Article ID: | iaor20135347 |
Volume: | 64 |
Issue: | 11 |
Start Page Number: | 1607 |
End Page Number: | 1613 |
Publication Date: | Nov 2013 |
Journal: | Journal of the Operational Research Society |
Authors: | Dolgui A, Hazr , Gurevsky E, Battaa O |
Keywords: | robust optimization, assembly line |
This paper addresses the balancing problem for straight assembly lines where task times are not known exactly but given by intervals of their possible values. The objective is to assign the tasks to workstations minimizing the number of workstations while respecting precedence and cycle‐time constraints. An adaptable robust optimization model is proposed to hedge against the worst‐case scenario for task times. To find the optimal solution(s), a breadth‐first search procedure is developed and evaluated on benchmark instances. The results obtained are analysed and some practical recommendations are given.