Article ID: | iaor20002718 |
Country: | United States |
Volume: | 1 |
Issue: | 2 |
Start Page Number: | 112 |
End Page Number: | 131 |
Publication Date: | Jan 1999 |
Journal: | Manufacturing & Service Operations Management |
Authors: | Vairaktarakis George, Winch Janice Kim |
Keywords: | programming: integer |
Paced or Synchronous assembly lines are a popular class of assembly systems consisting of a series of assembly stations arranged in tandem. Every job (or order) visits all assembly stations in the same sequence and spends the same amount of time (known as the production cycle) at each station. Industries such as aircraft, fire-engine, and automobile assembly have production cycles of a few hours and are labour intensive. In spite of increased automation in such industries, human capital remains the most expensive and important contributor to a flexible production system. In this article we formulate the cross-training problem on a paced assembly line with