Ford Production Line (with a difference)

Hi Mike, the sequencing of parts on the assembly line were very prominent at Nissan, as the colours of the bodies and doors were different each time as well as the different variants in the same model of car, and each of the assembly personal had the buckets filled in a continuous stream for the different parts for different car variants, must have been a logistical nightmare for someone, it was amazing to see it, as the time that each part was fitted was also allocated and they had to fit each piece before their travelling station was automatically returned to the next car, they were all 20 to 25 year olds and had a rotation of the station they were on each day.

Regards Nick.

It does appear, from this Martha and the Vandellas promotional film, that the Ford Mustang assembly line at the River Rouge Complex in the 1960s was racially segregated by production line section.

Interesting observation. And in 1960s America, probably not unusual. Shipyards had whole trades segregated by race in the same era. And that was in progressive New York and California, not the Deep South.

The major facilities of MINI are body, paint and assembly, between these facilities are large stores to facilitate sequencing the bodies and buffer the facilities in the event of problems. The paint shop prefer to paint batches of the same colour although the equipment can paint smarties if required but paint is expensive and some is wasted with each colour change despite very clever colour changing equipment. Once painted the bodies are stored again to allow final assembly to sequence bodies for their requirements. Engines are built off site but an engine dress line builds the engine and complete front end running gear into an assembly that is stuffed up into the body above, robots with torque controlled nut runners bolt the complete assembly into the body. The running gear for the rear end is also stuffed up into the body in a similar process. I suppose a car is one of the most complex and largest things that are mass produced.

Mike