Famous Assembly Lines: From Ford’s Model T to iPhone City

Some of the most famous assembly lines include Ford’s Model T line at Highland Park (1913), Toyota’s lean-production lines in Toyota City, Boeing’s moving lines for the 737 and 777, the WWII-era Willow Run B-24 bomber line, Foxconn’s “iPhone City” in Zhengzhou, McDonald’s Speedee Service System, Volkswagen’s Wolfsburg plant, and Tesla’s Model 3 lines in Fremont and Shanghai. These examples span industries and eras, illustrating how continuous-flow production reshaped costs, speed, and quality—and influenced everything from cars and planes to phones and fast food.

Automotive Icons

Automobiles popularized the modern assembly line, marrying interchangeable parts with paced, repeatable tasks to slash build times and prices. The following examples mark key milestones and enduring leaders in car manufacturing.

• Ford Model T, Highland Park (1913) — The first moving automotive assembly line cut build time from more than 12 hours to about 90 minutes, igniting true mass production and making the automobile affordable for the middle class.
• Oldsmobile “Curved Dash” (1901–1904) — Ransom E. Olds implemented a progressive, station-to-station assembly method that pushed early output from hundreds to thousands of cars annually, paving the way for Ford’s moving line.
• Toyota Production System, Toyota City (post-1950s) — Lines for models such as the Corolla institutionalized just-in-time supply and “jidoka” (built-in quality), with andon cords and takt time becoming global benchmarks for lean manufacturing.
• Volkswagen, Wolfsburg Plant (modern era) — Europe’s largest car factory uses flexible lines (e.g., MQB platform) to build multiple models on shared tooling, setting standards for mixed-model, high-volume production.
• Tesla Model 3, Fremont and Gigafactory Shanghai (2018–present) — High-automation final assembly—famously including the GA4 “tent” line in 2018—helped Tesla rapidly scale EV output and iterate on in-line software and quality checks.

Together, these automotive lines show how innovations in motion, flexibility, and quality control repeatedly reset expectations for cost, volume, and variety in car production.

Aerospace and Defense

Aircraft assembly adapted line principles to much larger, more complex products, shifting from craft-based methods to paced “moving” or “pulse” lines and modular build-ups.

• Willow Run B-24 Liberator, Michigan (1942–1945) — Ford mass-produced bombers on a dedicated line, achieving roughly one aircraft per hour at peak and demonstrating that line production could scale beyond automobiles.
• Boeing 737 Moving Production Line, Renton (mid-2000s–present) — The narrow-body jet moves slowly along a line, reducing work-in-process and improving takt discipline—an automotive technique adapted for aviation.
• Boeing 777 Moving Line, Everett (around 2010–present) — A moving/pulse line improved flow, cut waste, and standardized build steps for wide-body aircraft.
• Airbus Final Assembly Lines, Toulouse/Hamburg/Mobile/Tianjin — A320-family and A350 lines use pulse stations to integrate major sections, coordinating global supply modules into a steady cadence of completed jets.

These programs proved that even high-complexity, low-volume products benefit from paced lines, standardized work, and modular integration.

Electronics and Consumer Technology

As devices shrank and volumes surged, electronics manufacturers refined high-speed, high-yield assembly with precise automation and vast labor orchestration.

• Foxconn “iPhone City,” Zhengzhou (2010s–present) — One of the world’s most concentrated electronics hubs, coordinating tens of thousands of workers, robotics, and testing stations to ship millions of iPhones monthly.
• Samsung Smartphone Lines, Vietnam (2010s–present) — Massive facilities in Bac Ninh and Thai Nguyen produce a significant portion of Samsung’s global phones via tightly synchronized final-assembly and test lines.
• Dell Build-to-Order PC Lines, Austin/Round Rock (1990s–2000s) — Just-in-time, configure-to-order assembly reshaped the PC industry by minimizing inventory and delivering custom systems at scale.

These lines highlight how speed, flexibility, and quality feedback loops underpin the consumer tech cycle where product lifetimes are short and demand spikes are extreme.

Food and Everyday Services

Assembly-line logic also transformed kitchens and bottling halls, making uniform products quickly and safely for mass consumption.

• McDonald’s Speedee Service System, California (1948) — The kitchen-as-assembly-line model standardized tasks, portioning, and timing, defining fast food’s playbook and influencing quick-service kitchens worldwide.
• Hershey’s Kisses Lines, Pennsylvania (1900s–present) — Continuous deposition and high-speed wrapping—iconic “kissing” machines—turn out vast quantities of uniform chocolates with distinctive plumes.
• Coca-Cola Bottling Lines (global) — High-speed lines capable of filling and packaging tens of thousands of bottles or cans per hour set benchmarks for beverage throughput and quality assurance.

The result is affordable, consistent food and drink available at global scale—made possible by repeatable steps and relentless uptime.

Heavy Industry and Shipbuilding

Large, complex assets also embraced assembly-line principles through modular construction, pulse stations, and disciplined logistics.

• Kaiser Shipyards’ Liberty Ships (WWII) — Modular sections and line sequencing enabled record builds, including the SS Robert E. Peary in just over four days in 1942.
• John Deere Waterloo Works, Iowa — Tractor assembly lines balance customization with volume, demonstrating flexible, heavy-duty line production for agricultural equipment.
• Harley-Davidson, York Vehicle Operations — A well-known motorcycle assembly site that showcases staged subassembly and final-fit stations, often featured in industrial tours.

These examples show how line thinking—especially modularization—can tame complexity and compress lead times for big, durable goods.

Why These Examples Endure

Across industries, the most famous lines share core traits: a clear takt or pulse that sets the pace; modular, interchangeable parts; robust quality checks embedded in the flow; and the flexibility to absorb product variety without halting throughput. They are remembered not just for speed, but for reshaping cost structures, worker roles, supply chains, and consumer expectations.

Summary

From Ford’s Model T and Toyota’s lean lines to Boeing’s moving aircraft lines, Foxconn’s iPhone City, and McDonald’s Speedee kitchen, the world’s best-known assembly lines popularized repeatable, paced production. Their enduring fame comes from radical improvements in cost, speed, and quality that made cars, planes, phones, and meals widely accessible—and set the template for modern manufacturing and services.

What is an assembly line in US history?

The assembly line is one of the most impactful concepts in the industrialized world. The assembly line definition in US history is a manufacturing process that allows for finished and almost finished parts to be installed in sequence to automate and reduce the time needed to assemble a finished good.

Who is most famous for using the assembly line?

Henry Ford
Henry Ford famously remarked that the use of the moving assembly line allowed for the work to be taken to workers rather than the worker moving to and around the vehicle. The vehicle began to be pulled down the line and built step-by-step.

What are some examples of assembly lines?

Common examples of assembly lines include the assembly of complex products like automobiles or transportation equipment, household appliances, and electronic goods.

What city is famous for its assembly line?

In 1906 Ford Model Ns were assembled on the third floor of Ford Motor Company’s Piquette Avenue factory in Detroit. Cars were put together by crews moving from vehicle to vehicle. No one had yet conceived of the moving assembly line. Behind the rows of cars are engines, stored on their noses to conserve space.