Browsing by Subject "line balancing"

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Access status: Open Access ,
A transfer line balancing problem by heuristic methods: industrial case studies
(2008) Guschinskaya, Olga; Dolgui, Alexandre
The paper deals with the problem of optimal configuration of a type of transfer lines which are equipped with transfer machines. Such machines perform operations with standard modular spindle heads which are activated sequentially. All operations assigned to the same spindle head (block of operations) are executed simultaneously by a set of tools fixed at the spindle head. The quantity of machines and spindle heads used to produce a part with the given productivity rate defines the final cost of the transfer line which must be minimized. To minimize this cost, a combinatorial problem of operations assignment to blocks and machines must be solved. The solution must provide a desired productivity (cycle time), it must also satisfy precedence and compatibility constraints. In this paper, we suggest improved versions of FSIC heuristic algorithm in order to help line designers to solve real-scale industrial problems. Results of computational experiments obtained for industrial cases are presented.
Access status: Open Access ,
Developing and deploying electronics assembly line optimization tools: a Motorola case study
(2008) Tirpak, Thomas M.
The assignment of workloads to production equipment is one category of planning decision for an electronics assembly factory. In practice, line balancing requires not only selecting machines with sufficient placement accuracy and feeder capacity, but also addressing a host of other operational objectives and constraints. Motorola Labs led a multi-year effort to apply mathematical programming to balance a variety of production mix and volume scenarios. By representing the optimization problem as a specially structured, mixed linear-integer program, we were able to incorporate a high degree of reality in the model, simultaneously optimizing fixed setups, handling custom parts, maximizing machine uptime, and mitigating secondary bottlenecks. This paper presents the story of how we developed and deployed a software solution that significantly improved assembly cycle times, setup changeovers, and overall factory productivity, saving the company tens of millions of dollars.