Assembly Line Balancing

Line balancing
The techniques employed for design of
product layouts is known as line balancing.

The layout design seeks to identify the

minimum no. of resources require to meet a
targeted production rate and the order in
which these resources are to be arranged so
that the production process become smooth.
 Assembly Line Balancing

Analysis of production lines

Nearly equally divides work between
workstations while meeting required
output
Objectives
 Maximize efficiency
 Minimize number of
work stations
An Assembly Line Layout
 Line Balancing
Some measures of interest

Available Time
Actual ( Desired ) Cycle Time =
Actual ( Desired ) Pr oduction

Sum of all task times

Minimum No. of work stations required =
Cycle Time

Sum of all task times

Average Re source Utilisation =
Number of workstations * Cycle time
Example
A factory working in 2 shifts each of
8 hours produces 24,000 electric
bulbs using a set of workstations.
Using this information compute the
actual cycle time of the plant
operation.
There are 8 tasks required to
manufacture the bulb. The sum of all
task times is equal to 12 seconds.
How many workstations are required
to maintain this level of production if
combining of tasks into that many
workstations is a feasible alternative?
 Solution to example
Available time = 2*8*60*60 = 57,600 seconds
Actual production = 24,000 electric bulbs
Therefore, using equation 8.2
57,600
= 2.4
Cycle time for each bulb is 24,000 seconds

This means that the factory is producing a bulb every 2.4 seconds.
12
No. of work stations required = =5
2 .4
Therefore the tasks are to be split among the five stations such that each
workstation will have sum of the task times to be 2.4 seconds.
 Example of line balancing
A computer manufacturer needs to design assembly stations in the
factory where the cabinet housing the hard disk, mother board and
other accessories is to be made. The factory currently works for one
shift of 8 hrs. The tasks, their duration and their precedence
relationships are given below:
Task Description Duration (in sec.) Precedence
A Assemble & position the base unit 70 -
B Install hard disk 80 A
C Install mother board 40 A
D Insert ports 20 A
E Install speaker 40 A
F Connect relevant modules to disk 30 B,C
G Install controller 50 C
H Visually inspect & close with
a cover plate 50 D,E,F,G
 If the cycle time is 80 seconds, what will the daily
production of cabinets be?
If the desired production rate is 320 cabinets per
day, what is the maximum permissible cycle time?
What I the maximum and minimum no. of
workstations required to maintain this daily
production rate?
Design an assembly setup with 5 workstations.
Example
The Model J Wagon is to be assembled on a
conveyer belt.Five hundred wagons are
required per day is 420 minutes, and the
assembly setups and times for the wagon
are given in table.
Find the balance that minimizes the no.of
workstations, subject to cycle time and
precedence constraints.
 Task Duration Tasks must precede
A 45 -
B 11 A
C 9 B
D 50 -
E 15 D
F 12 C
G 12 C
H 12 E
I 12 E
J 8 F,G,H,I
K 9 K