EXECUTIVE SUMMARYNew formulations for the assembly line balance problem are proposed based on interviews and surveys of practicing engineers. These formulations are the basis for a model in goal programming form. A branch-and-bound algorithm is developed which can solve the model for an optimum solution. Computational studies show that computer run time is very modest for moderate size problems.Interviews and a survey of practicing engineers were used to develop a list of goals or constraints germane to the assembly line balance problem. These included minimizing working areas or employees, making sure tasks assigned to a station do not exceed the cycle time, and adhering to sequence constraints. These constraints are included in most traditional models. However, additional goals were mentioned. These included avoiding changes in workload assigned to a work area, adhering to layout requirements of the plant, making combinations of tasks interesting, avoiding the combination of physiologically demanding tasks, etc.The additional goals above are incorporated in a new formulation for the assembly line balance problem. This formulation is in goal programming form. The goal programming model attempts to minimize deviations from goals. If deviations are necessary, lowest rankedgoals are violatedJrst. The objective function of the model is based on an ordinal ranking of goals only. The survey mentioned above showed that engineers did not find it d@cult to rank the importance of goals.The proposed goal programming model is a mixed integer linear program. Previous studies have shown that cutting plane and implicit enumeration techniques are inferior to branch-and-bound algo-*
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