Using the Taguchi method to optimize the differential evolution algorithm parameters for minimizing the workload smoothness index in simple assembly line balancing

An assembly line is a flow‐oriented production system in which the productive units performing the operations, referred to as stations, are aligned in a serial manner. The simple assembly line balancing problem (SALBP) is a fundamental version of the general problem which has attracted attention of researchers and practitioners of operations research for almost half a century. With respect to the objective function, the SALBP is further classified into SALBP‐1, SALBP‐2, SALBP‐E and finally SALBP‐F. The types of SALBP may be complemented by a secondary objective which consists of smoothing station loads. This objective guarantees a better flow of material. Although there is a great deal of research addressing this problem, most of them consider smoothing station loads as a primary objective. In this paper, a differential evolution algorithm is developed to minimize workload smoothness index in SALBP‐2. Also, the algorithm parameters are optimized using the Taguchi method. To validate the proposed algorithm, the results are compared with those of a published heuristic. This comparison indicates effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.