Assembly lines that are larger than cells come in a variety of shapes, based on other considerations than for cells, particularly parts supply. Rather than a mile-long straight line, most car assembly lines are laid out in a coiled snake pattern, with cars traveling back and forth on segments under one eighth of a mile long. This pattern supports two materials services areas on opposite sides, feeding parts into the folds of the snake, so that each linear foot of supply route feeds two linear feet of line.

Straight lines live on in airplane assembly. After the experiment of B24 assembly in Willow Run during World War II, moving assembly lines for large airplanes were abandoned in favor of assembly in bays, with conveyance between bays at periodic intervals through bridge cranes. Recently, however, Boeing introduced moving assembly lines, first for the 717 in Long Beach, California, and now in the Seattle area plants. The 717 line is only 1200 feet long and has seven stations within which the planes move at 30 inches/ hour, but between which it moves at an accelerated pace, making the line a hybrid between continuous motion and start/stop.