Sequencing to minimize work overload in assembly lines with product options

Sequencing to minimize work overload in assembly lines with product options

0.00 Avg rating0 Votes
Article ID: iaor199293
Country: United States
Volume: 37
Issue: 5
Start Page Number: 572
End Page Number: 586
Publication Date: May 1991
Journal: Management Science
Authors: ,
Keywords: scheduling, heuristics, programming: dynamic
Abstract:

The authors address the problem of sequencing jobs, each of which is characterized by one of a large number of possible combinations of customer-specified options, on a paced assembly line. These problems arise frequently in the automotive industry. One job must be launched into the system at equal time intervals, where the time interval (or cycle time) is prespecified. The problem is to sequence the jobs to maximize the total amount of work completed, or equivalently, to minimize the total amount of incomplete work (or work overload). Since there is a large number of option combinations, each job is almost unique. This fact precludes the use of existing mixed model assembly line sequencing techniques. The authors first consider the sequencing problem for a single station which can perform two different sets of operations. They characterize the optimal solution for this problem and use the results as the basis for a heuristic procedure for multiple stations. Computational results with data from a major automobile company are reported.

Reviews

Required fields are marked *. Your email address will not be published.