International Journal of Technical Research (IJTR)
Vol. 5, Issue 1, Mar-Apr 2016
Experimental Study For Assembly Line
Balancing Using Largest Candidate Rule
Algorithm In Automoblie Lighting Industries
A Case Study
Ankur Malik1, Umed Khod2
1 2
M.Tech, Scholar, Assistant Prof. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Om Institute of Technology and
Management, Hisar,Haryana,India 1ankurmalik08@gmail.com, 2umedkhod2007@gmail.com
ABSTRACT:-Line balancing is an effective tool to
improve the throughput of assembly line while reducing
non-value-added activities, cycle time. LB is the
problem of assigning operation to workstation along an
assembly line, in such a way that assignment is optimal
in some sense. This paper mainly focuses on improving
overall efficiency of single model assembly line by
reducing the non value added activities, cycle time and
distribution of work load at each work station by line
balancing. The methodology adopted includes
calculation of cycle time of process, identifying the non
–value-added activities, calculating total work load on
station and distribution of work load on each
workstation by line balancing, in order to improve the
efficiency of line.
Key words: Line balancing (LB), Non value added
activities (NVA), assembly line balancing (ALB)
I. INTRODUCTION
Quality product and capable to cope with customers
demands are important aspects that should be take an
account especially for small and medium industry.
Management systems are also contributes in order to
planning, controlling and measuring parameters
related to the performance of the sectors. Companies
should realize that the performance is depending on
how well the production line in term of output. Line
balancing primary focus is on minimizing waste
related to over production, inventory, defects,
transportation, motion, waiting. Assembly Line
Balancing (ALB) is one way to achieve that.
Principle of interchangeability and division of labour
brought in the concept of assembly line, primary aim
of the assembly line was to facilitate mass
production, standardization, simplification and
specialization. Besides this, assembly line was also
useful in dividing complex work structures into
number of elemental tasks, which would simplify the
complexity of assembly work. ALB also provides
flexibility to the employees, thereby reducing the
monotonous activity thus improved job satisfaction
for the employees. From the manufacturers point of
view foremost advantage of ALB is the ability to
keep direct labours busy doing productive work.
ISSN 2278-5787
Historically assembly line is designed for high
volume production of single item or similar family of
items
II. LITERATURE REVIEW
C Merengo, F Nava, A Pozzetti in their paper
‘Balancing and sequencing manual single model
assembly lines’[1]
In particular, it presents new balancing and
production sequencing methodologies which pursue
the following common goals, minimizing the rate of
incomplete jobs (in paced lines and in moving lines)
or the probability of blocking/starvation events (in un
paced lines), reducing WIP. The balancing
methodology also aims at minimizing the number of
stations on the line; the sequencing technique also
provides uniform parts usage, which is a typical goal
in just in time production systems. O E Carcano, A
Portioli-Staudacher, in their paper ‘Integrating
inspection-policy design in assembly-line
balancing’[2]. Different inspection policies yield
different manufacturing, reworking, inspection, and
external failure costs. While, in the literature,
assembly-line balancing and inspection-policy design
have usually been addressed as different problems,
they are strongly interrelated. Inspection tests require
time to be carried out, and sthus their assignation
directly influences the results of the assembly-line
balancing procedure, that is the number of stations
that are necessary and hence the line installation cost.
Thus, the advantages of integrating inspection policy
design in assembly-line balancing are clear, but to
our knowledge no such model is available yet. In this
paper, a new model that simultaneously defines
inspection policy and assembly-line balancing is
presented.
Peng Liu, Lang Li in their paper, ‘The Application
and Research of a Simulation-Based Line Balancing
Method’ [3] paper applies a Line balancing method
and the object oriented modelling technology. Firstly,
the simulation.
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 International Journal of Technical Research (IJTR)
Vol. 5, Issue 1, Mar-Apr 2016

Model of the box stream Line is set up and, the OBJECTIVES

bottleneck is found out and analyzed with the model. The main goal of this study is to ascertain how lean
Secondly, the rebuilt strategy based on the principles manufacturing (LM) practices affect layout facility
of ECRS (Eliminate, Combine, Rearrange, and designing and line balancing. A severe case study was
Simple) and the theory of production Line balancing conducted specifically in the Lamp production section.
is given and evaluated by the model. Finally, At the very beginning a detailed work measurement of
comparing with the former production Line, their existing Assembly line process and layout study
implementation of the new strategy makes the was conducted. The paper addresses to solve the
production efficiency and quality improved greatly. assembly line balancing with different labour skill
Waldemar Grzechca in his paper, ‘Cycle Time in levels to reduce in-process inventory and workload
Assembly Line Balancing Problem’[4]assembly line smoothing in the workstations of assembly with
balancing problem is discussed. Author focuses on Housekeeping.
cycle time. The importance of its value is shown.
Different measures of final results of assembly line CASE STUDY
balance are presented. A numerical example is Table 1 shows the operations and time taken for the
calculated. At the end remarks and final conclusions entire Lamp to produce. The line consists of 15 work
are given. stations. From the hourly production report, it was
M E Salveson in his paper, ‘The assembly line calculated that, for 8 hours production, the maximum
balancing problem’[5] assembly line balancing production was 800pcs/day. So, the hourly output in
problem (ALBP) consists of assigning tasks to an assemnly line would be 80pcs. A schematic scenario of
ordered sequence of stations such that the precedence present assembly line section layout is given in the
relations among the tasks are satisfied and some Table 1.
performance measure is optimized. In this survey
paper we give an up-to-date review and discuss the Table: 1 present assembly line section layout
development of the classification of the assembly line
balancing problem (ALBP) which has attracted Task Description Task Time
attention of researchers. (Min)
S Ghosh, R J Gagnon in their paper, ‘A Reflector inspection 0.17
comprehensive literature review and analysis of the
design, balancing and scheduling of assembly Lens inspection 0.17
systems’[6] the results of a comprehensive review
and analysis of the assembly line balancing literature. Hot melt robot 0.28
Quantitative developments and qualitative issues are
Lens pressing 0.28
addressed at both the strategic and tactical levels. The
numerous quantitative and qualitative factors which Leak testing 0.3
the literature mentions could impact the design,
balancing and scheduling of assembly systems are Bulb holder spring 0.23
organized into an eight-level hierarchical, fitment
factor/decision taxonomy. This comprehensive Bulb fitment 0.35
taxonomy is used to assess our progress in assembly
system design and operation. Dust cap Vent tube 0.23
fitment
III. PROBLEM STATEMENT Full assy dust cap fitment 0.23
It was observed that the floor condition was in a
haphazard situation. There were lots of in process Parking wire fitment 0.54
inventories between the workstations hence its output
U shape ventube fitment 0.54
was quite less . No precise work distribution was
followed by the workers. Materials used to travel large Photometric light testing 0.45
distance from input receiving to cartooning. The line
supervisors were not strict enough to control the quality Final inspection 0.2
right at the first time. So lots of reworks were there and
the total completion time was delayed and the Packing 0.53
proportion of non–value added time was increased. So,
a smooth, streamlined and continuous flow is really
necessary to avoid all such unexpected occurrence.

ISSN 2278-5787 Page 64

 International Journal of Technical Research (IJTR)
Vol. 5, Issue 1, Mar-Apr 2016

A. Drawbacks in the current scenario:- B. Line balancing Efficiency

• Processes are not broken down properly.
• Inefficient use of manpower which is not uniformly
distributed.
• High level of in-process inventory.
• Haphazard layout results huge amount of cross and
back flows of Lamps.
• Low level of productivity than it should be with the
existing level of resources.
• Housekeeping is not maintained properly.
Finally the flow of Lamps from Assembly is not
uniform as a result the ratio of online packaging is
difficult to maintain.
IV. METHODOLOGY
Methodology adopted for line balancing as follows
Line balancing Efficiency = (Total Station Line
Time ÷ Cycle time x no. of
workstations) X 100%
Line balancing Efficiency (As-is) = 59.9%
C. Largest Candidate Rule Algorithm (LCR)
The main aim of the Line Balance is to distribute the
total workload on the assembly line as evenly as
possible, despite the reality in which it is impossible to
obtain a perfect line balance among the workers. It is
then the role of line balance efficiency which is related
to the differences in minimum rational work element
time and the precedence constraints between the
elements. The Largest Candidate Rule (LCR) accounts
for work elements to be arranged in a descending order
(with reference to the station time and work elements)
to each station value which is not exceeding the
allowable preceded. Table 2 depicts the precedence
relationship and immediate predecessor between these
tasks.

Table 2. Task Precedence Relations and Immediate

Predecessors

Task Description T T I.
(Min) Predecessor(s)
Reflector inspection 0.17 -

Lens inspection 0.17 1

Hot melt robot 0.28 2

Lens pressing 0.28 3

Fig.1 Flowchart for line balancing
Leak testing 0.3 4
V. ASSEMBLY LINE BALANCING METHOD
Bulb holder spring 0.23 5
Assembly is a manufacturing process in which
fitment
interchangeable parts are added in a sequential manner Bulb fitment 0.35 -
using certain material flow and design layouts. The line
assembly is the efficient utilization of facilities with Dust cap Vent tube 0.23 7
minimum material handling as well as easy production fitment
control. Since different workstations have different Full assy dust cap fitment 0.32 8,6
working capacity it is then important to apportionment
Parking wire fitment 0.25 9
the sequential work activities into workstations in order
to achieve a high utilization of labour, equipments, and U shape ventube fitment 0.2 10
time. The Assembly Line Balancing in Assembly line
assigns a given set of tasks to an ordered set of work Photometric light testing 0.45 10
stations and ensures that the precedence constraints are
satisfied while the given performance measure is Final inspection 0.27 11,12
optimized.
Packing 0.22 1314
The line balancing process is performed first by
calculating certain parameters such as the Customer
Takt Time, Line balancing efficiency etc. A task can be done by machines of different types and
A. Customer Takt Time also by operators of different labor types. The
Customer Takt time is defined as the ratio between the processing time of any task is a variable determined by
planned operating time per to the customer demand. the skill level and efficiency of the operator. The work
Customer Takt Time = 36 seconds/piece (0.60 Min) is divided in such a way that each operator gets equal

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 International Journal of Technical Research (IJTR)
Vol. 5, Issue 1, Mar-Apr 2016

work load. The conceptual framework proposed and Lamp from last operation is fully checked and corrected
briefly summarized in the preceding section serves the immediately for any defects.
purpose of demonstrating how the proposed framework
would work. VI. FEATURES OF OUR LEAN SYSTEM
Table 3 depicts the work elements arranged according • Production time of the lamps has been reduced by
to stations. Then figure 1 shows the Operator line 1.28 minutes; this has been achieved by combining
balancing chart after the line balancing process operations with other operations.
and the operator cycle times have been increased • Operators and machines have been reduced to 8 &
by providing the workers with extra operations and from 15. The numbers of operators are less than the
the idle times of the workers was reduced and to number of operations (machines); one operator has to
improve the productivity. Thus the operation in the perform at least two operations. This will help to
line assembly which was handled by 15 workers is increase operator skill.
now reduced by 50 % to 8 workers. • Secondly, batch processing is converted into
Line balancing Efficiency (To-be) = 85.5% single piece movement by the implication of new
layout.
Task Time
• The rework level has been decreased over existing
(Min)
Station Task Task Description trends. The main reason for
Assigned rework reduction is due to reduction in WIP and
2 Hot melt Robot 0.35 balanced work cells. Due to low inventory, mistakes
1
are clearly visible and if any defect is found in the
1 Reflector
Application 0.17
lamp, it will be cleared inline, and the piece comes out
Inspection as a final product.
2
3 Lens Inspection 0.23 • Stations were labelled with a description of the
4 Lens Pressing 0.17 process as well as pictures that detail each step. Lamps
in feeding rack were sorted size wise, & the feeding
was done size wise.
3 5 Leak Testing 0.42

VII. RESULTS & DISCUSSIONS

6 Bulb Holder 0.30 Applying the new workstation design will improve the
4
7 Bulb Fitment
Fitment 0.23 productivity significantly. In this study the lean
Table 3 : Work elements arranged according to manufacturing tools and techniques were studied and
stations used. The problem of batch processing of existing is
9 Dust Cap 0.32
addressed by using single piece movement of WIP.
5
10 Dust Cap
venttube 0.25 Thus by converting long assembly line into work cells,
ventube full assy the assumed worker multi-skilling seems effective as
11 Dust Cap and 0.45 well as communication between operators is fast and
6
accurate. The other benefits observed are the flexibility
parking wire of rework reduction and online packing.
fitment As discussed above the Production time of the lamps
12 Photometric 0.20
has been reduced from 5.18 to 3.90 minutes. Operators
7
13 Final
Light Inspection
Testing 0.27 have been reduced to 8 from 15. Assembly line
efficiency has been increased from 59.5% to 85.5 %.
14 Packaging 0.22 Productivity per hour has been increased by
8 25 % through assembly line balancing.
15 Finish Goods 0.18
VIII. CONCLUSION
Bins The key outcome of this paper was the reduction in
Fig. 2 Operator Line Balancing Chart (To-Be) cycle time for single model assembly line, efficiency
increases by reducing non value added activities,
The manufacturing line is redesigned to form a lean other outcomes were that assembly line balanced by
line with an optimum layout which results primarily in recommending new layout.
the productivity improvement. The area of the current
layout was determined and the rearrangement of the
machines in the layout so that there is a decrease in REFERENCES
the area. The machines are kept in single straight
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line according to the operation sequence. The final
sequencing manual mixed-model assembly lines’

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 International Journal of Technical Research (IJTR)
Vol. 5, Issue 1, Mar-Apr 2016

International Journal of Production Research 37

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[4] Waldemar Grzechca ‘Cycle Time in Assembly
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