Ergonomic risk and cycle time minimization for the U-shaped worker assignment assembly line balancing problem: A multi-objective approach

Zhang, Zikai; Ruíz, Rubén; Zhang, Liping

doi:10.1016/j.cor.2020.104905

Cited by 80 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 72 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…the number of workstations and the workload variance, and of the ergonomic risk at each station, based on rapid upper limb assessment technique, which evaluates the strain of upper limbs, neck and torso. Also in other works [28,29], the ergonomic risk is minimized, together with assembly process times. The study conducted in [30] considers a line balancing problem with ergonomic constraints for the minimization of the number of workers.…”

Section: State Of the Art And Motivations Of The Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Job rotation and human–robot collaboration for enhancing ergonomics in assembly lines by a genetic algorithm

Mura

Dini

2021

Int J Adv Manuf Technol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Currently, the largest percentage of the employed workforce in the manufacturing industry is involved in the assembly process, making ergonomics a key factor when dealing with assembly-related problems. During these processes, repetitive tasks and heavy component handling are frequent for workers, who may result overloaded from an energetic point of view, thus affecting several aspects not only relating to the human factor but also to potentially reduced productivity. Different organizational strategies and technological solutions could be adopted to overcome these drawbacks. For these purposes, the present paper proposes a genetic algorithm for solving the typical problem of assembly line balancing, taking into account job rotation and human–robot collaboration for enhancing ergonomics of workers. The objectives of the problem are related to both economic aspects and human factor: (i) the cost for implementing the assembly line is minimized, evaluated on the basis of the number of workers and differentiated by skill levels and on equipment installed on workstations, including collaborative robots, and (ii) the energy load variance among workers is also minimized, so as to smooth their energy expenditure in performing the assigned assembly operations, calculated according to their movements, physiological characteristics, job rotations and degree of collaboration with robots. The paper finally presents and discusses the application of the developed tool to an industrial assembly case.

show abstract

Section: State Of the Art And Motivations Of The Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Job rotation and human–robot collaboration for enhancing ergonomics in assembly lines by a genetic algorithm

Mura

Dini

2021

Int J Adv Manuf Technol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…[53] develop a multi-objective model by including the energy expenditure of the tasks through the so-called predetermined motion energy system, which allows to easily estimate the energy expenditure of the most common activities that are performed during an assembly process. Similarly, [54] introduce a multi-objective genetic algorithm for assembly line balancing taking into account ergonomics through energy expenditure, while [55] focus on U-shaped assembly lines and an ergonomic risk evaluated through OCRA index.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Walking worker vs fixed worker assembly considering the impact of components exposure on assembly time and energy expenditure

Calzavara

Faccio

Persona

et al. 2021

Int J Adv Manuf Technol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Recently, the need for assembly systems of better following the market demand has led to the spread of alternative solutions with respect to the traditional fixed worker strategy. Walking worker systems, where operators move across the line to produce the finished product, are gaining always more interest. In this paper, a comparison between the fixed worker (FW) and the walking worker (WW) assembly strategies is provided, by taking into account their differences both in terms of performed activities during assembly and of material exposure at the assembly workstations. The evaluation is carried out through the proposal of a mathematical model, to understand the impact on assembly time and on operators’ energy expenditure. The behavior of the model is investigated both with a parametric analysis and a real case study. The results show that the FW is the best one when the system is working at its maximum throughput, while the WW strategy turns out to be preferable for the lower values of market demand, both from a time and an energy expenditure perspective.

show abstract

“…Finco et al (2020) developed a mathematical model that integrates human energy expenditures in assembly line balancing problems with the smoothness index. The multi-objective mathematical model developed by Zhang et al (2020) integrates the OCRA method to eliminate the ergonomic risks for U-shaped assembly lines. Their model did not consider finding optimal lot size.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integration of Ergonomic Aspects into Lot-sizing Model of the Production Line Supply Process Based on Relaxation Allowance and Maximum Endurance Time

Korkulu

Bóna

2022

Period. Polytech. Transp. Eng.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The maximum endurance time is a key parameter for the estimation of relaxation allowance and rest time. Recently, researchers have started to investigate and integrate particularly economic aspects of sustainability as well as environmental sustainability dimensions in intralogistics systems, and only a few contributions studied the social aspect of sustainability. Therefore, the aim of the paper is the extension and development of a new cost model based on relaxation allowance and endurance time. The effects of endurance time and relaxation allowance on the total cost of logistics operation were investigated. The developed new model considered the maximum endurance time for calculation of rest time necessary for different quantities of handled items and item weights. The results of comparison with the total cost of maximum lifting and carrying (25 kg) limit for two-handed lifting show that the percentage savings achieved with the implementation of our new model from using ergonomic rest time and maximum endurance time was equal to 43.2% in the total cost of production line supply process.

show abstract

Ergonomic risk and cycle time minimization for the U-shaped worker assignment assembly line balancing problem: A multi-objective approach

Cited by 80 publications

References 72 publications

Job rotation and human–robot collaboration for enhancing ergonomics in assembly lines by a genetic algorithm

Job rotation and human–robot collaboration for enhancing ergonomics in assembly lines by a genetic algorithm

Walking worker vs fixed worker assembly considering the impact of components exposure on assembly time and energy expenditure

Integration of Ergonomic Aspects into Lot-sizing Model of the Production Line Supply Process Based on Relaxation Allowance and Maximum Endurance Time

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About