A production line is a set of sequential operations that transforms raw materials into a finished product through refining or assembly processes. Early production relied on water and wind power, but the steam engine allowed processes to consolidate in factories near materials, workers, or consumers. The assembly line pioneered by Henry Ford further standardized processes, with workers performing individual tasks as products moved continuously down the line, drastically reducing assembly times. Mass production now refers to the large-scale output of standardized goods using specialized machinery and division of labor.

1. Student: Constantin Florentina
Alina
Grupa: 8218

2. Production line
A production line is a set of sequential operations established in a
factory whereby materials are put through a refining process to produce
an end-product that is suitable for onward consumption; or components
are assembled to make a finished article.
Typically, raw materials such as metal ores or agricultural products such as
foodstuffs or textile source plants (cotton , flax) require a sequence of
treatments to render them useful. For metal, the processes include
crushing, smelting and further refining. For plants, the useful material has
to be separated from husks or contaminants and then treated for onward
sale.

3. History
Early production processes were constrained
by the availability of a source of energy, with wind
mills and water mills providing power for
the crude heavy processes and manpower being used for activities
requiring more precision. In earlier centuries, with raw materials, power
and people often being in different locations, production was distributed
across a number of sites. The concentration of numbers of people in
manufactories, and later the factory as exemplified by the cotton
mills of Richard Arkwright, started the move towards co-locating individual
processes.

4. Introduction of the steam engine
With the development of the steam enginein the latter half of the 18th
century, the production elements became less reliant on the location of
the power source, and so the processing of goods moved to either the
source of the materials or the location of people to perform the tasks.
Separate processes for different treatment stages were brought into the
same building, and the various stages of refining or manufacture were
combined.

5. Industrial revolution
With increasing use of steam power, and increasing
use of machinery to supplant the use of people, the
integrated use of techniques in production lines
spurred the industrial revolutions of Europe and
the United States.

6. Assembly line
Thus, from the processing of raw materials into useful goods, the
next step was the concept of the assembly line, as introduced by Eli
Whitney. This was taken to the next stage at the Ford Motor
Company in 1913, where Henry Ford introduced the innovation of
continuously moving the cars being assembled past individual work
stations. This introduced the idea of standardization.
The assembly line was a contraption of many chains and links that
moved to place different parts into various places throughout the
car. The chassis of the car was along the 45 metre line by a chain
conveyor and then 140 workers applied their assigned parts to the
chassis. Other workers brought additional parts to the car builders
to keep them stocked. The assembly line decreased the assembly
time per vehicle The production time for a single car dropped from
over twelve hours to just 93 minutes.

7. An assembly line is a manufacturing process (most of
the time called a progressive assembly) in which parts
(usually interchangeable parts) are added as the semi-
finished assembly moves from work station to work
station where the parts are added in sequence until the
final assembly is produced. By mechanically moving the
parts to the assembly work and moving the semi-
finished assembly from work station to work station, a
finished product can be assembled faster and with less
labor than by having workers carry parts to a
stationary piece for assembly.
Assembly lines are the common method of assembling
complex items such as automobiles and other
transportation equipment, household appliances
and electronic goods.

8. Mass production
Mass production is the production of large amounts
of standardized products, including and especially on assembly lines.
With job production and batch production it is one of the three main
production methods. The concepts of mass production are applied
to various kinds of products, from fluids and particulates handled in
bulk (such as food, fuel, chemicals, and mined minerals) to discrete
solid parts (such as fasteners) to assemblies of such parts (such
as household appliances and automobiles). Mass production is a
diverse field, but it can generally be contrasted with craft
production or distributed manufacturing. It has occurred for
centuries; there are examples of production methods that can best
be defined as mass production that predate the Industrial
Revolution. However, it has been widespread in human experience,
and central to economics, only since the late 19th century.

9. Bibliography
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Production_line
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assembly_line
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_production