Henry Ford was the father of the assembly line.
A bench assembly is a component that has been assembled off the assembly line at a workstation. Often a component in a major assembly requires extensive individual attention in a manufacturing plant. When this occurs, it is nicknamed a “bench assembly” and is assembled on a bench from a series of bits and pieces. Once assembled, the workman who assembled the subassembly on the bench often joins or attaches the bench mount part to the main assembly. In some cases, an entire team or a single worker is responsible for all components of the bench assembly for an entire work shift.
Some components must be manufactured separately before the final product can be assembled on a line.
The father of the assembly line, Henry Ford of Ford Motor Co., also created bench assembly. By having certain intricate subassemblies assembled as a whole along with the main assembly line, Ford learned that he could save valuable time in the overall assembly process. Eventually, all of the subassemblies were built in a dedicated area of the factory and brought to the location on the assembly line where they would be joined to the main components. Ford Motor Company has continued this tradition with purpose-built cars, in which a single worker does all of the engine assembly and then installs it into the car on the assembly line.
In woodworking applications, a bench assembly often involves a heating or cooling component. These systems often require a subassembly away from the permanent mounting location before they can be installed. Some plumbing sets are also created as a bench set and then placed in the plumbing system. Tight and restrictive space constraints require this type of mounting procedure in many buildings. Plumbing components can also be checked for leaks much more easily when bench mounted, resulting in a superior drainage and septic system.
Examining a complex manufacturing process, the benefit of using benchtop components is obvious. To create a complete assembly, the creation of many smaller assemblies can be incorporated into the manufacturing design. Small subgroups and assemblies are combined in a properly choreographed design and engineering system to become a final product that can often seem almost impossible to create. Additionally, many of these products must be disassembled into small subassemblies to complete necessary maintenance and repair. Once removed from the larger component, the small bench assembly can be disassembled and cleaned, lubricated, and inspected before reassembly.