A novel discrete particle swarm algorithm for assembly line balancing problems

2017 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 452-463 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jianping Dou ◽  
Jun Li ◽  
Xia Zhao
Keyword(s):  
Assembly Line ◽  
Particle Swarm ◽  
Assembly Line Balancing ◽  
Line Balancing ◽  
Particle Swarm Algorithm ◽  
Type I ◽  
Type Ii ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Discrete Particle ◽  
Comparative Results

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop a feasible sequence-oriented new discrete particle swarm optimization (NDPSO) algorithm with novel particles’ updating mechanism for solving simple assembly line balancing problems (SALBPs). Design/methodology/approach In the NDPSO, a task-oriented representation is adopted to solve type I and type II SALBPs, and a particle directly represents a feasible task sequence (FTS) as a permutation. Then, the particle (permutation) is updated as a whole using the geometric crossover based on the edit distance with swaps for two permutations. Furthermore, the fragment mutation with adaptive mutation probability is incorporated into the NDPSO to improve exploration ability. Findings Case study illustrates the effectiveness of the NDPSO. Comparative results between the NDPSO and existing real-encoded PSO (CPSO) and direct discrete PSO (DDPSO) against benchmark instances of type I SALBP and type II SALBP show promising higher performance of the proposed NDPSO. Originality/value A novel particles’ updating mechanism for FTS-encoded particle is proposed to solve the SALBPs. The comparative results indicate that updating of FTS as a whole seems superior to existing updating of FTS by fragment with respect to exploration ability for solving SALBPs. The novel particles’ updating mechanism is also applicable to generalized assembly line balancing problems.

scholarly journals Multi-objective discrete particle swarm optimisation algorithm for integrated assembly sequence planning and assembly line balancing

2016 ◽  
Vol 232 (8) ◽  
pp. 1444-1459 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohd Fadzil Faisae Ab Rashid ◽  
Windo Hutabarat ◽  
Ashutosh Tiwari
Keyword(s):  
Assembly Line ◽  
Particle Swarm ◽  
Assembly Line Balancing ◽  
Particle Swarm Optimisation ◽  
Assembly Sequence Planning ◽  
Line Balancing ◽  
Assembly Sequence ◽  
Discrete Particle ◽  
Sequence Planning ◽  
Multi Objective

In assembly optimisation, assembly sequence planning and assembly line balancing have been extensively studied because both activities are directly linked with assembly efficiency that influences the final assembly costs. Both activities are categorised as NP-hard and usually performed separately. Assembly sequence planning and assembly line balancing optimisation presents a good opportunity to be integrated, considering the benefits such as larger search space that leads to better solution quality, reduces error rate in planning and speeds up time-to-market for a product. In order to optimise an integrated assembly sequence planning and assembly line balancing, this work proposes a multi-objective discrete particle swarm optimisation algorithm that used discrete procedures to update its position and velocity in finding Pareto optimal solution. A computational experiment with 51 test problems at different difficulty levels was used to test the multi-objective discrete particle swarm optimisation performance compared with the existing algorithms. A statistical test of the algorithm performance indicates that the proposed multi-objective discrete particle swarm optimisation algorithm presents significant improvement in terms of the quality of the solution set towards the Pareto optimal set.

Study on Aircraft Assembly Line Balancing Problem Based on Mobile Workers

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jie Zhang ◽  
Bo Xin ◽  
Pan Wang
Keyword(s):  
Assembly Line ◽  
Particle Swarm ◽  
Assembly Line Balancing ◽  
Line Balancing ◽  
Stability And Convergence ◽  
Particle Swarm Algorithm ◽  
Binary Particle Swarm Optimization ◽  
Assembly Lines ◽  
Aircraft Assembly ◽  
Assembly Line Balancing Problem

In order to improve the balance and load equilibrium of aircraft assembly lines, and to enhance the management of on-site resources, a Type-E balancing method was proposed based on the mobile operation of assembly personnel in the aircraft assembly line. This method was aimed to minimize the smoothness index of the overall assembly line and each assembly station, and also to minimize manpower costs. First, a model of personnel flow and an assembly line balancing model were constructed based on the characteristics of aircraft assembly lines. Next, an Accelerated Binary Particle Swarm Optimization (ABPSO) based on improved sig function was designed in order to improve the original stability and convergence of the standard binary particle swarm algorithm. Finally, the validity of the method was verified with a real fuselage assembly line and the results show the effectiveness.

A multi-manned assembly line balancing problem with classified teams: a new approach

2016 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamid Yilmaz ◽  
Mustafa Yilmaz
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Assembly Line ◽  
Assembly Line Balancing ◽  
Line Balancing ◽  
Test Problems ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Line Test ◽  
Assembly Line Balancing Problem ◽  
First Time

Purpose – Within team-oriented approaches, tasks are assigned to teams before being assigned to workstations as a reality of industry. So it becomes clear, which workers assemble which tasks. Design/methodology/approach – Team numbers of the assembly line can increase with the number of tasks, but at the same time, due to physical situations of the stations, there will be limitations of maximum working team numbers in a station. For this purpose, heuristic assembly line balancing (ALB) procedure is used and mathematical model is developed for the problem. Findings – Well-known assembly line test problems widely used in the literature are solved to indicate the effectiveness and applicability of the proposed approach in practice. Originality/value – This paper draws attention to ALB problem in which workers have been assigned to teams in advance due to the need for specialized skills or equipment on the line for the first time.

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