Flexible line balancing practices in a just-in-time environment

With little or no inventory on hand, firms engaged in JIT manufacturing constantly require greater flexibility to enable them to adapt to demand fluctuations. The approach proposed in this article involves designing the most efficient assembly lines, under the conditions of varying task times and varying numbers of assembly workers. This new approach may be useful, particularly when manufacturing firms are plagued by highly unstable demand requirements, unreliable vendors, poor work schedules, and large labor shortages or turnovers.