A methodology for the selection of assembly systems

Abstract

The design of an assembly system for a particular product is a complex engineering effort involving many interrelated decisions. The wide range of alternative system configurations makes a detailed design of each alternative too expensive and time-consuming. In this work a methodology is developed which helps the decision maker by ranking possible alternatives according to 'subjective' cost/ benefit criteria.

State-of-the-art exact and heuristic solution procedures for simple assembly line balancing

“…., n t min , t max , t sum Minimal, maximal, total task time p j Station requirement of task j; p j = t j /c P j ðP Ã j Þ Set of direct (all) predecessors of task j F j ðF Ã j Þ Set of direct (all) followers of task j S k , t (S k ) Station load, station time of station k; tðS k Þ ¼ P j2Sk t j , k = 1,. . ., m I k Idle time of station k; I k = cÀt (S k ) a j , n j Head, tail of task j E j , L j Earliest, latest station for task j Former surveys covering SALBP procedures are given by Buxey et al (1973), Baybars (1986a), Shtub and Dar-El (1989), Ghosh and Gagnon (1989), Sarin (1998), Scholl (1999, Chapter 1) as well as Rekiek et al (2002b).…”

A classification of assembly line balancing problems

“…Scholl and Becker, 2006;Becker and Scholl, 2006) we restrict the presentation to very short descriptions of the relevant characteristics of assembly systems and ALB problems. For further descriptions we refer to, e.g., Buxey et al (1973), Baybars (1986), Shtub and Dar-El (1989), Ghosh and Gagnon (1989), Erel and Sarin (1998), Scholl (1999, ch. 1), and Rekiek et al (2002b).…”

“…Originally, assembly lines were developed for a cost efficient mass-production of standardized products, designed to exploit a high specialization of labour and the associated learning effects (Shtub and Dar-El, 1989;Scholl, 1999, p. 2). Since the times of Henry Ford and the famous model-T, however, product requirements and thereby the requirements of production systems have changed dramatically.…”

A survey of the literature on the multiple or parallel assembly line balancing problem

“…Previous versions can be complemented by considering the secondary objective of smoothing the workstation times (Rachamadugu and Talbot, 1991;Merengo et al, 1999;Pastor and Corominas, 2000). Further details on the SALBP can be found in the surveys contained in the literature (Buxey et al, 1973;Baybars, 1986;Shtub and Dar-El, 1989;Ghosh and Gagnon, 1989;Erel and Sarin, 1998;Scholl, 1999;Rekiek et al, 2002;Scholl and Becker, 2006). However, the SALBP is often a simplification that bears little resemblance to a real-life situation.…”