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Assembly Line Balancing with Processing Alternatives: An Application

Author

Listed:
  • Peter A. Pinto

    (Bowling Green State University)

  • David G. Dannenbring

    (Columbia University)

  • Basheer M. Khumawala

    (University of Houston)

Abstract
The conventional approach to the assembly line balancing problem assumes that the manufacturing methods to be used have been predetermined. However, in practice the design engineer has several alternatives available in the choice of processing, typically involving a trade-off between labor or capital intensive options. The choice of manufacturing method is frequently viewed as an investment or capital budgeting decision, contrasting projected savings in labor cost with the additional fixed cost for the more capital intensive alternatives. The manufacturing tasks (based on the selected processing alternatives) are then assigned to work stations so as to minimize the number of work stations (i.e., labor costs) necessary to achieve a desired production rate. This paper describes a method of simultaneously considering both the choice of manufacturing alternatives and the assignment of tasks to stations so as to minimize total costs (labor and fixed) over the expected life of the production line. The importance of considering these decisions jointly results from the fact that the benefits obtained from specific manufacturing alternatives should not be limited to anticipated labor savings alone. The true measure of achievable labor savings can only be determined after an assignment of tasks to stations has been chosen. For instance, although a processing alternative may reduce the total work content of a set of tasks, if the resulting line balancing assignment does not reduce the number of stations required to achieve a desired production rate, the assumed savings will not be achievable and will serve only to increase the idle time of the line. On the other hand, an apparently trivial reduction in the time to complete a certain task may lead to a more efficiently balanced line, producing a much greater real savings in labor cost than had been anticipated, due to a reduction in both work content and idle time for the line. The combined processing alternative line balancing problem can be formulated as an integer programming problem. Two alternate formulations are provided which differ in the degree of flexibility in selecting a cycle time. A branch and bound procedure is described for the fixed cycle time situation which takes advantage of the special structure of the problem to provide an efficient method capable of solving problems of practical interest. The effectiveness of the proposed procedure is demonstrated by application to an actual redesign of an assembly line for a major auto-industry supplier.

Suggested Citation

  • Peter A. Pinto & David G. Dannenbring & Basheer M. Khumawala, 1983. "Assembly Line Balancing with Processing Alternatives: An Application," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 29(7), pages 817-830, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:29:y:1983:i:7:p:817-830
    DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.29.7.817
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Jayaswal, Sachin & Agarwal, Prashant, 2013. "Balancing U-Shaped Assembly Lines with Resource Dependent Task Times: A Simulated Annealing Approach," IIMA Working Papers WP2013-11-06, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, Research and Publication Department.
    2. Anulark Pinnoi & Wilbert E. Wilhelm, 1998. "Assembly System Design: A Branch and Cut Approach," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 44(1), pages 103-118, January.
    3. Jonathan Oesterle & Lionel Amodeo & Farouk Yalaoui, 2019. "A comparative study of Multi-Objective Algorithms for the Assembly Line Balancing and Equipment Selection Problem under consideration of Product Design Alternatives," Journal of Intelligent Manufacturing, Springer, vol. 30(3), pages 1021-1046, March.
    4. Boysen, Nils & Fliedner, Malte & Scholl, Armin, 2007. "A classification of assembly line balancing problems," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 183(2), pages 674-693, December.
    5. Hsiu-Hsueh Kao & Din-Horng Yeh & Yi-Hsien Wang, 2011. "Resource Constrained Assembly Line Balancing Problem Solved with Ranked Positional Weight Rule," Review of Economics & Finance, Better Advances Press, Canada, vol. 1, pages 71-80, November.
    6. Boysen, Nils & Fliedner, Malte & Scholl, Armin, 2008. "Assembly line balancing: Which model to use when," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(2), pages 509-528, February.
    7. Pinnoi, Anulark & Wilhelm, Wilbert E., 2000. "Valid inequalities for a class of assembly system problems," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 126(1), pages 31-50, October.
    8. Lopes, Thiago Cantos & Sikora, C.G.S. & Molina, Rafael Gobbi & Schibelbain, Daniel & Rodrigues, L.C.A. & Magatão, Leandro, 2017. "Balancing a robotic spot welding manufacturing line: An industrial case study," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 263(3), pages 1033-1048.
    9. Becker, Christian & Scholl, Armin, 2006. "A survey on problems and methods in generalized assembly line balancing," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 168(3), pages 694-715, February.
    10. Imre Dimény & Tamás Koltai, 2024. "Comparison of MILP and CP models for balancing partially automated assembly lines," Central European Journal of Operations Research, Springer;Slovak Society for Operations Research;Hungarian Operational Research Society;Czech Society for Operations Research;Österr. Gesellschaft für Operations Research (ÖGOR);Slovenian Society Informatika - Section for Operational Research;Croatian Operational Research Society, vol. 32(4), pages 945-959, December.
    11. Armin Scholl & Nils Boysen & Malte Fliedner, 2009. "Optimally solving the alternative subgraphs assembly line balancing problem," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 172(1), pages 243-258, November.
    12. Sotskov, Yuri N. & Dolgui, Alexandre & Portmann, Marie-Claude, 2006. "Stability analysis of an optimal balance for an assembly line with fixed cycle time," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 168(3), pages 783-797, February.
    13. Boysen, Nils & Schulze, Philipp & Scholl, Armin, 2022. "Assembly line balancing: What happened in the last fifteen years?," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 301(3), pages 797-814.
    14. Boysen, Nils & Fliedner, Malte, 2008. "A versatile algorithm for assembly line balancing," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 184(1), pages 39-56, January.
    15. Gamberi, M. & Gamberini, R. & Manzini, R. & Regattieri, A., 2008. "An analytical model to evaluating the implementation of a batch-production-oriented line," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(2), pages 729-740, February.
    16. Arianna Alfieri & Gaia Nicosia, 2007. "Minimum cost multi-product flow lines," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 150(1), pages 31-46, March.
    17. Araújo, Felipe F.B. & Costa, Alysson M. & Miralles, Cristóbal, 2012. "Two extensions for the ALWABP: Parallel stations and collaborative approach," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 140(1), pages 483-495.
    18. Wilbert E. Wilhelm & Radu Gadidov, 2004. "A Branch-and-Cut Approach for a Generic Multiple-Product, Assembly-System Design Problem," INFORMS Journal on Computing, INFORMS, vol. 16(1), pages 39-55, February.

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