Mixed-model assembly lines are used to produce many different products without carrying large inventories. The effective utilization of these lines requires that a schedule for assembling the different products be determined. For Just-In-Time (JIT) production systems, which require producing...

A new algorithm for optimally balancing assembly lines is formulated and tested. Named "FABLE," it obtains proven optimal solutions for ten 1000 task lines, which each possess the computationally favorable conditions of an average of at least 6 tasks per work station and a small number of...

This paper examines the effect of stochastic task times on the total operating costs of a continuously paced assembly line under the assumption that the line is stopped whenever at least one work station requires more time than allotted. A comprehensive stochastic cost function is integrated...

In this survey paper we discuss the development of the simple assembly line balancing problem (SALBP); modifications and generalizations over time; present alternate 0-1 programming formulations and a general integer programming formulation of the problem; discuss other well-known problems...

A flexible manufacturing system (FMS) is an integrated system of computer numerically controlled machine tools connected with automated material handling. A set of production planning problems for FMSs has been defined (Stecke [Stecke, Kathryn E. 1983. Formulation and solution of nonlinear...

In this paper, we report on a computational experiment designed to assess the efficacy of 26 heuristic decision rules which group work tasks into work stations along an assembly line such that the number of work stations required is minimized. The heuristic decision rules investigated vary from...

We develop a production planning model in the context of a system of assembly lines or production lines. The model is a large-scale linear program and we provide a polynomial column generation technique for its efficient solution. The column generation technique and the approach therein are also...

In this paper, we describe an integer programming algorithm for assigning tasks on an assembly line to work stations in such a way that the number of work stations is minimal for the rate of production desired. The procedure insures that no task is assigned to a work station before all tasks...

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...

This paper describes a branch and bound algorithm which can solve assembly line balancing probems with nine modifications to the originally formulated problem of minimizing the required number of assembly stations, given a cycle time, a set of tasks with given deterministic performance times,...