Optimizing Assembly Line Production through Line Balancing: A Case Study

2015 ◽  
Vol 761 ◽  
pp. 104-108
Author(s):  
Adi Saptari ◽  
Jia Xin Leau ◽  
M. Nor Akramin

In Line Balancing principles, the total workload in the assembly process is divided as evenly as possible among the workstations, without violating the sequences and relations in the assembly operations. Line balancing is important in an assembly system as it balances the line and increases the efficiency, as well as the productivity of a system. A case study was conducted in the assembly line of an electrical accessories manufacturer in Malaysia. The cycle time for each station was recorded, and the standard cycle time was estimated. The productivity, as well as the efficiency of the current assembly line, were studied. In terms of the productivity, the performance of the current systems was 500 units/worker/day, while the expected productivity was 600 units/worker/day. An assembly line setting was proposed based on the Line Balancing Method; the productivity for the proposed line increased to 671 units/worker/day, or in rough additional increase around 34%.

2015 ◽  
Vol 799-800 ◽  
pp. 1398-1402 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jongrak Niamsawan ◽  
Suksan Prombanpong

This research objective is to improve the productivity of cookware assembly line by means of time and distance reductions. The motion study and line balancing techniques were applied to the entire assembly operations. A bottle neck was identified to where the operation with inadequate machine layout and workplace organization, including the unbalanced workloads. The new workplace layout and new working method for operators were designed and implemented as well as balancing the assembly line. Specifically, the conveyor speed and duration between the consecutive workpieces in the production line were adjusted to 0.10 m/s and 50 cm, respectively. The number of operators needed in the process can be reduced from 14 persons to 11 persons. The cycle time for assembling process is decreased from 12 to 5 second.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashish Yadav ◽  
Shashank Kumar ◽  
Sunil Agrawal

PurposeMulti-manned assembly lines are designed to produce large-sized products, such as automobiles. In this paper, a multi-manned assembly line balancing problem (MALBP) is addressed in which a group of workers simultaneously performs different tasks on a workstation. The key idea in this work is to improve the workstation efficiency and worker efficiency of an automobile plant by minimizing the number of workstations, the number of workers, and the cycle time of the MALBP.Design/methodology/approachA mixed-integer programming formulation for the problem is proposed. The proposed model is solved with benchmark test problems mentioned in research papers. The automobile case study problem is solved in three steps. In the first step, the authors find the task time of all major tasks. The problem is solved in the second step with the objective of minimizing the cycle time for the sub-tasks and major tasks, respectively. In the third step, the output results obtained from the second step are used to minimize the number of workstations using Lingo 16 solver.FindingsThe experimental results of the automobile case study show that there is a large improvement in workstation efficiency and worker efficiency of the plant in terms of reduction in the number of workstations and workers; the number of workstations reduced by 24% with a cycle time of 240 s. The reduced number of workstations led to a reduction in the number of workers (32% reduction) working on that assembly line.Practical implicationsFor assembly line practitioners, the results of the study can be beneficial where the manufacturer is required to increased workstation efficiency and worker efficiency and reduce resource requirement and save space for assembling the products.Originality/valueThis paper is the first to apply a multi-manned assembly line balancing approach in real life problem by considering the case study of an automobile plant.


2012 ◽  
Vol 605-607 ◽  
pp. 166-174
Author(s):  
Areeda Lerttira ◽  
Prasad K.D.V. Yarlagadda

Today’s highly competitive market influences the manufacturing industry to improve their production systems to become the optimal system in the shortest cycle time as possible. One of most common problems in manufacturing systems is the assembly line balancing problem. The assembly line balancing problem involves task assignments to workstations with optimum line efficiency The most common purposes of Computer Method for Sequencing Operations for Assembly Line (COMSOAL) are to minimise idle time, optimise production line efficiency, and minimise the number of workstations. Therefore, this paper leads to implement COMSOAL to balance an assembly line in the motorcycle industry. The new solution by COMSOAL will be used to compare with the previous solution that was developed by Multi‐Started Neighborhood Search Heuristic (MSNSH), which will result in five aspects including cycle time, total idle time, line efficiency, average daily productivity rate, and the workload balance. The journal name “Optimising and simulating the assembly line balancing problem in a motorcycle manufacturing company: a case study” will be used as the case study for this project.


2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-107
Author(s):  
Prasti Amanda Larasari ◽  
Prianggada Indra Tanaya ◽  
Yuki Indrayadi

This paper explains the improvement of PT ZYX's productivity on the assembly line-A, using the production line balancing method. Four methods of line balancing were examined, namely, Ranking Positional Weight (RPW), Region Approach, J-Wagon and Kaizen. The selection of the most suitable method is made based on the reduction of number of workstation and cycle-time. Based on the result. Kaizen method shows better total cycle time, number of workstation, and number of operator required. This result is simulated using the 'Tecnomatix' software with the DES (Discrete Event Simulation) method.


2014 ◽  
Vol 13 (02) ◽  
pp. 113-131 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Sivasankaran ◽  
P. Shahabudeen

Balancing assembly line in a mass production system plays a vital role to improve the productivity of a manufacturing system. In this paper, a single model assembly line balancing problem (SMALBP) is considered. The objective of this problem is to group the tasks in the assembly network into a minimum number of workstations for a given cycle time such that the balancing efficiency is maximized. This problem comes under combinatorial category. So, it is essential to develop efficient heuristic to find the near optimal solution of the problem in less time. In this paper, an attempt has been made to design four different genetic algorithm (GA)-based heuristics, and analyze them to select the best amongst them. The analysis has been carried out using a complete factorial experiment with three factors, viz. problem size, cycle time, and algorithm, and the results are reported.


2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 638-663
Author(s):  
Mohd Fadzil Faisae Ab. Rashid ◽  
Ahmad Nasser Mohd Rose ◽  
Nik Mohd Zuki Nik Mohamed ◽  
Fadhlur Rahman Mohd Romlay

Purpose This paper aims to propose an improved Moth Flame Optimization (I-MFO) algorithm to optimize the cost-oriented two-sided assembly line balancing (2S-ALB). Prior to the decision to assemble a new product, the manufacturer will carefully study and optimize the related cost to set up and run the assembly line. For the first time in ALB, the power cost is modeled together with the equipment, set up and labor costs. Design/methodology/approach I-MFO was proposed by introducing a global reference flame mechanism to guide the global search direction. A set of benchmark problems was used to test the I-MFO performance. Apart from the benchmark problems, a case study from a body shop assembly was also presented. Findings The computational experiment indicated that the I-MFO obtained promising results compared to comparison algorithms, which included the particle swarm optimization, Cuckoo Search and ant colony optimization. Meanwhile, the results from the case study showed that the proposed cost-oriented 2S-ALB model was able to assist the manufacturer in making better decisions for different planning periods. Originality/value The main contribution of this work is the global reference flame mechanism for MFO algorithm. Furthermore, this research introduced a new cost-oriented model that considered power consumption in the assembly line design.


2013 ◽  
Vol 816-817 ◽  
pp. 1169-1173
Author(s):  
Usman Attique ◽  
Abdul Ghafoor ◽  
Riaz Ahmed ◽  
Shahid Ikramullah

Various exact and heuristic methods have been proposed for assembly line balancing problem (ALBP) but unequal multiple operators have not been considered much. In this paper we present a novel approach of assembly line balancing Type-2 with unequal multiple operators by using an already developed code in Matlab (Tomlab modeling platform). The adopted approach can be applied at line balancing problems ranging from few to hundreds of work elements to achieve minimum cycle time with very less computational effort.


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