Abstract: A facility for manufacturing a variety of products laid out on a rectangular floor. The facility includes an entry warehouse located along one side of the floor and a product warehouse arranged so as to form an L-shaped layout with the entry warehouse. Parts assembly lines and dedicated product assembly lines are located, in the stated order, in a grouping which extends toward the product warehouse on the floor and such lines are partially enclosed by the entry warehouse and the product warehouse. The dedicated product assembly lines are functionally independent from each other, but the parts assembly lines cooperate with each other so as to produce articles that are commonly required by the dedicated product assembly lines. Transportation lines are incorporated in the facility to form an E-shaped flow pattern of the articles from the entry warehouse to the product warehouse.

Abstract: An assembly line for assembling a product by a series of operations comprises a conveyer body assembly which includes a plurality of conveyer body units. Each unit has an assembly area for carrying out a predetermined process for producing a product to be assembled and forms a minimal unit which takes charge of a part of the series of operations. The conveyer body assembly is formed by connecting an arbitrary number of conveyer body units greater than or equal to two, which makes it possible to cope with any change in the production plan or the like with a high flexibility.