As Jamie Page Deaton points out in a recent article I read, “What's
striking about modern automotive production lines is that they haven't changed
all that much from the basic Ford system from so long ago.” To further elaborate on her statement she
means Henry Ford’s concept of having an automobile travel down a line and have
each worker perform a specific task along the line is still the law of the land
in regards to automotive production.
Minor changes like the implementation of robots to perform certain tasks
have occurred to help further lower production costs, but the line has been largely
unchanged. In my opinion, the two
largest innovations to the automotive production line have been the use of cleaner,
safer methods in assembly, and car manufacturers’ ability to add a level of
customization to each individual vehicle.
One thing Alfred P. Sloan knew consumers wanted was choices, and modern
car manufactures agree. Proof of this is
in multiple model production, color selection, trim packaging and/or accessories. This has all been achieved while making the
production line a cleaner, safer place.
For instance, the article attached discusses a Subaru plant in Lafayette,
Indiana that recycles 99.8% of the plant’s waste; a number that would have been
seen as unachievable in Henry Ford and Alfred P. Sloan’s day.
But does cleaner production, the use of
modern technologies, and more consumer choices mean innovation? In short, no, and in my opinion automotive
production lines will probably never undergo a drastic change. Why? It’s been over 100 years since Henry
Ford introduced his interpretation of the automotive assembly line and
relatively little has changed, even as technology has rapidly advanced. But what does the future hold? Will we see a revolution in the automotive
assembly line in our lifetime, or just minor changes here and there? And if only minor changes, what does this say
about automotive production? Has it
peaked? Is the current automotive assembly
line the apex of efficient automotive production?
Deaton, Jamie Page. "How Automotive Production Lines
Work" 11 May 2009. HowStuffWorks.com.
<http://auto.howstuffworks.com/under-the-hood/auto-manufacturing/automotive-production-line.htm>
19 March 2013.
The assembly line was a genius invention and has proven the test of time, as you stated. It is hard to imagine where we would be without it. After reading the blog post I was pondering how it could be changed into something new, or a better way to manufacture things without the assembly line and could not. I did find this cool article and video on the internet on the new Volkswagen plant and museum in Germany. The only thing they changed was that the walls were all glass so the potential buyers could see the process of a car being made, and that the parts moved along the assembly line using magnetic tracks in the floor. Even though these things make for an awesome experience and are innovative, they still are an assembly line very similar to Ford’s original concept.
ReplyDeleteI agree in the fact that the whole concept of the assembly line will not change, but rather the appearance of it will. I believe that if you have an invention that works great and has lasted through time there is really no reason to change it. I do however believe with our ever advancing technology that the components of the assembly will change. This meaning that although these new assembly lines will still yeild cars at the end like Fords did, but will instead utilize more high tech euipment and produce higher quality vehicles.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the assembly line was a great invention. It was a way to produce cars efficiently, both quickly and inexpensive. As far as I know, there's no way to really improve on the assembly line. The most that will happen is designers will find ways to make it even cheaper to maintain.
ReplyDeleteThe assembly line will never disappear. The line surroundings and setting may change over time though. The conditions in the factories will always be changing too. The assembly line gets safer and more organized every day. The machines may become easier to understand and handle. There may be a more computer integrated approach as well, but I don't see the robots in place of humans vision ever becoming a reality.
ReplyDeleteThe efficiency of the assembly line is what gives it it's constant usability and lack of a need to be changed. Unless there is a radical change in the materials used or the methods, there really is no foresee-able end to the assembly line. When they start making cars out of memory metals that do not need to be worked beyond computer input and using rapid prototyping lasers to form car bodies in tanks of resin, maybe there will be a change, but the amount of work it would take to implement the changes and the cost will influence more methods to conform to the assembly line than the assembly line to conform to the methods.
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