Flexible multi-manned assembly line balancing problem: Model, heuristic procedure, and lower bounds for line length minimization

Thiago Cantos Lopes, Giuliano Vidal Pastre, Adalberto Sato Michels and Leandro Magatão

Omega, 2020, vol. 95, issue C

Abstract: Assembly lines dedicated to the production of large products often allow multiple workers to perform tasks simultaneously on the product. Previous works on such multi-manned lines define workstations with fixed, discrete, and restrictive frontiers, despite commonly considering continuous paced line control. This paper proposes flexible station frontiers for multi-manned lines and shows that such innovation allows significantly shorter line lengths. A new Mixed Integer Linear Programming model and a novel model-based heuristic procedure are presented to describe and optimize lines. Algorithmic lower bounds are also introduced for the problem. The formulation was compared to a literature benchmark of regular multi-manned solutions. These experiments showed that flexible multi-manned formulations can lead to line length reductions of up to 42%. Such reductions were obtained for most instances (81 out of 88), with an average value of 18%. The relationship between cycle time and minimal line length is also analyzed, demonstrating that efficient solution sets can be continuous or discrete, depending on the instance.

Keywords: Assembly line balancing; Multi-Manned lines; Flexible station boundaries; Line length minimization; Continuous paced assembly line (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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DOI: 10.1016/j.omega.2019.04.006

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