Line balancing problem with capital investments in the flexible assembly line

Pinto et al. have treated an assembly line balancing with processing alternatives where the choice of manufacturing alternatives and the assignments of work elements are simultaneously determined. Their model, however, is based on the partially-automated assembly line and the processing alternatives can be applied only to the specific work elements. This paper treats a line balancing problem with fully automated and flexible assembly machines to be installed in each station. Some stations have a decision plan on the choice of the alternative machine with a higher cost but a higher performance. The assignment of work elements and the decisions on the use of alternative machine are simultaneously determined to maximize the profit per unit of time yielded by the line. An algortihm to maximize the profit per unit of time is proposed through the Branch and Bound method.