Sequencing the Mixed Model Assembly Line with Multiple Stations to Minimize the Total Utility Work and Idle Time

Abstract

This paper presents a fast sequencing algorithm for a mixed model assembly line with multiple workstations which minimize the total utility work and idle time. We compare the proposed algorithms with another heuristic, the Tsaibased heuristic, for a sequencing problem that minimizes the total utility works. Numerical experiments are used to evaluate the performance and effectiveness of the proposed algorithm. The Tsai-based heuristic performs best in terms of utility work, but the fast sequencing algorithm performs well for both utility work and idle time. However, the computational complexity of the fast sequencing algorithm is O (KN) while the Tsai-based algorithm is O (KNlogN). Actual computational time of the fast sequencing heuristic is 2-6 times faster than that of the Tsai-based heuristic.