Optimal allocation of heterogeneous workers in a U-shaped production line

Nakade, Koichi; Nishiwaki, Rei

doi:10.1016/j.cie.2007.08.007

Cited by 31 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…The works explored different issues related to operational design, such as system performance (Kalao glu and Saricam 2007, Arai et al 2009), ergonomics analysis for existing systems (Pongthanya et al 2008, Tan et al 2009), allocation of heterogeneous workers in the line (Nakade and Nishiwaki 2008). Furthermore, Ichikawa (2009) investigated the issue of optimisation of material handling process which resulted in a high percentage of productivity.…”

Section: Previous Researchmentioning

confidence: 98%

Prediction and analysis impact of operational design of a manual assembly system with walking workers on performance

Al‐Zuheri

Luong

Xing

2013

International Journal of Computer Integrated Manufacturing

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Manual assembly lines, with workers travelling with the work along the line to perform all required tasks, are an example of assembly systems which have greater flexibility over traditional systems due to an improved response to product demand variability. Implementing assembly systems in this way is difficult, especially when operational design reflects an incomplete understanding of how workers can best perform within the system. Different operational designs for such systems have a profound impact on the performance of the system in terms of productivity and ergonomics. This paper analyses the performance of walking worker assembly line (WWAL) in different operational designs. A mathematical model was developed, which considers the effects of a number of operational design variables. An industrial case study is presented here to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed model. The results indicate that WWAL can be designed to improve performance, flexibility and labour costs by approaching productivity and ergonomics collaboratively. The results obtained by the model prediction were compared with computer simulation results. Comparison validated the accuracy of the proposed model. The model provides partial characterisations of the optimal design of WWAL and can be used to develop heuristics for local or global optimisation.

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Section: Previous Researchmentioning

confidence: 98%

Prediction and analysis impact of operational design of a manual assembly system with walking workers on performance

Al‐Zuheri

Luong

Xing

2013

International Journal of Computer Integrated Manufacturing

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“…A heuristic algorithm for the assignment of workers in a lean Ushaped line is developed by Shewchuk (2008). Nakade and Nishiwaki (2008) study a problem of allocating non-identical workers to machines in a U-shaped production line to minimize the takt time, provided that the number of workers is minimized. A constructive heuristic algorithm for a multi-period problem of the workforce assignment in a mixed-model vehicle production assembly line is proposed by Karabak et al (2011).…”

Section: Overall Statement Of the Problem And Related Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Workforce minimization for a mixed-model assembly line in the automotive industry

Battaïa

Delorme

Dolgui

et al. 2015

International Journal of Production Economics

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International audienceA paced assembly line consisting of several workstations is considered. This line is intended to assemble products of different types. The sequence of products is given. The sequence of technological tasks is common for all types of products. The assignment of tasks to the stations and task sequence on each station are known and cannot be modified, and they do not depend on the product type. Tasks assigned to the same station are performed sequentially. The processing time of a task depends on the number of workers performing this task. Workers are identical and versatile. If a worker is assigned to a task, he/she works on this task from its start till completion. Workers can switch between the stations at the end of each task and the time needed by any worker to move from one station to another one can be neglected. At the line design stage, it is necessary to know how many workers are necessary for the line. To know the response to this question we will consider each possible takt and assign workers to tasks so that the total number of workers is minimized, provided that a given takt time is satisfied. The maximum of minimal numbers of workers for all takts will be considered as the necessary number of workers for the line. Thus, the problem is to assign workers to tasks for a takt. We prove that this problem is NP-hard in the strong sense, we develop an integer linear programming formulation to solve it, and propose conventional and randomized heuristics

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“…An integrated fuzzy simulation approach is presented by (Azadeh, Hosseinabadi Farahani, Moradi, & Maghool, 2014) to achieve the most-efficient policies for job scheduling. Nakade and Nishiwaki (2008) proposed a U-shaped production line that had multifunctional labors. Azadeh, Asadzadeh, Mehrangohar, & Fathi (2014) proposed an integrated simulation and genetic algorithm (GA) for optimum operator allocation in a large multiproduct assembly shop in which simulation is used as a powerful tool in order to analyze the real performance of the system and GA is used to maximize throughput of the system.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Simulation optimization of operator allocation problem with learning effects and server breakdown under uncertainty

Heydarian

Jolai

2018

Production & Manufacturing Research

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This paper investigates the operator allocation problem with learning effects and server breakdown in cellular manufacturing systems (CMSs) using fuzzy computer simulation and response surface methodology (RSM). The primary contribution of this study is incorporating combined server breakdowns and learning effects in CMS under uncertainty. Machine breakdowns of all the machines as well as the probability related to each entity should be delivered in good order are considered. Also, previous studies did not consider fuzzy simulation and RSM to deal with environmental and data uncertainty in operator allocation problems. The superiority of the presented model, in comparison with the traditional one, is shown according to the number of required iterations. The proposed simulation model is run in uncertain state to obtain the total processing time. RSM algorithm identifies a fitted function in terms of the value of allocated capital to each server and total processing time. This is a practical approach for decisionmakers of all Cellular Manufacturing Systems.

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Optimal allocation of heterogeneous workers in a U-shaped production line

Cited by 31 publications

References 6 publications

Prediction and analysis impact of operational design of a manual assembly system with walking workers on performance

Prediction and analysis impact of operational design of a manual assembly system with walking workers on performance

Workforce minimization for a mixed-model assembly line in the automotive industry

Simulation optimization of operator allocation problem with learning effects and server breakdown under uncertainty

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