Track: Production Planning and Management

Abstract

Assembly lines with multiple products and different processing requirements at each production station can be challenging to manage for optimum resource utilization. The imbalances in the line can create resource utilization variances, resulting in production bottlenecks and down time. Hence, a line manager may want to maximize a line’s balance along with the traditional objective of minimizing completion time. This study presents a multi-product mix model line balancing case study from a construction equipment company, where the company manufactures highly customizable and low volume construction equipment. Each assembly line manufactures multiple different models of each product type, with models having high levels of parts variation between each other. The dynamic line balancing model formulated for this application was able to minimize downtime and increase efficiency in all test cases, but the level of effectiveness varies on the assembly line state. Future modeling development could divide the tasks into smaller sub-tasks or define work content that could be complete in any station to improve performance.  Implementation of dynamic line balancing would require significant development in the operations management system and will require a cross training strategy is in place