Improving the efficiency of unpaced production lines by unbalancing service time means

This paper investigates the benefits of deliberately unbalancing operation time means for non‐automated production lines. The lines were simulated under the steady state condition, with various line lengths, buffer storage sizes, degrees of imbalance and patterns of imbalance. Output data were analysed using a set of statistical methods resulting in various conclusions being made. It was found that the best configurations are a bowl arrangement and a monotone decreasing order, with the first resulting in lower idle times and the second leading to lower average buffer levels than those of a balanced line.