Chapter 4 Manual Assembly Lines 4.1 Fundamentals of Manual Assembly Lines 4.1.1 Assembly Workstations 4.1.2 Work Transport Systems 4.1.3 Coping with Product Variety 4.2 Analysis of Single Model Assembly Lines 4.2.1 Repositioning Losses 4.2.2 The Line Balancing Problem 4.2.3 Workstation Considerations 4.3 Line Balancing Algorithms 4.3.1 Largest Candidate Rule 4.3.2 Kilbridge and Wester Method 4.3.3 Ranked Positional Weights Method 4.4 Other Considerations in Assembly Line Design 4.5 Alternative Assembly Systems Manual assembly lines are work systems consisting of multiple workers who are 0 nized to produce a single product or a limited range of products. ' They are usually asso- ciated with the mass production of assembled products such as automobiles, appliances, and other consumer products for which demand is high. The assembly workers perform various tasks at workstations that are physically located along the line-of-flow of the product as it is being made. In assembly lines, the workers usually accomplish their tasks on work units that are moved by a powered conveyor. In addition, some of the work- stations may be equipped with portable powered tools for the assembly operations, Factors favoring the use of manual assembly lines include the following * Demand for the product is high or medium # The products made on the line are identical or similar. © The total work required to assemble the product can be divided into small work elements. ‘This chapter is based largely on Chapter 17 in [1]. 85Nn WEnUaT ASEM En Cnapter 4 TABLE 4.1. Products Usually Made on Manual Assembly Lines ‘Audio equipment Lamps Seas caer Mitowave ovens Toasters oater ovens eee P i ‘Trucks, light and heavy Danwashers | Penenalcomputersand eS oon PET Dryers (laundy) Powertools (dil sas ete) Washing machines (laundry) Electric motors Pumps Furniture Refrigerators * It is technologically impossible or economically infeasible to automate the as. sembly operations. Table 4.1 provides a list of products characterized by these factors that are usually made on manual assembly lines. Several reasons can be given to explain why manual assembly lines are so pro- ductive compared to alternative methods in which multiple workers each perform all of the tasks to assemble the products: * Specialization of labor. When a large job is divided into small tasks and each task is assigned to one worker, the worker becomes highly proficient at performing the single task, Each worker becomes a specialist. One of the major explanations of specialization of labor is the learning curve (Chapter 19) Interchangeable parts. This means that each component is manufactured to sulli- ciently close tolerances that any part of a certain type can be selected at random for assembly with its mating component. Without interchangeable parts, assembly would require filing and fitting of mating components, rendering assembly line methods impractical Work flow. In the context of assembly line technology, work flow means that each work unit should move steadily along the line and travel minimum distances between stations * Line pacing. Workers on an assembly line assigned tasks on each product unit within to maintain a specified production rate. P: of a mechanized conveyor. are usually required to complete theit certain cycle time, which paces the line ‘acing is generally implemented by means 4.1 FUNDAMENTALS OF MANUAL ASSEMBLY LINES A manual assembly line is. produ where assembly tas! are a pis ody ailing that consists of a sequence of workstations mbled as they move long the ine At cach ses ePicted in Figure 4.1, Products he line at regula als. Each base se Parts. 1 begil 1b Of se tregilr intra Each bate ail ecg era is (ypically used ts aeons othe bend the product. A mechanized material transpott into the final product. However,insonee ea ons the line as itis pradualy transformed Shin some manual lines the product is manuaily peace from nae nesesction 1. Fundamentals of Manual Assembly Lines 87 Components added at each station ‘| i i ° ° ° 3. ° ° o ° ° Starting, Asby| | Asby| | Asby Completed base parts Man | | Man || Man aaeeinblles — ——— 600000 oS —49 oo0060 Sta Sta Sta Sta 3 n-2 0 n-1 n Asby = assembly, Man = manual, Sta = workstation, 1 = number of stations on the line Figure 4.1 Configuration of a manual assembly line. station to station. The production rate of an assembly line is determined by its slowest sta- tion. Stations capable of working faster are ultimately limited by the slowest station. Manual assembly line technology has made a significant contribution to the devel- opment of American industry in the twentieth century (Historical Note 4.1). It remains an important work system throughout the world for producing assembled products in large quantities. HISTORICAL NOTE 4.1 ORIGINS OF THE MANUAL ASSEMBLY LINE The origins of the manual assembly line can be traced to the meat industry in Chicago and Cincinnati. In the mid- and late 1800s, meat-packing plants used unpowered over- head conveyors to move the slaughtered stock from one worker to the next. These unpowered conveyors were later replaced by power-driven chain conveyors to create disassembly lines,” which were the predecessor of the assembly line, The work orga- nization permitted meat cutters to concentrate on single tasks (specialization of labor). American automotive industrialist Henry Ford had observed these meat-packing operations. In 1913, he and his engineering colleagues designed an assembly line in Highland Park, Michigan, to produce magneto flywheels, Productivity increased four- fold. Flushed by success, Ford applied assembly line techniques to chassis fabrication. Using chain-driven conveyors and workstations arranged for the convenience and comfort of his assembly line workers, productivity was increased by a factor of eight, compared to previous single-station assembly methods. These and other improvements resulted in dramatic reductions in the price of the Model T Ford, which was the main product of the Ford Motor Company at the time. American consumers could now afford an automobile because of Ford's achi ement in cost reduction. This stimulated further development and the use of production line techniques, including automated transport lines, It also forced Ford’s competitors and suppliers to imitate his methods, and the manual assembly line became intrinsic to American industry. 4.1.1 Assembly Workstations A workstation on a manual assembly line is a designated location along the work flow path at which one or more work elements are performed by one or more workers. The work elements represent small portions of the total work that must be accomplished to 0Manual Assembly Lines Chapter 4 88 mbly Line TABLE 4.2. Typical Assembly Operations Performed on 2 Manual Assembly Snap fitting of parts Application of adhesive Electrical connections ealeriee i J shrink fitting Application of sealants Expansion and Se taes ertion of components P* rede Presstting Stings cio ice si eaded fastener applicatio Cotter pin applications Riveting ‘Threaded fa ipl ns assemble the product. Typical assembly operations performed at stations on a manual assembly line are listed in Table 4.2. A given workstation also includes the tools (hand tools or powered tools) required to perform the task assigned to the station. Some workstations are designed for workers to stand, while others allow workers to sit. When the workers stand, they can move about the station area to perform their assigned tasks. This is common for assembly of large products such as cars, trucks, and major appliances. The typical case is when the product is moved by a conveyor at con- stant velocity through the station. The worker begins the assembly task near the upstream side of the station and moves along with the work unit until the task is completed, then walks back to the next work unit and repeats the cycle. For smaller assembled products (such as small appliances, electronic devices, and subassemblies used on larger prod- ucts), the workstations are usually designed to allow the workers to sit while they per- form their tasks. This is more comfortable and less fatiguing for the worker and is generally more conducive to precision and accuracy in the assembly task Manual assembly lines that produce large items (e.g., cars, trucks) may have more than one worker per station. The manning level of workstation i, symbolized M,,is the number of workers assigned to that station; where i = 1,2,...,n:and n = number of workstations on the line. The generic case is one worker: M, = 1. In cases where the Product is large, such as a car or a truck, multiple Workers are often assigned to one sta- tion, so that M, >1. Multiple manning conserves valuable floor space in the factory and reduces line length and throughput time because fewer stations are required, The aver- age manning level of a manual assembly line is simply the total number of workers on the line divided by the number of stations; that is, w M=* (4.1) where M = average manning level of the line, workers/st on the line; and n = number of stations on the line. This Plicated by the fact that manual assembly lines often include more workers than thas assigned 10 stations, so that M is not a simple average of M, values These alitont workers, called utility workers, are not assigned to specific workstations, instead thax are responsible for functions such as (1) helping workers who fall behind, (2) relieving workers for personal breaks, and (3) maintenance and repair duties Including the uti, ity workers in the worker count, we have lation; w = number of workers seemingly simple ratio is com- w+ Dw, nsection 1 Fundamentals of Manual Assembly Lines ce where w;, = number of utility workers assigned to the system and w, = number of work- ers assigned specifically to station i fori = 1,2,... 1. The parameter w, is almost always an integer, except for the unusual case where a worker is shared between two adjacent station: 4.1.2 Work Transport Systems There are two ba sic ways to accomplish the movement of work units along a manual assembly line: (1) manually or (2) by a mechanized system. Both methods provide the fixed routing (pure sequential work flow, Section 3.1.1) that is characteristic of produc- tion lines. Manual Methods of Work Transport. In manual work transport, the units of prod- uct are passed from station to station by hand. Two problems result from this mode of operation: starving and blocking. When starving occurs, the assembly operator has com- pleted the assigned task on the current work unit, but the next unit has not yet arrived at the station. The worker is thus starved for work. When blocking occurs, the operator has completed the assigned task on the current work unit but cannot pass the unit to the downstream station because that worker is not yet ready to receive it. The operator is therefore blocked from working. To mitigate the effects of these problems, storage buffers are sometimes used between stations. In some cases, the work units made at each station are collected in batches and then moved to the next station. In other cases, work units are moved indi- vidually along a flat table or unpowered conveyor. When the task is finished at each s tion, the worker simply pushes the unit toward the downstream station. Space is often allowed for one or mofe work units in front of each workstation. This provides an avail- able supply of work for the station, as well as room for completed units from the upstream Station. Hence, starving and blocking are minimized. The trouble with this method of operation is that it can result in significant work-in-process, which is economically unde- sirable. Also, workers are unpaced in lines that rely on manual transport methods, a Production rates tend to be lower. dd Mechanized Work Transport. Powered conveyors and other types of mechanized material-handling equipment are widely used to move units along a manual assembly line. These systems can be designed to provide paced or unpaced operation of the line. There are three major categories of work transport systems in production lines: (a) con- tinuous transport, (b) synchronous transport, and (c) asynchronous transport, A continuous transport system uses a continuously moving conveyor that oper- ates at constant velocity. This method is common on manual assembly lines. The conveyor usually runs the entire length of the line. However, if the line is very long, such as the case of an automobile final assembly plant, it is divided into segments with conveyor for each segment. Continuous transport can be implemented in two ways: (1) work units are fixed to the conveyor, and (2) work units are removable from the conveyor. In the first case, the Product is large and heavy (¢.g., automobile, washing machine) and cannot be removed from the conveyor. The worker must therefore walk along with the product at the speed of the conveyor in order to accomplish the assigned task. a separate a90 Manual Assembly Lines Chapter In the case where work units are small and lightweight, they can be Temoveq ftom the conveyor for the physical convenience of the Operator at each Station. Another co, venience for the worker is that the ass igned task at the station does not need to be com, pleted within a fixed cycle time. Flexibility allows each worker to deal with technical Problems that may be c cach worker must mai a assembly work- anual assembly lines, synchronous transport is often ideal for automated production lin s. Inan asynchronous transport system, a Work unit leaves a given station when the assigned task has been completed and t 7 nt, some units are moving s. With asynchronous trans are permitted to form in front of each station. in worker task times, Port systems, This tends to 4.1.3 Coping with Product Variety Because human workers are flexible manual assembly lines can be de Three types of assembly and (3) mixed model in terms of ned to deal with differences in assembled product line can be dis (1) single model, (2) batch model, Product, and there is no v, ariation © (ask performed at each station “i model lines are designed approaches are us £0 produce two or ed to cope with the more mod- model Variations, As its name Toeeests batch model line produces each ‘hodel in batches. Workstations we set up {2 Produce the required quantity of the first model, the to produce the next model. and so on. P demand for each product is mediums lt ise Se one Ree bly line to produce several products in batches than to build.a« ferent model, When we state that the workst : work: are referring to the Of tasks fo each station on the line, inclueh assignment ols needed to perform the tasks, and the physical layout of the station. The models made usually similar, and the tasks to make them are theretore si ver. differences exist among Models so that a different Sequence of tasks is “sually required, and tools used ata given workstation for the NOL be the same as those required for the next ations are set up, we last model mightion 2 Analysis of Single Model Assembly Lines 1 model. One model may take more total time than another, requiring the line to be oper- ated at a slower pace. Worker retraining or new equipment may be needed to produce each new model. For these kinds of reasons, changes in the station setup are required before production of the next model can begin. These changeovers result in lost pro- duction time on a batch model line. A mixed model line also produces more than one model; however, the models are not produced in batches. Instead, they are made simultaneously on the same line. While one model is being worked on at one station, a different model is being made at the next station. Each station is equipped to perform the variety of tasks needed to produce any model that moves through it. Many consumer products are assembled on mixed model lines. Examples are automobiles and major appliances, which are characterized by model variations, differences in available options, and even brand name differences in some cases, ‘The advantages of a mixed model line over a batch model line include the fol- lowing: (1) no production time is lost when changing over between models; (2) high inventories typical of batch production are avoided; and (3) production rates of differ- ent models can be adjusted as product demand changes. On the other hand, the prob- Jem of assigning tasks to workstations so that they all share an equal workload is more complex on a mixed model line. Scheduling (determining the sequence of models) and logistics (getting the right parts to each workstation for the model currently at that sta- tion) are more difficult in this type of line. 4.2 ANALYSIS OF SINGLE MODEL ASSEMBLY LINES ‘The relationships developed in this section and the algorithms described in the follow- ing section are applicable to single model assembly lines, With a little modification, the same relationships and algorithms can be applied to batch model and mixed model assembly lines. ‘The assembly line must be designed to achieve a production rate R,, sufficient to satisfy demand for the product, Product demand is often expressed as an annual quan- tity, which can be reduced to an hourly rate, Management must decide how many shifts per week the line will operate and how ma operates 50 weeks per yea yy hours per shift. Assuming that the plant the required hourly production rate is given by (43) where R, = average production rate, units/hr; D, = ant Lor uct to be made on the line, units/yr; 5, = number of s sand Hy, = hr/shift: If the Tine operates 52 weeks rather than 50, then R, = D,/525, Hl. Ifa tinie petiod other than at yeat is used for product demand, then the equation can be adjusted by using consis- tent time units in the numerator and denominator. ‘This production rate must be converted to a cycle time T,, which is the time inter- val at which the line will be operated. The cycle time must take into account the reality that some production time will be lost due to occasional equipment failures, power out- ages, lack of a certain component needed in assembly. quality problems, labor problems, nd for the single prod-92 Manual Assembly Lines Chaperg and other reasons. As a consequence of these losses, the line will be up and Operating only a certain proportion of time out of the total shift time available: this uptime pro. portion is referred to as the line efficiency. The cycle time can be determined as Tar (4) where 7. = cycle time of the line, min/cycle; R, = required production rate, as determined from equation (4.3), units/hr; the constant 60 converts the hourly production rate toa cycle time in minutes; and E = line efficiency, the proportion of shift time that the line iS up and operating. Typical values of £ for a manual assembly line are in the range 0.90 ‘00.98. The cycle time T. establishes the ideal cycle rate for the line: (43) Where R. = cycle rate for the line, eycles/hr: and T- is in min/cycle, as in equation (4.4). This rate R, must be greater than the required production rate R, because the line effi- ciency E'is less than 100%. R,, and R, are related to E as follows (4.6) An assembled product requires a certain total amount of time to build, called the work content time T... This is the total time of all Work elements that must be performed to make one unit of the product. It represents the total amount of work that is accom- Plished on the product by the assembly line, It is useful to compute a theoretical mini- mun number of workers that will be required on the assembly line to produce a product with known T,,. and specified production rate R,. The approach is basically the same as the one used in Section 2.4 to compute the number of worke ‘equired to achieve a spec- ified workload. Making use of equation (2.13), we determine the number of workers on the production line: w= WE (47) Where w = number of workers on the line; WL. = workload to be accomplished in a siven time period; and AT’ = available time in the period. The time period of interest will be 60 min. The workload in that period is the hourly production rate multiplied by the work content time of the product; that WL=R,1, (48) where Ry = production rate, pe/hr; and 7... = work content time, min/pesection 2 AY 93 nalysis of Single Model Assembly Lines Equation (4.4) can be rearranged to the form R, = 60£/T,. Substituting this into equation (4.8), we have 60ET we T, WL ‘The available time AT is 1 hr (60 min) multiplied by the proportion uptime on the line: that is, AT=60E Substituting these terms for WL and AT into equation (4.7), the equation reduces to the ratio T,,,/7,. Since the number of workers must be an integer, we can state ww = Minimum Integer = (49) | minimum number of workers. If we assume one worker per sta~ tion (M, = Lforall i,i = 1.2,... .2,and the number of utility workers w,, = 0), then this ratio also gives the theoretical minimum number of workstations on the line. ‘Achieving this minimum value in practice is very unlikely. Equation (4.9) ignores two factors that exist in a real assembly line and tend to increase the number of work- ers above the theoretical minimum value: where w* = theoretical es. Some time will be lost at each station for repositioning of + Repositioning loss able per worker to perform as- the work unit or the worker. Thus, the time avai sembly is less than T,. «= The line balancing problem. It is virtually impossible to divide the work content time evenly among all workstations, Some stations are bound to have an amount of Work that requires less time than 7,. This tends to increase the number of workers. focus on repositioning losses and imperfect balancing. where one worker is assigned to each station (M, = 1). ation, we are referring to the worker at that station, ‘The following sections will f We will consider the simplest case Thus, when we refer to a certain st and vice versa. ning Losses 4.2.1 Reposi Repositioning tosses on a production Fine oreur because some lime is required each cycle to reposition the worker, or the work unit, or both. For example, on a continuous transport ine with work units attached to the conveyor and moving at a constant speed, time is required for the worker to walk from the unit jus? completed to the upstream init entering the station. In other conveyorized systems, time is required to remove the aoe ener fram the conveyor and position it at the station for the worker to perform his eee nantc on it, In all manual assembly Lines, there is some lost time for repositioning,94 Manual Assembly Lines Chapter 4 We will define T, as the time required each cycle to reposit ion the worker or the Work unit or both. In our subsequent analysis, we assume that T, is the same for all Workers, although repositioning times may actually vary among stations. ‘ The repositioning time 7; must be subtracted from the cycle time 7, to obtain the available time remaining to perform the actual assembly task at each workstation Let us refer to the time to perform the assigned task at each station as the Service time. It is symbolized T,,, where i is used to identit y station i,/ = 1,2... .n. Service times will vary among stations because the total work content cannot be allocated evenly among them, Some stations will have more work than others. There will be at least one station at which T,, is maximum. This is sometimes referred to as the bottleneck station because it estab. lishes the cycle time for the entire line. This maximum service time can be no greater than the difference between the cycle time 7, and the repositioning time 7;; that Max(Ty] = 7-7, fori =1.2,...n (4.10) Where Max(7,] = maximum service time among alls for the assembly line from equation (4.4), min/cyele: and T, = repositioning time (assumed the same for all stations), min/cycle. For simplicity of notation, let us use T,to denote this maximum allowable service time; that is, tions, min/cycle; 7, = cycle time T,=Max(T,) = T.-7, (4.11) Atall stations where 7,,is less than Portrayed in Figure 4.2. When the m available time T,- 7, (that is, when T,, workers will be idle for a portion of the cycle, as naximum service time does not consume the entire 1, < T.~T,), then this means that the line could be Bottleneck } Idle time Sta Sta Sta Sta Sta Sta 1 2 3 "2 aml workstation, 11 = number of stations on the li service time, 7, = eycle time ine, T, = repositioning time, Figure 4.2. Components of cycle time at sev assembly line, At the slowest s idle time is zero; at other stati eral stations on a manual tation, the bottleneck station, ions idle time existsion 2. Analysis of Single Model Assembly Lines 95 operated at a faster pace than 7, from equation (4.4). In this case, the cycle time T, is usually reduced so that 7, = 7, + 7,; this allows the production rate to be increased slightly. Repositioning losses reduce the amount of time that can be devoted to productive assembly work on the line. These losses can be expressed in terms of an efficiency fac- tor as follows: E, (4.12) where = repositioning efficiency, and the other terms are defined above. 4.2.2 The Line Balancing Problem The work content performed on an assembly line consists of many separate and distinct work elements, Invariably, the sequence in which these elements can be performed is restricted, at least to some extent. And the line must operate at a specified production rate, which reduces to a required cycle time as defined by equation (4.4). Given these conditions, the line balancing problem is concerned with assigning the individual work elements to workstations so that all workers have an equal amount of work while simul- taneously achieving the specified production rate of the line. We discuss the terminol- ogy of the line balancing problem in this section and present some of the algorithms to solve it in Section 4.3. Minimum Rational Work Elements. A minimum rational work element is a work element that has a specific limited objective on the assembly line, such as adding a component to the base part, joining two components, or performing some other small portion of the total work content. A minimum rational work clement cannot be subdi- vided any further without loss of practicality. For example, fastening two parts together with a bolt and nut would be defined as a minimum rational work element. It makes no sense to divide this element into smaller units of work. The sum of the work element times is equal to the work content time; that is, Toc= 2 Tek (4.13) a where 7, = time to perform work element k, min; and 1, = number of work elements into which the work content is divided; that is A = 1,2... , 1. In line balancing, we make the following assumptions about work element times (1) element times are constant values, and (2) 7. values are additive: that is, the time to perform two or more work elements in sequence is the sum of the individual element times, In fact, we know these assumptions are not quite true. Work element times are variable, leading to the problem of task time variability. And there is often motion econ- omy that can be achieved by combining two or more work elements, thus violating the additivity assumption, Nevertheless, these assumptions are made to allow solution of the line balancing problem,fn Manual Assembly Lines Chapterg | The task time at station 4, oF Service time as we are calling it, 7, IS Composed of | the work element times that have been assigned to that station; that is Ta= DT et (4.14) | Gi tion in this equation is that each T., An underlying assumy service time T is less than the maximum | Different work elements grouped into logical tasks ned to workers, the station €qual. Thus, simply because of the Workers will be assigned more work, while o times vary from station to station, they mus id when the elements are Service times T,, are likely variation among work element times, some thers will be assigned less. Although service t add up to the work content time (4.15) a } } | | Precedence Constraints. it difficult to obtain equal service times for in which the work elements can be perform ers For example, to ereate a threaded hol tapped. A machine screw that will use th Cannot be fastened before the hole has requirements on the work s they complicate the line bal, Precedence constraint diagram, which indicates th Work elements are symbol cated by n addition to the vari tions in element times that make all stations, there are restrictions on the onde, ned.Some elements must be done before oth, He, the hole must be drilled before it can be ¢ tapped hole to attach a ma been drilled and equence are called jancing pr » Can be presented graphically in the reat uence in Which the work elements must be performed ing thaw ey odes, and the precedenoe requirements are indi “Strows connecting the nodes The sequence Proceeds from left to right. Figure 43 tapped. These technological Precedence constraints. As we shall see. form of a precedence Figure 4.3 Precedence diagram for Ex. represent work elements, a Sequence in which the Element times. ‘ample 4.1. Nodes ind arrows indicate the elements must be done. are shown above each node— section 2 Analysis of Single Model Assembly Lines 97 presents the precedence diagram for the following example, which illustrates the ter- minology and some of the equations presented here. Example 4.1 A Problem for Line Balancing A small electrical appliance is to be produced on a single model assembly line. The work content of assembling the product has been reduced to the work elements listed in Table 43. The table also lists the standard times that have been established for each element, as well as the precedence order in which they must be performed. The line is to be balanced for an annual demand of 100,000 units/yr. The line will operate 50 wk/yr, 5 shifts/wk, and 7.5 hr/shift, Manning level will be 1 worker/station. Previous experience suggests that the uptime efficiency for the line will be 96%, and repositioning time lost per cycle will be 0.08 min. Determine (a) total work content time 7,,., (b) required hourly production rate R, to achieve the annual demand, (c) cycle time T,, (d) theoretical minimum number of workers required on the line, and (e) service time 7, to which the line must be balanced. TABLE 4.3 Work Elements for Example 4.1 No. Work Element Description Ta (min) Must Be Preceded by 1 Place frame in workholder and clamp. 02 = 2 Assemble plug, grommet to power cord od 3 Assemble brackets to frame 07 1 4 Wire power cord to motor on 12 5 Wire power cord to switch 03 2 6 Assemble mechanism plate to bracket on 3 a Assemble blade to bracket 032 3 8 ‘Assemble motor to brackets 06 34 9 Align blade and attach to motor 027 678 0 Assemble switch to motor bracket 038 58 i ‘Attach cover, inspect, and test 0s 9.10 2 Place in tote pan for packing 0.2 1 Solution (a) The total work content time is the sum of the work element times in ‘Table 4.3. Toc = 4.0 mi (b) Given the annual demand, the hourly production rate is 100,000 t = 00.000 53.33 units R, 5065)775) units/hr (c) The corresponding cycle time 7, with an uptime efficiency of 96% is 60(0.96) 53.33 1.08 min (@) The minimum number of workers is given by equation (4.9) we = (Min Int = = 3.7) = 4workers 1.08———$ i Manual Assembly Lines Chapter 4 (e) The available service time against which the line must be balanced is T, = 1.08 — 0.08 00 min . Measures of Line Balance Efficiency. Owing to the differences in minimum ratio. nal work element times and the precedence constraints among the elements, it is virtu. ally impossible to obtain a perfect line balance. Measures must be defined to indicate how good a given line balancing solution is. One possible measure is balance efficiency, which is the work content time divided by the total available service time on the line: Te tive 4.16) Be T, 416) where Ey = balanee efficiency, often expressed as a percentage; T, = the maximum avai. able service time on the line (Max(7,), min/eycle; and w = number of workers The denominator in equation (4.16) gives the total service time available on the line to devote to the assembly of one product unit. The closer the values of Tye and wT,, the less idle {ime on the line. E, is therefore a measure of how good the line balancing solution is. A perfect line balance yields a value of E, = 1.00.'Typical line balenc ing efficiencies in industry range between 0.90 and 0.95, ‘The complement of balance efficiency is balance delay, of time lost due to imperfect balancing as a ratio to the tora which indicates the amount I time available; that is, WT, ~ Ty.) d a (4.17) and the other te ms have the same meaning as before. A bal ance delay of zero indicates perfect b; valance. Note that E, +d = 1 Worker Requirements. In our discussion of the assembly line rel have identified three factors that reduce the product ationships, we They can all be expressed as efficiencies ity of a manual assembly line. 1. Line efficiency, the proportion of uptime on line £, as define 2. Repositioning efficiency, E,, as defined in equation (4.12) 3. Balancing efficiency, E,,as defined in equation (4.16). ‘Together, they constitute the ov. din equation (4.6), erall labor efficiency on the assembly line, defined as Labor efficiency on the ass mbly line = EE,E, (4.18) Using this measure of labor efficiency, we can calculate a more realistic value for the ber of workers on the assembly line, bi sed on equation (4.9): num. w= Minimum Integer = ’ G19)Section 2 Analysis of Single Model Assembly Lines 99 where w= number of workers required on the line: R, = hourly production rate, units/hr: Tye = Work content time per product to be accomplished on the line, min/unit. The trou- ble with this relationship is that itis difficult to determine values for £, £,,and E; before the line is built and operated. Nevertheless, the equation provides an accurate model of the parameters that affect the number of workers required to accomplish a given work- load on a single model assembly line. 4.2.3 Workstation Considerations Let us attach a quantitative definition to some of the assembly line parameters discussed in Section 4.1.1. A workstation is a position along the assembly line where one or more workers perform assembly tasks. If the manning level is one for all stations (M, = 1.0 for i = 1,2,...,1) then the number of stations is equal to the number of workers. In general, for any value of M for the line, (4.20) A workstation has a length dimension L.,, where i denotes station i. The total length of the assembly line is the sum of the station lengths: LS, (421) a where L = length of the assembly line, m ({t);and L,, = length of station i,m (ft). In the case when all L,, are equal, L=nL, (4.22 where L, = station length, m (ft). ‘A common transport system used on manual a sa constant speed con- veyor. Let us consider this case in developing the following relationships, Base parts are launched onto the beginning of the line at constant time intervals equal to the cycle time T..This provides a constant feed rate of base parts, and if the base parts remain fixed to the conveyor during their assembly, this feed rate will be maintained throughout the line. The feed rate is simply the reciprocal of the cycle time: (4.23) where f, = feed rate on the line, products/min, A constant feed rate on a constant speed conveyor provides a center-to-center distance between base parts given by oF (4.24) Where 5, = center-to-center spacing between base parts, m/part ({V/part);and v, = velocity ‘of the conveyor, m/min (ft/min).100 Manual Assembly Lines Chapter, In general, it is desirable to allowa worker more time to. complete: the ass than what is provided by the cycle time, so that if a particular work unit takes longer thay the average, the worker can still complete the task. In the long run, the worker mus, keep pace with the cycle time, but he or she may fall behind for an individual work un, Achieving this time allowance is called pacing with margin, a desirable WaY to operat the line so as to achieve the desired production rate and at the same time provide fo, Some product-to-product variation in task times at workstations. One way to achiey. Pacing with margin in a continuous transport system is to Provide a tolerance time that ;, creater than the cycle time, Tolerance time is defined as the time a work unit spends inside the boundaries of the workstation, It is determined by the length of the station and the conveyor velocity, as follows: Med ta (4.25) ‘olerance time, min/part, assuming that all statioy tions have different lengths, identifie, portionally, si n lengths are equal. Ifsta e traveled by a work unit during 7, The total elapsed time a work unit spends on the assembly line can be determined divi simply as the length of the line divided by the conveyor velocity. It is also equal to the tolerance time multiplied by the number of Stations. Expressing these relationships in equation form, we have ET (4.26) where ET = elapsed time a work unit (Specifically, the base party Spends on the conveyor during its assembly, mi 4.3 LINE BALANCING ALGORITHMS The objective in line balancing is to distribute as evenly as possible among the workers This the total workload on the assembly line cally in two alternative but equivalent forms: objective can be expressed mathemati Minimize (w7,— 7.) (427) subject to: (1) Tx = Tyand 2) all cedey a y 2 Ta Q) | Precedence requirements In this section we consider. several using the data of Example 4.1 to ils 1) the largest ean site balancing problem. and Wester method, and (3) the ranked Best candidat heuristic, meaning they are based on ce mathematical optimization. In each ofthe are obey methods and experimentation rather than that the manning leve «section 3. Line Balancing Algorithms 101 TABLE 4.4 Work Elements Arranged According to T., Value for the Largest Candidate Rule Work Element Ta (min) Preceded by 3 07 1 8 06 34 E n 05 9.10 2 04 zt 10 038 58 7 0.32 3 5 03 2 9 027 678 1 02 — 2 012 u 6 ou 3 4 o. 12 is one, so when we identify station é, we are also identifying the worker at station i Computer programs based on these and other algorithms have been written to solve large-scale assembly line problems 4.3.1 Largest Candidate Rule According to the largest candidate rule, work elements are arranged in descending order based on their T,, values, as in Table 4.4. Given this list, the algorithm consists of the fol- lowing steps 1. Assign elements to the worker at the first workstation by starting at the top of the list and selecting the first element that satisfies precedence requirements and does not cause the total sum of T,, at that station to exceed the allowable Ty; when an element is selected for assignment to the station, start back at the top of the list for subsequent assignments. 2. When no more elements can be assigned without ex the next station. 3, Repeat steps | and 2 for the other stations in turn until all elements have been assigned. eding T,, then proceed to Example 4.2 Largest Candidate Rule Apply the largest candidate rule to the problem in Example 4.1 i: Work elements are arranged in descending order in Table 4.4, and the algorithm rried out as presented in Table 4.5. Five workers and stations are required in the solution, Balance efficiency is computed as: 40 5(1.0) 0.80 Balance delay d = 0.20. The line balancing solution is presented in Figure 4.4.102 Manual Assembly Lines Chapterg Station Work Element Ta (min) Station Time (min) Station Station 1 02 1 Station 2 04 03 02 ou 07 out 06 0.38 0.32 0.27 os 0.12 2 oar 6 Station 4 0.27] 9 06 3X_[ Station 3 0.38 0) (a) Station 3 Figure 4.4 Solution for Example 4.2, which indicates (a) to the largest candidate rul work elements. Elements 3.6 Elements 8,10 () le, and (1b) physical 4.3.2 Kilbridge and Wester Method The Kilbridge and Wester method [3] duction in 1961, and it has been line balancing problems in industry [4]. It is applied with has received ¢ assignment of elements accordi Sequence of stations with assigned 10 ost 0.98 0.59 0.62 Station 5 Os O12 i 1) Station 4 Stations Elements 1,12 Elements, i) “onsiderable attention since its intro- Apparent success to several complicated a heuristic procedure that selects work er |section 3. Line Balancing Algorithms 103 Column 1 u MW IV vi vl 07 02 on 0.12 os os ox OH Figure 4.5. Work elements in example problem arranged into columns for the Kilbridge and Wester method elements for assignment to stations according to their position in the precedence dia- gram. This overcomes one of the difficulties with the largest candidate rule in which an element may be selected because of a high T, value but irrespective of its position in the precedence diagram. In general, the Kilbridge and Wester method provides a superior line balance solution than the largest candidate rule (although this is not the case for our example problem). In the Kilbridge and Wester method, work elements in the precedence diagram are arranged into columns, as shown in Figure 4.5.’The elements can then be organized into alist according to their columns, with the elements in the first column listed first. We have developed such a list of elements for our example problem in Table 4.6, Ifa given ele~ ment can be located in more than one column, then list all of the columns for that ele- ment, as we have done in the case of element 5. In our list, we have added the feature that elements in a given column are presented in the order of their T,, value: that is, we have applied the largest candidate rule within cach column. This is helpful when assign- ing elements to stations, because it ensures that the larger elements are selected first, thus increasing our chances of making the sum of 7, in each station closer to the allow- able 7, limit, Once the list is established, the same three-step procedure is used as betore Exumple 4.3. Kilbridge and Wester method Apply the Kilbridge and Wester method to the problem in Example 4.1 Solution: Work elements are arranged in order of columny shown in Table 4.6. The Kilbridge and Wester solution is presented in Table 4.7, Five workers are again required and the balance efficiency is once more E, = 0.80. Note that although the balance efficiency is the same as in the largest candidate rule, the allocation of work elements to stations is different,rr a Manual Assembly Lines Chapter, TABLE 4.6 Work Elements Listed According to Columns from Figure 4.5 for the Kilbridge and Wester Method Work Element Column Ta (min) Preceded by 2 I 04 i 1 1 02 es 3 " 0.7 1 5 nu 03 2 4 " 1 1,2 8 M1 06 34 7 ML 0.32 3 6 MM on 3 10 IV 0238 58 9 Vv 0.27 6.7.8 un Y. os 9.10 2 vl 012 i TABLE 4.7 Work Elements Assigned to Stations According to the Kilbridge and Wester Method Station Work Element Column Tas (min) Station Time (min) 1 2 1 os 1 1 02 5 u 03 4 u on 10 2 3 n 07 6 ur on ost 8 Mr 06 7 mL 022 0.92 4 10 WV 038 9 Vv 027 06s os on 062 inked positional weights method was intr it is sometimes identified by their names, In value (call it RPW for short) is computed for e: both the 7, value and its position in the precedence 7 culated by summing 7,4 and all other times for elements that toll T...in the arrow chai of the precedence diagram. Elements are compile d into a list according to their RPW value, and the algorithm proceeds using the same three steps ac bene Oduced by Helgeson and Birne [2]. and this method, a ranked positional weight ‘ach element. The RPW t akes into account diagram. Specifically, RPW, is cal- Example 44 Ranked Positio val Weighty Method Apply the runked positional weights method to the problem in Example 4.1a a a section 3. Line Balancing Algorithms 105 7 7 TABLE 4.8 Elements and Their Ranked Positional Weight (RPW) Work Element RPW Tox (min) Preceded by 1 3.30 02 = 3 3.00. 07 1 2 2.67 04 = 4 197 OL 1,2 8 187 06 4 5 1.30 03 2 7 12 0.32 3 6 1.00 ol 3 10 1.00 038 5.8 9 089 027 6.7.8 1 0.62 05 9,10 2 012 02 ul TABLE 4.9 Work Elements Assigned to Stations According to RPW Method Station Time Station Work Element T,, (min) (min) 1 1 02 3 07 0.90 2 2 o4 4 on s 03 6 oul oo 3 8 06 7 032 092 4 10 0.38 9 027 0.65 5 u os n 02 Solution: ‘The RPW must be calculated for each element. To illustrate, RPW,, = 05 + 0.12 = 0.62 RPWg = 0.6 + 0.27 + 0.38 + 0.5 + 0.12 = 1.87 Work elements are listed according to RPW value in Table 4.8, Assignment of elements 10 stations proceeds with the solution presented in Table 4.9. Note that the largest 7 0.92 min. This can be exploited by operating the line at this faster rate, with the result that line balance efficiency is improved and the production rate is increased 40 $(.92) 0.92 + 0.08 The cycle time is 7, = +7, 1.00; therefore, - 60) cyelevhr, and from equation (4.6), R, = 60 % 0.96 = 57.6 unitvhrLe ee ea ee 106 Manual Assembly Lines Chapte:, This is a better solution than the previous line balancing methods provided, Ttun, out that the performance of a given line balancing algorithm depends on the Problep, to be solved. Some line balancing methods work better on some problems, while they methods work better on other problems. 4.4 OTHER CONSIDERATIONS IN ASSEMBLY LINE DESIGN The line balancing algorithms described in Section 4.3 are precise computational pro cedures that allocate work elements to stations based on deterministic quantitative datz However, there may be other Opportunities for improvement in the design and opers tion of a manual assembly line, some of which may increase line performance beyond what the balancing algorithms provide. Some of the considerations are as follows * Methods analysis, Methods analysis (Part II of the book) involves the study of human work activity to seek out ways in which the activity can be done with less ef: fort, in less time, and with greater effect. This analysis is an obvious Step in the design of a manual assembly line, since the work elements need to be defined in order to balance the line. In addition, methods analysis can be used after the line is running to examine workstations that are bottlenecks, The analysis may result in improved hand and body motions, better w orkplace layout, design of special tools to facilitate manual work elements, or even changes in the product des ign for easier assembly. * Utility workers. We have previously manning levels. Utility workers can are temporarily overloaded, ‘+ Preassembly of components. To redu mentioned utility workers in our discussion of be used to relieve congestion at stations thal ce the total amount of work done on the reg- ular assembly line, certain subassemblies can be Prepared off-line, either by another assembly cell in the plant or by purchasing them from an outside vendor that spe cializes in the type of processes required. Although it may seem like simply a means of moving the work from one location to another, there are some good reasons for Grganizing assembly operations in this manner: (1) the required process may be | difficult to implement on the regular assembly line, (2) task time variability (e2 for adjustments or fitting) for the associated assembly operations may result in @ longer overall cycle time if done on the regular line, and (3) an assembly cell set up in the plant or a vendor with certain special capabilities ta perform the work may be able to achieve higher quality, * Storage buffers between stations. A storage buffer is a location in the production line where work units are temporarily stored, There are several reason to include one or more storage buffers in a production line: (1) to accumulate work unilS between two stages of the line when their production rates are different; (2) 10 smooth production between stations with large task time variations: and (3) '0 permit continued operation of certain sections of the line when other sections are temporarily down for service o repair. The use of storage buffers gencrallY improves the performance of the line operation. © Parallel workstations, Parallel stations are line, Their most obvious application is whi sometimes used to balance a production ere a particular station has an unusullYReferences 107 Jong task time that would cause the production rate of the line to be less than required to satisfy product demand. In this case, two stations operating in parallel with both performing the same long task may eliminate the bottleneck. 4.5 ALTERNATIVE ASSEMBLY SYSTEMS The well-defined pace of a manual assembly line has merit from the viewpoint of max- imizing production rate. However, assembly line workers often complain about the monotony of the repetitive tasks they must perform and the unrelenting pace they must maintain when a moving conveyor is used. Poor quality workmanship, sabotage of the line equipment, and other problems have occurred on high production assembly lines. To address these issues, alternative assembly systems are available in which either the work is made less monotonous and repetitious by enlarging the scope of the tasks per- formed, or the work is automated. The alternative work systems include (1) single-station manual assembly cells, and (2) assembly cells based on worker teams. A single-station manual assembly cell consists of a single workplace in which the assembly work is accomplished on the product or on some major subassembly of the product. This method is generally used on products that are complex and produced in small quantities, sometimes one-of-a-kind. The workplace may utilize one or more work- ers, depending on the size of the product and the required production rate. Custom- engineered products such as machine tools, industrial equipment, and prototype models of complex products (e.g.,aircratt, appliances, cars) make use of a single manual station to perform the assembly work on the product. Assembly by worker teams (Section 3.4.3) involves the use of multiple workers assigned to a common assembly task. The pace of the work is controlled largely by the workers themselves rather than by a pacing mechanism such as a powered conveyor moving at a constant speed. Team assembly can be implemented in several ways. A single station manual assembly cell in which there are multiple workers is a form of worker team. The assembly tasks performed by each worker are generally less repetitious and broader in scope than the corresponding work on an assembly line. Reported benefits of worker team assembly systems compared to conventional assembly line include greater worker satisfaction, better product quality, increased capa- bility to accommodate model variations, and greater ability to cope with problems that require more time rather than stopping the entire production line. The principal disad- vantage is that these team systems are not capable of the high production rates charac- teristic of a conventional assembly line. REFERENCES [1] Groover, M.P, Automation, Production Systems, and Computer Integrated Manufacturing 2nd ed, Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2001 [2] Helgeson, W. B,,and D.P. Birnie." Assembly Line Balancing Using Ranked Positional Weight Technique.” Journal of Industrial Enginecring 12,n0.6 (1961): 394-98. [3] Kilbridge, M., and L, Wester.“A Heuristic Method of Assembly Line Balancing,” Journal of Industrial Engineering 12,90. 6 (1961): 292-98,ee ose ee ae a08 Manual Assembly Lines Chapter, [4] Prenting, T. O., and N.T. Thomopoulos. Humanism and Technology in Assembly Sysien, Rochelle Park, NJ: Hayden Book Company, 1974, [5] Wild, R. Mass Production Management. London: Wiley 1972. REVIEW QUESTIONS 4.1 What is a manual assembly line? 4.2: What are the factors that favor the use of manual assembly lines? 4.3. What are the reasons why manual assembly lines are so productive compared to alterna tive methods of assembly 4.4 What does the term manning level mean in the context of a manual assembly line? 4.5. What are utility workers on a manual assembly line? 4.6 What is starving on a manual assembly line? 4.7 What is blocking on a manual assembly line? 4.8 What are the three major categories of work transport in mechanized production lines? 4.9 What are the two types of line that can be designed to cope with product variety? What is the difference between them? 4.10. What does work content time mean? 4.11 What are repositioning losses as they are explained in the text? 4.12 What is the line balancing problem in the design of a manual assembly line? 4.13. What is a minimum rational work element in the context of manual assembly lines? 4.14, What is a precedence constraint in the context of manual assembly lines? 4.15. What are the three types of efficiency that must be considered in designin| a manual assembly line? 4.16 What does tolerance time mean? 4.17 Name the three line balancing algorithms described in the text. 4.18. What are some of the methods by which assembly line balancing efficiency can be improv that are outside the scope of the line balancing algorithms? ind operating PROBLEMS Manual Assembly Lines 4.1 Determine (a) the required hourly production rate and (b) the cycle time for a manual assembly line that will be used to produce a product with a work content time of 75 min and an annual demand of 150,000 units, if the plant operates 50 wk/yr, 5 days/wk, and § hr/day: It is anticipated that the line efficiency will be 94%. 42. A manual assembly line has 25 workstations and the manning level is 1.0. The work content time to assemble the product is 29.5 min. Production rate of the line is 40 units/hr, The propertio” uptime is 96% and the repositioning time is 9 sec, Determine the balance delay on the line 43. A manual assembly line is being planned for an assembled product whoxe work content time is 47.2 min. The line will be operated 2000 hir/yr. The annual demand anticipated fer the product iy 100,000 units. Based on previous assembly lines used by the company." proportion of uptime on the line is expected to be 94%, the line balancing eificiene ccmre ee Problems 109 be 92%, and the repositioning time lost each eycle will be 6 sec. The line will be designed with 1 worker/station. Determine (a) the required hourly production rate of the line, (b) the cycle time, (c) the ideal minimum number of workers required, and (d) the actual number of workers required based on the efficiencies given. 44. A manual assembly line is being planned for an assembled product whose annual demand is expected to be 175,000 units/yr. The line will be operated two shifts (4000 hr/yr). Work content time of the product is 53.7 min. For planning purposes, the following line parame- ter values will be used: uptime efficiency = 96%, balancing efficiency = 94%, and reposi- tioning time = 8 sec. Determine (a) the required hourly production rate of the line, (b) the cycle time, (c) the ideal minimum number of workers required, and (d) the actual number of workers required based on the efficiencies given. 45 The required production rate for a certain product is 45 units/hr. Its work content time is 71.5 min. The production line for this product includes S automated workstations. Because the automated stations are not entirely reliable, the overall line efficiency is expected to be only 88%. All of the other stations will have one worker each. It is anticipated that 6% of each cycle will be lost due to worker repositioning, Balance delay is expected to be 7%. Determine (a) cycle time, (b) number of workers, (c) number of workstations, (d) average manning level on the line, including the automated stations, and (e) labor efficiency on the line. © 46 A manual assembly line is being designed for a product whose annual demand is 100,000 units. ‘The line will operate SO wk/yr, 5 shifts/wk, and 8 hrishift. Work units will be attached toa con- tinuously moving conveyor. Work content time is 42.0 min, Assume line efficiency is 0.95, bal- ancing efficiency is 0.93 or slightly less, repositioning time is 6 sec, and manning level is 14 Determine (a) average hourly production rate to meet demand and (b) number of workers required. (c) If each station on the line is 3 m long, what is the total length of the assembly line? © 4.7 The work content for a product assembled on a manual production line is 48 min, The work is transported using a continuous overhead conveyor that operates at a speed of 5 {U/min. ‘There are 24 workstations on the line, one-third of which have two workers: the remaining, stations each have one worker, Repositioning time per worker is 9 sec,and uptime efficiency of the line is 95%. (a) What is the maximum possible hourly production rate if the line is assumed to be perfectly balanced? (b) If the actual production rate is only 92% of the max- imum possible rate determined in part (a), what is the balance delay on the line? (c) If the line is designed so that the tolerance time is 1.3 times the eyele time, what is the total length of the production line? (d) What is the elapsed time a product spends on the 48 A manual assembly line must be designed for a product with annual demand of 150,000 units, ‘The line will operate 50 wk/yr, 10 shifts/wk, and 7,5 hr/shift. Work units will be attached to a continuously moving conveyor. Work content time is $8.0 min, Assume line efficiency is 0.95, balancing efficiency is 0.93, and repositioning time is 8 see. Determine ( duction rate to meet demand, and (b) number of workers required 49 The total work content for a product assembled on a manual production line is 33.0 min nd the production rate of the line must be 47 units/hr. Work units are attached to ing conveyor whose speed is 7.5 {Vmin, Repositioning time per worker is 6 sec, and uptime efficiency of the line is 94%, Owing to imperfect line balancing, the number of workers needed on the line must be two more workers than the number required for perfect balance Assume the manning level is 1.6. (a) How many workers are required on the line? (ts) Hove many workstations will be in the line? (c) What is the balance delay for this line? (dy It the workstations are arranged in a line, and the length of each station is L1 ft, what is the tol erance time in each station? (ec) What is the elapsed time a work unit spends on the 4.10. The production rate for a certain assembled product is 45 units/hr. The total work content time is 33 min of direct manual labor. The line operates at 95 a) hourly pro- a mov line? assembly % uptime. Tena 110 4 wv 412 413 741d Manual Assembly Lines Chapter, ‘workstations have two workers on opposite sides of the line so that both sides ofthe prog, ‘uct can be worked on simultaneously. The remaining stations have one worker, Repositioning time lost by each worker is 10 secicyele. It is known that the number of workers onthe ing is three more than the number required for perfect balance. Determine (a) number of work. ets, (b) number of workstations, (c) the balance delay, and (d) manning level. A powered overhead conveyor is used to carry washing machine base Parts along a man. al gssembly line. The spacing between base parts is 25 m and the speed of the conveyer is 1 nmin. The length of each workstation is 3.1 m.The line has 30 stations and 42 wesh ers Determine (a) cycle time, (b) feed rate, (c) tolerance time, and (d) elapsed time a wae, ing machine base part spends on the line. An automobile final assembly plant is being planned for an annual production of 150,000 cars The plant will operate one shift, 250 days per year, but the duration of the shift (hr/shift) Opole actermined. The plant will be divided into three departments: (1) beds shop. ©) paint shop.and (c) general assembly. The body shop Welds the car bodies, and the paint shop coats the welded car bodies. Both of these departments are highly automated. The Seneral assembly department has no automation, but a moving conveyor is used to trans Port the cars through the manual workstations. A total of 14.0 hours of direct labor (work the eut time) are accomplished in general assembly. Based on Previous lines installed by {he company. itis anticipated that the following de eral assembly department: line efficiency 0.10 min,and manning level mine the following for the general asse Operate. (b) number of workers requi {i the previous problem, each workstation in the gener 6.0 m long, and the tolerance time will be w the moving conveyor. (b) center-to-center s, of the line in general assembl ations ral assembly department will be ual to the cycle time, Determine (a) speed of Pacing of car bodies on the line, (c) total length ‘ Zand (2) elapsed time « work unit spends in the departiaeat Inte Production rate for a certain assembled product ie 48 units/hr. The assembly work con: tent time is 36.3 min of direct labor. Twelve of the Workstations have two workers on oppo. Ute sides of the product, and the remaining stations have one worker each. Repositioning time lost per cycle is 0.10 min, The uptime efficiency of the line is 96%. It is known that the Danber of workers on the line isthree more thane number required for perfect balance hamenie (2) aumber of workers, (b) number of gene DAs; (c) balance eftie (4) average manning level, and (¢) overall ay On he ieee ‘The work content time for an appliance prody required production rate is 45 unit. Work units whose speed is 2.5 m/min, Repositioning time Per cycle is 9 sec, uptime efficiency is 9et% onal manning level is 1.4. Because of imperte line balancing, the number of workers needed on the line will be 3% more than the number require for perfect balance. The workstations are arranged in one long straight line, and the length of each station is 3.6 m. Determine (4) balance etficieney,(b) total length of the ln ‘1 (©) elapsed time a unit spends on the line ney. bor efficiency on t ‘on @ manual production line is 90.4 min. The ire attached to. moving overhead conveyor Assembly Line Balancing 4.16 The letters in the table below represent work eh emeny clements in an assembly prece (a) Construct the precedence diagram and (b) determine the tee ee (c) Use the largest candidate rule 10 assign w k elements to st (1) 0fLS min, and (d) compute the balance delay for y e diagram, total work content time. ions using a service time your solutionee OS Problems 11 Work clement or tasks A B c D Ee F G H 1 J Time (min) O56 089) 208 Ld (06! i O2ne 0.79) LO- 09, 04 Preceding - A A A BC D CE F GHI 4.17 Solve the previous problem but use the Kilbridge and Wester method in part (c). 4.18 Solve the previous problem but use the ranked positional weights method in part (c). 4.19 The table below defines the precedence relationships and element times for a new assem- bled product. (a) Construct the precedence diagram for this job. (b) If the ideal cycle time is 1.1 min and the repositioning time is 0.1 min, what is the theoretical minimum number of workstations required to minimize the balance delay under the assumption that there will be one worker per station? (c) Using the largest candidate rule, assign work elements to stations. (d) Compute the balance delay for your solution Work Element T, (min) Immediate Predecessors 1 0s = 2 03 1 3 os 1 4 02 2 5 on 2 6 06 3 7 04 45 8 os 3, 9 03 7.8 10 06 69 Y 4.20 Solve the previous problem but use the Kilbridge and Wester method in part (c). wv 421 Solve the previous problem but use the ranked positional weights method in part (c) 4.22 The table below lists the work elements (in minutes) to be performed on an assembly line and the precedence requirements that must be satisfied. Annual demand for the product will be 60,000 units. The line will operate one shift (2000 hr/yr). Expected line efficiency (proportion uptime) is 95%. Repositioning time per cycle is 6 sec. Manning level is 1.0 for all stations. The products will be moved through the line by conveyor at a speed of 4 fmin, All stations are of equal length, which is 10 {t, Determine (a) theoretical minimum num- ber of workers, (b) actual number of workers, based on previous experience with similar lines in which the highest possible balance efficiency is 93%, (c) tolerance time, and (d) elapsed time a product spends on the line from when it is first launched at the front of the first station until it is finally removed after the last station. (c) Construct the prece- dence diagram and (f) solve the line balancing problem using the Kilbridge and Wester method. Worelement ote 2 og TG signs a es Gegesig) Tay ass ay Time(min) 05 03 08 11 06 02 07 10 12 04 09 O41 13 Preseded by: Se TD 208 BS Ny Gey 89 O70 4.23 A manual assembly linc is being planned to produce a small consumer appliance. The work elements, clement limes, and precedence constraints are indicated in the table below. The workers will work for 420 min/shift and must produce 350 units/day. A mechanized conveyor, moving at a speed of 1-4 m/min will transport work units through stations. Manning level12 Manual Assembly Lines —Chape, 's1.0.and repositioning time is0.1 min, Because worker service time at each station isha able ths been deided tue tolerance time that i times the ele time (a) Dae the ideal minimum number of workers (b) Use the largest candidate rule toca en balancing problem. (¢) For your line balancing solution, compute th Determine (d) spacing between work units on the line and (e) re theline ¢ balancing efficiens ¢ duired length of each Workstation to satisfy the specifications of the line. Work Element T. (min) Immediate Predecessor, 1 04 rs 2 0s i 3 Obl | 4 06 - 5 025 . 6 03, = 3 7 037 : 8 ous i 9 oat Z 10 02 u 03; 67 2 033 oS 3 on 9.10 14 0.62 ry a 424 ‘Solve the previous problem but use the Kilbride and Wester Method in part (b: 425 Solve the previous problem but use the ranked positional weig Pe