asaresult,thequalificationsneededtomanufactureproductsthatrequire
assemblyweresignificantlylowered.Asregardsmorecomplexproducts,training
unqualifiedoperatorstoworkatindividualstagesoftheassemblyprocesswas
stillalongandarduoustask.Thisgaverisetotheideaofteamwork,wherebyall
theemployeeswerejointlyresponsiblefortheproductassembly,whileeachof
themwasresponsibleforonlyasmallpartoftheprocess.Alltheoperatorhadto
dowasmasterafewtasks,whichmeantitbecameincomparablyeasierandfaster
toachieveahighdegreeofspecialisationandprofessionalism,but-asitturned
outlater-italsoresultedinacertainamountofmonotonyatwork.Abreak-
throughmomentwasFord’slarge-scaleintroductionoftheassemblyline.The
inventordividedtheFord“T”modelinto5,000components,whichwereassem-
bledinafewsimplesteps.
Thiscuttheassemblytimeinhalfandreducedunnecessarydowntimeto
aminimum.Fordalsodescribedthebasicprinciplesofassembly:
-placethetoolsandthemeninthesequenceoftheoperationsothateach
componentpartshalltraveltheleastpossibledistancewhileintheprocess
offinishing,
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