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Assembly line

Posted by Smokey Stover on January 14, 2004

In Reply to: Assembly line posted by ESC on January 14, 2004

: : : : Hi,
: : : : I'm looking for a word/phase that describes the concept of a "bucket brigade". My foriegn friends haven't ever heard this phrase before and I need something that's semi-universal.

: : : : For those of you who don't understand the concept. A bucket brigade was used in pre-fire engine America to put out house fires. Villagers would line up between the well/river and the burning house and pass full buckets to the fire and the empty buckets back.

: : : : The concept is that it's an organization scheme where each station does a task and then the work is moved on to the next station.

: : : : THoughts would be appreciated.
: : : : Cheers!

: : : sequenced tasks?

: : Wouldn't "assembly line" mean the same thing?

: From Merriam-Webster online:
: Main Entry: assembly line
: Function: noun
: Date: 1914
: 1 : an arrangement of machines, equipment, and workers in which work passes from operation to operation in direct line until the product is assembled
: 2 : a process for turning out a finished product in a mechanically efficient manner. Academic assembly lines.

Bucket brigade, as in human chain? A bucket brigade passes buckets. But more commonly these days sandbags are moved along by a human chain. SS

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