Product Assembly – Structure of the Assembly

The product assembly is part of the system used by manufactures to produce goods. It is a crucial part of the production as it is required to make almost every single item produced by an individual or a group.

Started in the dark ages to make the simplest, yet more complex tools, the assemblage of products found an economic boom in the 1900s with the invention of multiple tools used to facilitate the assembly, such as the conveyor belt.

How it is done

The way a product is assembled this way can vary by the kind of workforce based around it. It often is, for example, composed by multiple parts that include different assemblages to ensure every part of the product to fit together perfectly. On an industrial level, the common way a large-scale assembly line for a product would be a Conveyor belt.  This ensures a smooth transfer of the elements to be assembled to form part of, or the whole, product.

Along this conveyor, multiple stations are covered in both sides, taking different tasks of assembly. These can be both mechanical and human workers, depending by the complexity of the task and the budget of the company. Once the flow starts, the workers proceed to fluidly partake into the assembly process without any delay.

The structure of the assembly

Let us take an example to show the way a typical product assembly is done.

A company wants to produce plastic European Football-shaped keychains, with their own logo on them, in occasion for the upcoming World Cup.

Once the design is approved and the measurements have been taken, the assemblage can be done in a very simple way: firstly, the assembly line (i.e. a conveyor-belt) is structured to make the production. Depending by the amount, a station controlling the correct shape of the plastic might be required, as it is not unusual for very large quantities of plastic to have a few faulty parts. Then, there will be a station that covers the whole keychain in white. Afterwards, there will be another station taking care of painting the black parts of the football. Once it is done, a third station will take care of painting the logo and, finally, to let the fourth station attach the chain before sending the finished product to the last station to make a quality check.

Once the assembly is completed, the product can then be safely shipped to the clients.

Redundancy: human vs machine

One of the most important choices of product assembly is choosing between a human operator or a machine. As the work can be redundant, a machine can be the best candidate for repetitive work for a smaller cost than a worker subject to human error. Having a machine operator, however, can also comport an initial bigger cost for the company, graving on the budget in case of risky investments.

Additionally, the machines are prone to malfunctions and, in some cases, be much more liable to damages than human workers. Mechanical operators should always be under surveillance by a human worker that can avoid any negative impact to the production.

Conclusions

The product assembly is crucial for any company to produce goods and it is important to invest the proper time and money into making sure that everything works as intended. A good assembly line means a fast and reliable product assembly and smart decisions can save a lot from the budget used for it.

For a small start-up, the best way to assemble a product would be using cheap human labour. Afterwards, once there is a possibility and if the company needs a larger number of products to be made, machines could become a smart investment.