LINE BALANCING

SIMPLE ASSEMBLY LINE BALANCING PROBLEM

WHAT IS LINE BALANCING PROBLEM????

Simple Assembly-Line Balancing Problem (SALBP) :

Balancing work station through minimizing delay, and Continuous operation for assembly line (Elsayed dan Boucher, 1994).

Batasan-batasan dalam mendesain sebuah lini perakitan: precedence relationship, Number of work station : 1 S N , Cycle time : max Wi Ts Tc.

Operator performance : assign the right operator to the right job. Layout : minimizing the distance between stations.

ADA 2 MACAM SALBP:

SALBP-I, meminimalkan jumlah stasiun kerja yang dibutuhkan untuk memenuhi kebutuhan kapasitas produksi dengan mempertimbangkan precedence constraints, SALBP-II, mengalokasikan elemen-elemen kerja ke dalam stasiun-stasiun kerja yang jumlahnya telah ditentukan untuk memaksimumkan kapasitas produksi dan mempertimbangkan precedence constraints (Hackman et al. 1989).

Dua kelompok besar SALBP:

Scheduling High-VolumeLow-Variety Operations

The mass consumption patterns of modern industrialized nations depend on assembly line technology. The classic example is Henry Fords auto chassis line.

Favorable Conditions

Before the moving assembly line was introduced in 1913, each chassis was assembled by one worker and required 12.5 hours. Once the new technology was installed, this time was reduced to 93 minutes. Volume adequate for reasonable equipment utilization. Reasonably stable product demand. Product standardization Part interchange-ability. Continuous supply of material Not all of the above must be met in every case.

Concepts (1/2)

Minimum rational work element

Flow time = time to complete all stations Cycle time
Smallest feasible division of work.

Maximum time spent at any one workstation. Largest workstation time or work element. How often a product is completed. Inverse of the desired hourly output rate = the amount of time available at each work station to complete all assigned work (targeting)
1 4 min 2 5 min 3 4 min Flow time = 4 + 5 + 4 = 13 Cycle time = max (4, 5, 4) = 5

Concepts (2/2)

Total work content: Sum of the task times for all the assembly tasks for the product. Precedence diagram: network showing order of tasks and restrictions on their performance Measure of efficiency

Sum of task times( Tei) Efficiency= Actual numberofworkstations (N ) x Cycle time(Tc)

Measuring the Balance Delay

( NxTc) Tei ( NxTc) x100%

Balance delay=d=

Where : N = number of work station Tc = cycle time (largest time of work station) Tei = time for work element i

The Problem

Assign tasks to work stations observing balancing restrictions so as to minimize balance delay while keeping station work content for every station cycle time. Restrictions:
Technological: precedence requirement. Position restrictions.

Finding a Solution

Heuristic procedures generally allow for a broader problem definition, but do not guarantee optimal solution. Optimizing procedures generally have used more narrowly defined problems, but guarantee optimal solution. Examples of optimizing procedures Dynamic programming 0-1 Integer programming Branch and bound techniques. Trend in research has been toward optimizing procedures due to availability of large-scale computers.

Basic Production Layout Formats

Process Layout Product Layout Group Technology (Cellular) Layout Fixed-Position Layout

Process-Oriented Layout

Design places departments with large flows of material or people together Dept. areas have similar processes
Used with process-focused processes Examples

Process-Oriented Layout Floor Plan

Table Saws Office

Tool Room

Drill Presses

Product-Oriented Layout

Facility organized around product Design minimizes line imbalance Types: Fabrication line; assembly line Examples

Product-Oriented Layout Floor Plan

1 4 2
Belt Conveyor Office

Operations

Cellular Layout - Group Technology (Work Cells)

Special case of process-oriented layout Consists of different machines brought together to make a product

Work Cell Floor Plan

Saws Drills Office

Tool Room

Work Cell

Fixed-Position Layout

Design is for stationary project Workers & equipment come to site Complicating factors
Limited space at site Changing material needs

Examples
Ship building Highway construction

Fixed Position Layout

Question: What are our primary considerations for a fixed position layout?

METHODS OF LINE BALANCING

The methods are heuristic approaches, meaning that they are based on logic and common sense rather than on mathematical proof. The manual methods to be presented are: 1. Largest-candidate rule 2. Kilbridge and Westers method 3. Ranked positional weights method

Method 1 : LargestCandidate Rule

This is the easiest method to understand. Procedure: Step 1. list all elements in descending order of Te value, largest Te at the top of the list. Step 2. to assign elements to the first workstation, start at the top of the list and work down, selecting the first feasible element for placement at the station. A feasible element is one that satisfies the precedence requirements and does not cause the sum of the Te values at the station to exceed the cycle time Tc.

Continued Largest Candidate Rule

Step 3. Continue the process of assigning work elements to the station as in step 2 until no further elements can be added without exceeding Tc. Step 4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 for the other stations in the line until all the elements have been assigned.

Table 1 Work elements arranged according to Te value.

no 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

element description place frame on workholder and clamp assemble plug, grommet to power cord assemble brackets to frame wire power cord to motor wire power cord to switch assemble mechanism plate to bracket assemble blade to bracket assemble motor to brackets align blade and attach to motor assemble switch to motor bracket attach cover, inspect, and test place in tote pan for packing

Te (min) 0.2 0.4 0.7 0.1 0.3 0.11 0.32 0.6 0.27 0.38 0.5 0.12

Immediate predecessors none none 1 1,2 2 3 3 3,4 6,7,8 5,8 9,10 11

Table 2 Work elements arranged according to Te value for the Largest Candidate Rule

no element 3

Te (min) 0.7

Immediate predecessors 1

8
11 2 10 7 5 9 1 12 6 4

0.6
0.5 0.4 0.38 0.32 0.3 0.27 0.2 0.12 0.11 0.1

3,4
9,10 none 5,8 3 2 6,7,8 none 11 3 1,2

Table 3 Work elements arranged according to the Largest Candidate Rule

station

element 2

Te (min) 0.4 0.3

Te at station

1
4 2 3 6 3 8

0.2
0.1 0.7 0.11 0.6 0.98 0.81

10
4 7 9 5 11 12

0.38
0.32 0.27 0.5 0.11 0.62 0.59

PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT
Balancedelay d 5(1.0) 4 0.2 20 % 5(1.0)

Work flow

Elements

2, 5, 1, 4

Elements 3, 6

Elements 8,10

Elements 11,12

Elements 7,9

Method 2 : Kilbridge and Westers Method

Step 1. construct the precedence diagram so that nodes representing work elements of identical precedence are arranged vertically in columns. Step 2. list the elements in order of their columns, column I at the top of the list. If an element can be located in more than one column, list all the columns by the element to show the transferability of the element. Step 3. to assign elements to workstations, start with the column I elements.

solutions
Table 4 Work elements arranged according to columns in the Kilbridge and Wester Method no 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 I I II II II,III III III III IV IV V VI column Te (min) 0.2 0.4 0.7 0.1 0.3 0.11 0.32 0.6 0.27 0.38 0.5 0.12 0.65 0.5 0.12 1.03 1.1 0.6 sum of column Tes

Table 5 work elements assigned to stations according to Kilbridge and Westers Method

Te at station
station element Te (min) 0.2 1 2 4 5 2 3 6 3 7 8 4 9 10 5 11 12 0.4 0.1 0.3 0.7 0.11 0.32 0.6 0.27 0.38 0.5 0.12 0.62 0.65 0.98 0.81 1

Method 3 : Ranked Positional Weights Method

Step 1. calculate the RPW for each element by summing the elements Te together with the Te values for all the elements that follow it in the arrow chain of the precedence diagram. Step 2. list the elements in the order of their RPW, largest RPW at the top of the list. Step 3. assign elements to stations according to RPW, avoiding precedence constraint and time-cycle violations.

Table 6 Work elements arranged in order of RPW value in the Ranked Positional Weights Method

no 1

RPW 3.3

Te (min) 0.2

3
2 4 8 5 7 6 10 9 11 12

3
2.67 1.97 1.87 1.3 1.21 1 1 0.89 0.62 0.12

0.7
0.4 0.1 0.6 0.3 0.32 0.11 0.38 0.27 0.5 0.12

Table 7 Work elements assigned to stations according to the Ranked Positional Weights Method

Te at station
station 1 element 1 Te (min) 0.2 0.9

3
2 2 4 5 6 3 8 7 4 10 9 5 11 12

0.7
0.4 0.1 0.3 0.11 0.6 0.32 0.38 0.27 0.5 0.12 0.62 0.65 0.92 0.91

Exercise of Line Balancing

Youve just been assigned the job a setting up an electric fan assembly line with the following tasks:
Task A B C D E F G H Time (Mins) 2 2 3.25 1.2 0.5 1.1 1 1.4 Description Assemble frame Mount switch Assemble motor housing Mount motor housing in frame Attach blade Assemble and attach safety grill Attach cord Test Predecessors None A None A, C D E B F, G

PRECEDENCE DIAGRAM
Task Predecessors A None B A C None Task Predecessors E D F E G B

A, C
A B G

F, G

H E

The question?
Suppose we only have demand for 100 fans per day. a.What would our cycle time have to be? b.How many work stations required?

References and acknowledgements.

[1] Groover, Mikell P., Automation, Production Systems, And Computer Integrated Manufacturing, Prentice-Hall, Inc, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1987. [2] Lesmana, Hartono, Model Optimasi Penyeimbangan Lini Perakitan Dengan Mempertimbangkan Performansi Operator ,Prosiding Seminar Sistem Produksi VI Yogyakarta, 14-15 Agustus 2003.