Patent ID: 8196731

Claim:
A manufacturing module, comprising: a plurality of beams forming a skeleton and defining an entry and an exit of the manufacturing module; at least a first modular manufacturing station and a second modular manufacturing station disposed between the entry and the exit, wherein each of the first modular manufacturing station and the second modular manufacturing station includes an article transportation device supported by at least one of the beams, wherein each article transportation device includes an independent drive system and one or more carrier tracks, wherein the one or more carrier tracks of each of the first and second modular manufacturing stations are aligned to define a substantially continuous transportation path between the entry and the exit, wherein each carrier track includes one or more rails supporting a drive shaft that is mechanically coupled to the independent drive system, wherein the drive shaft frictionally engages wheels of a carrier; and a control system having a memory, wherein first and second unique operation patterns are stored on the memory, wherein the first unique operation pattern is different than the second unique operation pattern; wherein the independent drive system of the first modular manufacturing station moves a first carrier in a forward transport direction along the transportation path according to the first unique operation pattern, while simultaneously the independent drive system of the second modular manufacturing station moves a second carrier in a reverse transport direction along the transportation path according to the second unique operation pattern, wherein the reverse transport direction is opposite the forward transport direction.