No abstract

To meet a diverse range of manufacturing specifications and keep pace with rapid changes in consumer requirements, mixed-model assembly lines must become more efficient and flexible than they are at present. This study examines the characteristics of an insert buffer that uses the curved portion of a mixed-model assembly line to provide guidelines for designing the buffer, and then analyses the number of sequences generated with the buffer. Also analysed is the effect of the insert buffer on the working time and line length. Based on these results, a procedure for designing an insert buffer is proposed.

To meet a diverse range of manufacturing specifications and keep pace with rapid changes in consumer requirements, mixed-model assembly lines must become more efficient and flexible than they are at present. This study examines the characteristics of an insert buffer that uses the curved portion of a mixed-model assembly line to provide guidelines for designing the buffer, and then analyses the number of sequences generated with the buffer. Also analysed is the effect of the insert buffer on the working time and line length. Based on these results, a procedure for designing an insert buffer is proposed.

ARTICLES YOU MAY BE INTERESTED INAbstract. This paper provides a design procedure for the bypass subline in a mixed-model assembly line. The bypass subline is installed to reduce the effect of the large difference in operation times among products assembled together in a mixed-model line. The importance of the bypass subline has been increasing in association with the rising necessity for efficiency and flexibility in modern manufacturing. The main topics of this paper are as follows: 1) the conditions in which the bypass subline effectively functions, and 2) how the load should be distributed between the main line and the bypass subline, depending on production conditions such as degree of difference in operation times among products and the mixing ratio of products. To address these issues, we analyzed the lower and the upper bounds of the line length. Based on the results, a design procedure and a numerical example are demonstrated.