One-Man Shows in Japanese Manufacturing; Eschewing Assembly Line

choi

Mayumi Negishi, No More Assembly Line; How one worker can build it all, from start to finish. Wall Street Journal, June 2, 2014 (in the one-of-a-kind section “Manufacturing”).
online.wsj.com/articles/japanese-firm-uses-a-single-worker-system-to-make-its-products-1401377605

Quote:

(a) “At Japanese manufacturer Roland DG Corp, assembling thousands of parts into wide-format printers is as easy as coloring by numbers.

“That's because Roland DG, a small company with about $300 million in annual sales and 966 employees, makes everything from billboard printers to machines that shape dental crowns using an advanced production system known as ‘D-shop.’

“Under this method, workers in single-person stalls assemble products from start to finish, guided by a 3-D graphic and using parts delivered automatically from a rotating rack.

“The evolution of Roland DG, which is 40%-owned by digital piano maker Roland Corp, started in 1998, when it became one of the first companies in Japan to abandon the assembly line in favor of one-person work stalls modeled after Japanese noodle stands.

(b) “A computer monitor displays step-by-step instructions along with 3-D drawings

(c) “The system is so simple that nearly anyone can assemble products * * * When Roland DG is flooded with orders, it sends out for part-time workers. After a two-day training session * * * ‘We can move people instantly to make products that are in demand. There's a great deal of flexibility,’ says Masaki HANAJIMA, general manager of production manufacturing.

Note:
(a) Mayumi NEGISHI  根岸 まゆみ

(b) Roland Corporation  ローランド株式会社
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roland_Corporation
(Headquarters  Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, Japan; section 1 History: founder Ikutarō KAKEHASHI  梯 郁太郎)
(i) kakehashi 懸け橋; 掛け橋; かけ橋; 架け橋; 懸橋; 掛橋; 梯; 桟 【かけはし】 (n): “(1) suspension bridge; viaduct; temporary bridge; (2) mediation; go-between”
(ii) fuku-iku 馥郁 【ふくいく】 (adj): “fragrant; sweet-smelling”  
(iii) iku-iku 郁郁; 郁々 【いくいく】 (adj): “flourishing; teeming with culture; aromatic; emitting an aroma”

(c) For billboard printer, go to images.google.com.

(d) Regarding sectional heading “Noodling Around.”

noodle (vi; imitative [the sounds when toying music instruments]; First Known Use: circa 1937):
“to improvise on an instrument in an informal or desultory manner <He was just noodling around on the guitar>”
www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/noodle
(e) “The computer even gives workers a pat on the back at the end of the day, with the message, ‘Otsukaresama deshita.’ Loosely translated, that means: ‘You must be tired, and we thank you.’"

otsukaresasma お疲れ様 【おつかれさま】 (exp[erssion]):
"(1) thank you; many thanks; much appreciated; (2) that's enough for today”
Jim Breen’s online Japanese dictionary, undated.