The First-Generation Camaro Assembly Process
READ THIS, ITS FOR CAMARO BUT ALL PLANTS OPERATED SIMILAR
Body Bank Operations
The trimmed out shells from Fisher were received in a "body bank" on the Chevrolet side. The receiving body bank matched the arriving bodies against customer orders so that the final assembly could be scheduled. The VIN was assigned and assembly scheduling sorted the units based on equipment and option content to maintain assembly line work station balance. The individual specifications for the remainder of assembly were "broadcast" to assembly stations throughout the Chevrolet assembly plant and the units were released in proper sequence to the Trim Line. Once released from the Body Bank the assembly sequence was "locked-in" all the way to the end of the Final Line.
VIN Assignment: When the body entered the area, the clerk entered the body number from the cowl tag into the computer, which cross-referenced back to the "ident number" and dealer order number. This data resulted in generation of the precise specifications and all the Chevrolet parts required for that particular car, prepared the file that would generate the "Broadcast Copy" when the car was released, and assigned the VIN number.
Scheduling: There were usually six lines in the schedule bank - one for RS, one for A/C, one for SS and Z/28, and three for high-volume standard cars, so cars could be scheduled without having situations like three A/C's in a row, three consoles in a row, three RS's in a row, etc., as these had higher work content vs. the standard cars and scheduling two or three of them in a row would over-cycle certain line operations.
Releasing: When the clerk at the end of the body bank selected the next body based on the scheduling "rules" and released it from its line into the main conveyor to the Trim Line, the computer released the "Broadcast" file with the next sequence number, and it was sent to many teletype printers throughout the plant where subassemblies were built and sequenced for delivery to the Main Line to meet up with that particular car. The same computer program also generated the end-of-line paperwork for that car - the price sticker, car shipper, and other internal documents.
The "Broadcast Copy" (often called the "build sheet" today) included the sequence number, VIN, identification number, dealer code, order number, and selection codes for virtually every part that went on that car. There were two types of Broadcast Copies: the Body Broadcast Copy (BBC) was used on the Trim Line and Final Line, and the Chassis Broadcast Copy (CBC) was used on the Engine Dress, Chassis, and post-marriage overhead Chassis Line. There was some level of duplication on both Copies - it was a standard Chevrolet form used in all plants (except on the Vega at Lordstown - the teletype printers couldn't print a full sheet at 103 per hour, so the Vega Broadcast (designed by yours truly) was only a half-sheet, 8-1/2 by 5-1/2 inches, so the printers could stay ahead of the line). By the time the car got to the Final Line there were Broadcast Copies all over it, under it, and inside it, as all the various feeder lines used them too. Each installation point for conveyor-delivered components had a trash barrel to pitch the copy that came taped to the subassembly, and there were several at the end of the Final Line.
The car was now officially released for production, and was locked permanently in sequence as it headed for the Trim Line. At Norwood, the body was on a Trim Truck, and at Van Nuys it was in an overhead conveyor clamshell carrier (the low ceilings in the old Norwood Trim Shop building weren't high enough to accommodate overhead conveyors).
