An assembly conveyor is a machine designed to transport parts from station to station along a production line to help workers assemble a product. It can carry items to human workers or computerized equipment and has a time constraint to ensure workers move quickly enough.
A conveyor is a machine, usually with a belt or track, that transports items from one area to another in a manufacturing plant or other facility. An assembly conveyor is a machine specifically designed to help workers assemble a product by transporting parts from station to station along a production line. Workers – or machines – at a station will take an action to assemble part of the product before the assembly conveyor takes the product in progress to the next station. Most of these conveyors hold the item in a station for a certain amount of time before moving, but some also have early release tools to speed up production. By the time the conveyor carries parts from the beginning of the belt to the end of the belt, these parts have likely evolved into an entire product.
In form and function, the assembly conveyor is very similar to most other conveyor belts; the belt moves the items to a factory until the items are ready to ship. The difference is that this conveyor is made to help workers assemble products. For example, items will be moved to a station where workers place new parts on unfinished products or perform a service such as painting the unfinished products. Most manufacturers have many different stations, but some simple items may only have one or two.
In the early days of the assembly conveyor, items were brought exclusively to human workers to perform a task or service. The modern conveyor can carry items to human workers or it can take items to computerized equipment. Computer manufacturers, for example, typically use robotic arms to add chips or perform services on printed circuit boards (PCBs) and other hardware components.
One major difference between the assembly conveyor and other conveyors is that the belt is usually separated into many different pallets. Each pallet is responsible for containing a single product. This facilitates worker movement and, if the belt is not time-constrained, allows workers to move items when they are finished, without having to wait for all other workers to finish.
Most assembly conveyors have a time constraint that pushes an item after a few seconds or minutes. While this may seem inconvenient, it ensures that workers are moving quickly enough to complete a product that meets the company’s needs. Some assembly conveyors have an early release feature, which allows workers to move an item ahead of schedule and improves production times. Advanced assembly conveyors can set different times for different stations, as some tasks take longer than others.
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