Increasing production rate in U-type assembly lines with sequence-dependent set-up times

Şahin, Murat; Kellegöz, Talip

doi:10.1080/0305215x.2016.1256394

Cited by 26 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Flexibility (Avikal et al, 2013;S ahin and Kellegöz, 2017) and re-configurability (Wang et al, 2009;Li et al, 2019) should be considered when designing a manufacturing system which should have the capability of adapting dynamic changes of product varieties and production volumes in a cost effective manner (Kara et al, 2011). Adapting these issues in manual assembly, WWALs are frequently used in industrial practices (Al-Zuheri et al, 2012;Wang and Bennett, 2014;Durmusoglu et al, 2017).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A novel optimization approach for segmented rabbit chase oriented U-type assembly line design: an application from lighting industry

Çevikcan

Durmuşoğlu

2020

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Purpose Rabbit chase (RC) is used as one of the most effective techniques in manufacturing systems, as such systems have high level of adaptability and increased productivity in addition to providing uniform workload balancing and skill improving environment. In assembly systems, RC inspires the development of walking worker assembly line (WWAL). On the other hand, U-type assembly lines (UALs) may provide higher worker utilization, lower space requirement and more convenient internal logistics when compared to straight assembly lines. In this context, this study aims to improve assembly line performance by generating RC cycles on WWAL with respect to task assignment characteristics of UAL within reasonable walking distance and space requirement. Therefore, a novel line configuration, namely, segmented rabbit chase-oriented U-type assembly line (SRCUAL), emerges. Design/methodology/approach The mathematical programming approach treats SRCUAL balancing problem in a hierarchical manner to decrease computational burden. Firstly, segments are generated via the first linear programming model in the solution approach for balancing SRCUALs to minimize total number of workers. Then, stations are determined within each segment for forward and backward sections separately using two different pre-emptive goal programming models. Moreover, three heuristics are developed to provide solution quality with computational efficiency. Findings The proposed mathematical programming approach is applied to the light-emitting diode (LED) luminaire assembly section of a manufacturing company. The adaptation of SRCUAL decreased the number of workers by 15.4% and the space requirement by 17.7% for LED luminaire assembly system when compared to UAL. Moreover, satisfactory results for the proposed heuristics were obtained in terms of deviation from lower bound, especially for SRCUAL heuristics I and II. Moreover, the results indicate that the integration of RC not only decreased the number of workers in 40.28% (29 instances) of test problems in U-lines, but also yielded less number of buffer points (48.48%) with lower workload deviation (75%) among workers in terms of coefficient of variation. Practical implications This study provides convenience for capacity management (assessing capacity and adjusting capacity by changing the number of workers) for industrial SRCUAL applications. Meanwhile, SRCUAL applications give the opportunity to increase the capacity for a product or transfer the saved capacity to the assembly of other products. As it is possible to provide one-piece flow with equal workloads via walking workers, SRCUAL has the potential for quick realization of defects and better lead time performance. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, forward–backward task assignments in U-type lines have not been adapted to WWALs. Moreover, as workers travel overall the line in WWALs, walking time increases drastically. Addressing this research gap and limitation, the main innovative aspect of this study can be considered as the proposal of a new line design (i.e. SRCUAL) which is sourced from the hybridization of UALs and WWAL as well as the segmentation of the line with RC cycles. The superiority of SRCUAL over WWAL and UAL was also discussed. Moreover, operating systematic for SRCUAL was devised. As for methodical aspect, this study is the first attempt to solve the balancing problem for SRCUAL design.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Different variations of task and set-up times can also be seen in the UALBP literature. S ahin and Kellegöz (2017) attempted to maximize production rate of UAL with sequence dependent setup times. In this study, two setup types, namely, forward and backward set-up are regarded.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

A novel optimization approach for segmented rabbit chase oriented U-type assembly line design: an application from lighting industry

Çevikcan

Durmuşoğlu

2020

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“…In general, if the number of crossover workstations rises, it means that more opportunities for load balancing are created [10]. The U-shaped line has some benefits in comparison with straight-line, such as more flexibility in dealing with demand changes and less space requirements [11], [12], between others [13].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Combining Line Balancing Methods and Discrete Event Simulation: A Case Study from a Metalworking Company

Mirzaei

Nejad²,

Fernandes

2021

Int J Ind Eng Manag

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In this study, we consider a real-life Line Balancing Problem (LBP) at a metalworking company. Based on the concerns of the company's managers, the number of workstations is considered as the main performance criteria for line balancing, while line efficiency and smoothness are considered as the second and the third performance criteria. Two alternative line configurations, i.e., the straight line and the U-shaped line, are considered in the study as a company request. The Grouping Evolution Strategy (GES) algorithm, as one of the novel and powerful method in the literature, is used at a first step, assuming deterministic task times. At a second step, discrete event simulation is used to analyse the impact of stochastic' times on the dynamic behaviour of the two line configurations in terms of throughput time and throughput rate. Results of this study are expected to contribute to both research and practice in the context of line balancing.

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“…Esmaeilbeigi et al [32] present three new formulations for the set-up assembly line balancing and scheduling problem. Ş ahin and Kellegöz [33] was first defined the U-line balancing with sequence-dependent setup times. They proposed a mathematical formulation, a simulated annealing approach and a genetic algorithm.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An ant colony optimisation algorithm for balancing two-sided U-type assembly lines with sequence-dependent set-up times

et al. 2018

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Some practical arrangements in assembly lines necessitate setup times between consecutive tasks. To create more realistic models of operations, setup times must be considered. In this study, a sequencedependent setup times approach for two-sided u-type assembly line (TUAL) structures is proposed for the first time. Previous studies on TUAL have not included setup times in their analyses. Furthermore, an algorithm based on the Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) algorithm, which is using a heuristic priority rule based procedure has been proposed in order to solve this new approach. In this paper, we look at the sequence-dependent setup times between consecutive tasks and consecutive cycles, called the ''forward setup time'' and the ''backward setup time'', respectively. Additionally, we examine the ''crossover setup time'', which arises from a new sequence of tasks in a crossover station. In order to model more realistic assembly line configurations, it is necessary to include sequence-dependent setup times when computing all of the operational times such as task starting times and finishing times as well as the total workstation time. In this study, the proposed approach aims to minimize the number of mated-stations as the primary objective and to minimize the number of total workstations as a secondary objective. In order to evaluate the efficiency of the proposed algorithm, a computational study is performed. As can be seen from the experimental results the proposed approach finds promising results for all literature-test problems.

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Increasing production rate in U-type assembly lines with sequence-dependent set-up times

Cited by 26 publications

References 29 publications

A novel optimization approach for segmented rabbit chase oriented U-type assembly line design: an application from lighting industry

A novel optimization approach for segmented rabbit chase oriented U-type assembly line design: an application from lighting industry

Combining Line Balancing Methods and Discrete Event Simulation: A Case Study from a Metalworking Company

An ant colony optimisation algorithm for balancing two-sided U-type assembly lines with sequence-dependent set-up times

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