Balancing of parallel U-shaped assembly lines with a heuristic algorithm based on bidirectional priority values

Aiming at improving assembly line efficiency and flexibility, a balancing method of parallel U-shaped assembly line system is proposed. Based on the improved product priority diagram, the bidirectional priority value formula is obtained. Then, assembly lines are partitioned into z-q partitions and workstations are defined. After that, the mathematical model of the parallel U-shaped assembly line balancing problem is established. A heuristic algorithm based on bidirectional priority values is used to solve explanatory examples and test examples. It can be seen from the results and the effect indicators of the assembly line balancing problem that the heuristic algorithm is suitable for large balancing problems. The proposed method has higher calculation accuracy and shorter calculation time. The balancing effect of the parallel U-shaped assembly line is better than that of single U-shaped assembly line, which verifies the superiority of the parallel U-type assembly line and effectiveness of the proposed method. It provides a theoretical and practical reference for parallel U-type assembly line balancing problem.

Experimental Study and Improving the Productivity of Assembly line Balancing in Teleja Garment Manufacturing in Ethiopia

This study is designed to assess and improve apparel sewing section efficiency and productivity throughout line balancing. Apparel industry is one of the oldest and among the most global industry, being primarily concerned with the design and production of cloth and their supply. The central process in apparel manufacturing is the joining together of components which is known as the sewing process , which is the most labour intensive type of manufacturing process .Proper utilization of resources in garment sewing section is more critical to enhance the performance of the apparel industry by reducing production cost and minimizing wastage. For effective utilization of resources in the sewing section, good line balancing is important to increase productivity and production efficiency. This research was a design to analyse and improve the assembling line in the case of Telaje garment manufacturing and sales plc. The study was first conduct observations in the production floor and start work with the selection of sewing line in the garment production process. Among the nine lines of the factory select one on the production floor and one garment ordered product known as five pocket men’s jeans trousers are selected. For this study, both qualitative and quantitative research approaches were employed. Both primary and secondary data sources are used to detail the collected relevant data to understand the current efficiency scenario of the factory. The main challenges to minimizing line efficiency and productivity with the expected performance measurement are improper utilization of resources and improper implementation of line balancing in sewing section, therefore this thesis work shows that the bottleneck process and consequence solution will be searched, and finally significantly improving the productivity by 418 unit products/ day and, hence the efficiency will increase from 28.83% to 50.04% of the line