CHAPTER 5Visualizing the assembly process
Many tools are available to visualise the assemblyprocessforthepurpose of analysing itorof communicating design or improvementideas. In most plants, engineers are pressured to work hastily within the space marked as available on afacilities blueprint. This results in line designs with convoluted webs of materialflows, excess WIP and transportation steps, imbalanced operatorjobs, and the waste of floorspace.
Assembly line designs should instead be driven by materialflows and operatormove- ments. Forsequences of assembly operations, the startingpointis an “assembly master table” in spreadsheetformat, containing assembly times, picking times, component and fastener lists, tool and fixture requirements, ...
