Ever since Henry Ford brought the assembly line to the automotive industry, the conveyor has proven its value, according to Bernhard Lenzen, vice president of U.S. Assembly Operations for BMW North America. Lenzen was the keynote speaker at Assembly Technology Expo held in early October in Rosemont, Ill.

He said that while the automotive manufacturing process is created by the assembly sequence, painted auto bodies, parts, tools, and assembly workers, the drivers of the process are the conveyors. Successful processes, he added, are characterized by high production quality, efficiency, excellent ergonomics, safety standards, and reliability -all of which are influenced significantly by conveyor technology. Lenzen went on to say that the latest innovations in conveyors combined with proper selection of conveyor units for automotive assembly needs are further advancing the value of the technology to the auto assembly process.