Formulas

Production time per day

Cycle time=

Required output per day

Minimum no of work station( Nt )= T/C

T= Sum of task times C=cycle time

Problem
The desired daily output for on assembly line is 500 units. The assembly line operates for a period of 420 minutes a day. The process involves the tasks A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J,K. Balance the assembly line and calculate the cycle time and efficiency of the assembly line.

Task A

Task time(seconds) 45

Tasks that must precede -

B C
D E F G H I

11 9
50 15 12 12 12 12

A B
D C C E E

J
K Total

8
9 195

F,G,H,I
J

The time required(in sec) for completion of each of the tasks is given below
B
A G D E J

Continued.
Operation time per day=420 min i.e. (420*60)sec The sum of the task times of the process, T=(45+11+9+50+15+12+12+12+12+8+9)=195 sec
Cycle time=(Operation time per day/Output per day) =(420*60)/500 = 50.4 sec Theoretical minimum number of work station required, Nt=(T/C)=(195/50.4)=3.87

The number of following tasks

Task
A B or D C or E F,G,H,I J K

Number of following tasks 6 5 4 2 1 0

Operation time
Task A B C D E F G H I J K Task time(seconds) 45 11 9 50 15 12 12 12 12 8 9 Operation Time 49 38 29 44 29 17 17 17 17 9 0

Station

Task

Time

Unassigned Time

Feasible Remaining Tasks(for the same station) A,D None B,D None B,E C,E C,H,I F,G,H,I None G,H,I H,I,J I,J J

Tasks with Most Followers A None B,D None B C,E C F,G,H,I None G,H,I H,I I J

Task with Longest Operation Time A None D None B E C F,G,H,I None G,H,I H,I I J

Station 1

0 45 0 50 0 11 15 9 12 0 12 12 12

50.4 5.4 50.4 0.4 50.4 39.4 24.4 15.4 3.4 50.4 38.4 26.4 14.4

Station 2

Station 3

B E C F

Station 4

G H I

J
Station 5 K -

8
0 9

6.4
50.4 41.4

None
K All tasks have

None
K

None
K

The last task (Task K) could not be assigned to station 4, Since the unassigned time (6.4 sec) was less than the time required for Task k. So, we need a fifth workstation to perform Task k. Therefore, actual number of workstations, Na=5 Efficiency of the assembly line=(T/(Na*C)) =(195/ (5*50.4)) =0.77 Ans