The cost of one sensor may be minuscule, but the damage that the failure can cause on an assembly line can be huge.
Magnetic memory must unravel technical tangles of its own before it can start sliding off the assembly line.
The highly automated factory, to pick only one example, can out-compete any assembly line in the world that runs the old-fashioned way, even if its workers are plugging in widgets and tightening bolts for 30 cents an hour.
For instance, the Ford Focus Electric can be built on the same assembly line as other cars.
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These measurement systems provide real-time analysis that can identify errors and defects on an assembly line.
They may not look inspiring, but deep in the recesses of their brains they have these little ideas--a fast-food restaurant concept no one has ever anticipated, an assembly-line innovation that can lower production costs by 50%, a retirement-plan wrinkle to save everyone's 401(k)--and, someday, assuming they can find their toothbrushes amid the stash of moisturizing-cream bottles in their travel bags, they are going to realize their dreams.
Result: Toyotas are rolling off the assembly line faster than any competitor can match.
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Those of you counting on getting your old assembly line job back in Detroit can forget it.
It is becoming clear, Small Batch quality is best produced where creators can touch their designs and the come off the assembly line.
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Each Epsilon-based car will have the same 1.2-meter-long steel midsection to which a set of parts--whether for a Saab or Malibu--can be attached at the same place on the assembly line and in the same way.
Each Epsilon-based car will have the same 4-foot-long steel midsection to which a set of parts--whether for a Saab or Malibu--can be attached at the same place on the assembly line, and in the same way.
After one has made every last power plant, jet engine, assembly line and car as efficient as they can possibly be given today's technology, one either hopes for an energy-boosting technological miracle or else starts restructuring the economy.
But it can also be as major as buying new lifting equipment or rebuilding an entire assembly line.
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Be it back-office or assembly-line, one single unmotivated team member is not only difficult to manage but can bring down the moral of an entire team.
Think of the assembly-line model for public education: all our boys and girls sent to school so they can become good little factory workers, accustomed to taking orders and standing in line.
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