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flowline

flowline

5.6
A factory system where products move without stopping between machines for assembly
  • noun
  • /ˈfloʊlaɪn/
  • Specialized
translation icon : línea de producción
  • In an early use of SDWTs, Volvo successfully restructured their Kalmar Plant from flowline assembly to one group assembling an entire car (Lindholm & Norstedt, 1975).

Examples

  • Using a flowline setup, the products moved smoothly from one workstation to the next.

  • Each flowline in the assembly line was meticulously designed to minimize delays.

  • The factory implemented a flowline system to improve efficiency in production.

Synonyms

line
vsflowline
575 3.0

A company or service that moves people and goods

describes a specific continuous factory system moving products through machines
assembly line
vsflowline
  • Specialized
39 3.2

A factory system where a product moves past workers who add parts

stresses uninterrupted continuous flow through stations rather than staged building
production line
vsflowline
  • Specialized
13 3.0

A series of machines and workers in a factory that make a product step by step

focuses on continuous movement through stations rather than discrete step batches

How Continuous

flow
188 1.0
flowline
  • Specialized
5.6
production line
  • Specialized
13 3.0
assembly line
  • Specialized
39 3.2
batch
197 3.2

Surface Forms

flowline singular
flowlines plural

Morphology

flowline = flow + line (semi-transparent) = flow + line

The components suggest a line along which things flow, but the sense refers to a specialized manufacturing system (production line), which is a domain-specific extension.

Etymology

Flowline comes from flow ('continuous movement') and line ('a set path' like an assembly line), so a factory flowline is a system where products keep moving along a planned path to be made or put together.