Advances in Science and Technology

Research Journal
Advances in Science and Technology Research Journal 2023, 17(4), 89–109 Received: 2023.04.24
https://doi.org/10.12913/22998624/169257 Accepted: 2023.07.05
ISSN 2299-8624, License CC-BY 4.0 Published: 2023.08.12

Improvement of Assembly Line Efficiency by Using Lean

Manufacturing Tools and Line Balancing Techniques

Anass Mortada1*, Aziz Soulhi2

1
Mohammedia School of Engineers, University Mohammed V-Agdal, Av. Ibn Sina, Rabat, Morocco
2
Higher National School of Mines, Rabat, Morocco
* Corresponding author’s e-mail: [email protected]

ABSTRACT
This paper presents a solid methodology for improving the efficiency and productivity of assembly lines using Lean
Manufacturing tools, in particular the Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control approach (DMAIC) and line
balancing techniques, followed by a concrete application in a case study of a wiring industry assembly line. The first
phase of the approach ensured a clear definition of the problem using the who, what, where, when, why, and how
tool (5W1H) and a description of the manufacturing process. The measurement phase allowed the calculation of the
Takt time (TT) and the timing of the cycle times of the 17 stations of the line with the use of data collected on the
standardized work combination table (SWCT) documents. This facilitated the analysis phase by first establishing a
Yamazumi chart showing the distribution of the load between the line’s stations and allowing the identification of
bottleneck stations, and then analyzing the situation through the 5-Why tools and the Ishikawa diagram. Thanks to
the innovation phase and the ideal balancing conditions developed in this paper, it was possible to balance the line’s
stations using an action plan whose effectiveness was monitored during the control phase, improving efficiency
from 78% to 95% with a saving in manpower by reducing the number of operators from 17 to 14.

Keywords: efficiency, line balancing, lean manufacturing, DMAIC, standardized work, Yamazumi chart.

INTRODUCTION Cycle time is defined as the time required

to complete a process at one station, meaning
The industrial sector is currently experiencing the time from the start of processing by the op-
great competition, which is pushing companies to erator or machine until the product is ready to
improve their performance indicators and make move to the next station [4]. In order to satisfy
better use of their resources [1]. Efficiency is one the customer’s demand in terms of quantity and
of the indicators that needs to be focused on, which delivery time, it is necessary that the cycle time
is directly linked to the automotive industry’s strat- of the assembly line, which is determined by
egy to improve productivity with minimum re- the workstation with the highest cycle time [5],
sources [2], especially in the automotive wiring in- also named the bottleneck, be the busiest station
dustry. An assembly line is where the semi-finished on the line [6], be less than the Takt time, which
product is transferred from one station to the other, is the production rate imposed by the customer
where components are added by the operators in [4]. The objective of line balancing is to reduce
a sequence [3]. In order to maximize productivity waiting and idle times on the production line [1].
on the assembly line, several Lean Manufacturing This requires the balanced distribution of tasks
tools are recommended, in particular the DMAIC between operators. The process of each worksta-
approach and workstation balancing techniques, tion can be clearly described using the standard-
which are mainly aimed at reducing cycle times ized work combination table documents, and the
and balancing the workstation load [4]. workload of the workstations can be visually

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compared using the Yamazumi chart or operator BACKGROUND

balance chart [7], which is a bar chart where the
cycle times of the line stations are represented as Many researchers have introduced meth-
a histogram and compared to the Takt time repre- odologies aimed at improving the efficiency of
sented by a horizontal axis on the time axis [4]. production lines by acting on the balancing of
The Yamazumi diagram should be made both in workstations, based mainly on line balancing
the initial state and also after the improvements techniques.
have been implemented, and the measurement of Emrul Kays et al. (2019) proposed a 3-step
improvement is done by comparing the efficiency method: the elaboration of the current state map,
values of the two states [4]. then the creation of the Yamazumi chart for the
However, the organization and design of man- balancing of the workstations, and finally the cre-
ufacturing processes are often complex due to the ation of the future state map [9].
interaction of many factors that can significantly Nguyen Thi Lam et al. (2016) proposed an ap-
influence the decisions that need to be made [8]. proach based on: drawing up a line balancing dia-
Indeed, companies often find it difficult to bal- gram to identify bottlenecks and prioritizing them
ance the load ideally between workstations, which in the analyses using tools such as the Ishikawa
limits their ability to achieve maximum assembly diagram; identifying value-added and non-value-
line efficiency due to the lack of methodologies for added operations; collecting information and
accurately calculating the optimum values of the comments from operators; and finally determining
parameters related to the line’s operating mode. actions to improve and reduce waste [10].
The goal of this paper is to define a method Dzulkarnain and Rahaman (2017) have de-
that consists of the use of these lean tools in ad- fined a method based on time study to detect the
dition to developing five conditions for ideal line idle time of each workstation through the Yama-
balancing, the respect of which, accurately and in zumi diagram, then a calculation of Takt time al-
the right order, makes it possible to calculate the lows to calculate the minimum number of work-
minimum number of resources necessary to en- stations needed before balancing the line, and then
sure both customer satisfaction and maximum ef- a calculation of the new efficiency value [11]:
ficiency by ensuring the elimination of waste and Balaji Rathod et al. (2016) have adopted a
line balancing. This article also presents an ap- methodology starting with the definition of the
plication of the proposed methodology in a case problem by calculating the Takt time and the cur-
study of a wiring assembly line, demonstrating rent cycle times, then a study of the movements
the effectiveness of the approach and its role in in order to optimize the cycle times by reducing
improving efficiency. the non-value added operations, then the creation

Fig. 1. Efficiency improvement method [11]

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bringing cycle times into line with Takt time.

However, they do not provide a clear approach
to line balancing, which means that the distribu-
tion of the load between workstations is carried
out in the form of trials with the possibility of re-
balancing in the case of errors, resulting in a loss
of time and effort with each balancing attempt.
On the other hand, these methodologies do not
take into account the variability of cycle times due
to human factors or machine perturbations, which
generate risks related to exceeding the Takt time
and thus not satisfying the customer’s demand.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Many previous studies of the improvement

of industrial indicators have been based on Lean
manufacturing tools. Lean management, derived
from the Toyota production system, is now one
of the most dominant management philosophies
in both the industrial and service sectors [13].
Lean is a culture whose aim is to identify and
eliminate waste using a number of tools and tech-
Fig. 2. Line balancing methodology [12] niques [14]. Each of the lean production tools is
designed to support the organization in eliminat-
of the Yamazumi chart, before moving on to the ing manufacturing waste and meeting production
line balancing stage, which can be repeated if the improvement targets [15]. Implementing lean
expected results are not obtained until the ideal manufacturing in different types of organizations
balancing state is reached in order to implement and processes can bring considerable financial
and standardize it [12]. gains through the reduction of waste and thus
Hasta and Harwati (2019) proposed the fol- a major improvement in operational efficiency
lowing steps to improve productivity: calculation [16], by minimizing the resources required in the
of the current value of efficiency; identification production process [17]. There are generally eight
and reduction of non-value-added work; realloca- types of waste: overproduction, transport, waiting
tion of tasks; then reduction of manpower; and times, defects, overprocessing, excess inventory,
finally calculation of the new value of line effi- unnecessary movements, and the non-use of em-
ciency and comparison with the initial state [6]. ployees’ skills [18].
All these methodologies include steps to The most common Lean approaches include
reduce waste and non-value-added operations the DMAIC approach (Define, Measure, Ana-
and to distribute tasks in a more balanced way, lyze, Improve, and Control), which is a structured

Fig. 3. Cycle of man powers’ reduction [6]

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approach to continuous improvement and prob- the most important are the standardized work
lem solving that consists of five basic phases [19], (SW), which is the set of precise procedures con-
this approach has been reinforced in the improve- taining all the tasks and actions to be done and the
ment phase by conditions developed to ensure best methods to be followed by each operator in
ideal balancing of the assembly lines: each manufacturing process [22].
Before any improvement action can be taken,
the working standards must be developed and the
Define phase
process stabilized, which means that the SW are
This first phase of the DMAIC approach en- the starting point on which any continuous im-
ables the project team to draw up a project char- provement activity is based. As Taiichi Ohno write,
ter containing the problem to be dealt with and “Without standards, there can be no improvement”
the critical points on which to concentrate efforts [23]. The SW is based on three main key elements:
[20]. The 5W1H is one of the most effective tools • Takt time: is the production rate aligned with
to use during this phase. It is a questioning meth- customer orders [23].
od that aims to unravel the issues; the acronym • Sequence: means the manual process steps
for which each letter corresponds to one of the in the order in which the operator must per-
form them [22]. In order to distribute the work
following questions is: who, what, where, when,
properly, line balancing makes it possible to
why, and how. These questions are open-ended
determine the necessary number of operators
and allow for a clear description of the problem
in the production line while ensuring that the
and identification of the elements to be measured
cycle times of each workstation do not exceed
and analyzed, which then facilitates the resolu- the Takt time and that the workload is well
tion of the problem [21]. balanced between the operators [23].
• Work in process: presents the minimum
Measure phase amount of stock at the manufacturing line that
will allow production to continue efficiently
The measurement phase is essential in this
and without constraints [22].
process, as it consists of a data collection car-
ried out by the project team, which allows both The implementation of standardized work is
to better detail the definition of the problem made based on the elaboration of several basic docu-
during the first phase based on measurements de- ments, such as the standardized work combina-
scribing the current state and also to facilitate the tion table, which allows to deconstruct the global
task of analysis during the next phase thanks to time and show the relation between the times of
the significant values and indicators measured, manual operations, walk time, the time of auto-
which allow the root causes of the problem to be matic processing by machine, and also the Takt
effectively identified later on [20]. Several tools time for each post in a sequence [22]. This table
and methods can be used in this phase, and among indicates to the operator the method of execution

Fig. 4. Standardized work combination table

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of the operations in order to respect the production anomaly is known. The identification of this root
rhythm imposed by the schedule [24], as shown in cause is the main objective of the 5 Whys, which
Figure 4. then facilitates the proposal and determination of
solutions. Each answer to the “Why?” question
Analyze phase gives rise to other questions [26].
The Ishikawa diagram is a Lean tool that is
As mentioned in the definition of the previ- represented in the form of a graphical diagram
ous phase, the analysis stage is closely linked to resembling the skeleton of a fish, showing the
the measurement stage, as this latter provides the relationship between effects and their causes in
indicators and data needed to describe the prob- such a way that the “head of the fish” placed on
lem and the state of play. Then the project team a horizontal axis represents the studied effect
organizes the collected data in order to clearly vi- and the other segments, located on the horizon-
sualize and analyze the current situation. In a bal- tal axis of the “fishbone”, contain its potential
ancing project and following the use of SWCTs causes and sub-causes [27]. There are generally
in the measurement phase, it is important to ana- five segments reserved for five types of causes:
lyze them using one of the basic SW documents, machine, manpower, method, material, and en-
which is the Yamazumi balancing chart or opera- vironment [28], so their representation is as
tor balance chart, which is used to visualize all the shown in Figure 5.
workloads at the workstations of an assembly line The distribution of causes by category makes
and compare them with the Takt time. It is based the Ishikawa diagram more powerful and facili-
on the time required to execute each element of tates the identification of root causes, in particu-
the process, so this chart facilitates the balancing lar by integrating the 5 Whys tool, and therefore
of workstations. The ideal situation for a produc- the determination of different solutions capable of
tion line is when the distribution of workloads eradicating all the sources of the fault or anomaly
among the workstations is made in such a way studied [27].
that they are almost equal and very close to the
Takt time without exceeding it [24].
Improve phase
In parallel, and in order to have a clear idea of
the sources and origin of the problem, it is recom- After a good analysis of the problem and the
mended to use the root cause analysis tools: the identification of all its root causes, the team moves
Ishikawa diagram and the 5 Whys [25]. on to the identification of ideas for improvement
The 5 Whys is an iterative questioning tool and the development of solutions capable of erad-
developed by Sakichi Toyoda at the Toyota Mo- icating the root causes previously determined,
tor Corporation. It allows the determination of a and then implements these improvements [20].
chain of causes and effects that are at the origin of The previous research works and methodolo-
a certain problem and constitutes an essential ele- gies present balancing steps that are valid only for
ment in the problem solving process. It is based specific assembly lines, and the method of calcu-
on the question “Why?” which must be asked lating the required resources does not take into
over and over again until the root cause of the account the complexity of the process operations,

Fig. 5. Ishikawa diagram

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which can lead to difficulties in redistributing the of operators required (NOP) must be calculated,
workload and thus to a low balancing of the sta- taking into account the above conditions, by di-
tions and a low improvement in efficiency, as well viding the process time, which is the total cycle
as a risk that the line cycle time exceeds the Takt
time of the workstations, by the ideal cycle time:
time, especially if the operations are poorly stan-
dardized, which increases the risk of variability. NOP = PT / ICT ≥ PT/ (TT - c). And by fixing
In order to balance the workstations on an as- a natural number of operators, the ICT must be
sembly line correctly and directly, we have devel- calculated by the formula ICT = PT / NOP [4].
oped five conditions that must be met precisely and • Condition 5 – after calculating the ICT, the
in the order indicated. These make it possible to take cycle time interval [ICT-a, ICT+b] is deduced,
into account all possible constraints, theoretically
and then all operations must be distributed
achieve the ideal state of line balancing, and then
practically adapt the process to these requirements. over the calculated number of operators NOP
The five conditions developed in this paper in such a way that the cycle times of all work-
can be expressed as follows: stations must fall within this interval.
• Condition 1 – before any calculation aimed at
balancing the workstations, the process time It is highly recommended to develop new
(PT) or total cycle time of the workstations SWCTs for each position that correspond to the
must first be reduced by eliminating waste new situation following the improvement actions.
within the process, especially unnecessary
movements and overprocessing [6].
• Condition 2 – ideally, the cycle times of the Control phase
line’s workstations should all be equal to the av-
During this phase, the project team checks the
erage cycle time of the line, but in practice and
given the complexity of some operations, this is effectiveness of the actions implemented, works on
unrealistic, hence the need to define a small in- their documentation in order to standardize them,
terval around the ideal cycle time (ICT), which and trains the employees concerned on the new pro-
is the average of the cycle times of the line’s cedures developed [20]. By comparing the Yamazu-
workstations, and this interval [ICT-a, ICT+b] mi diagram and the efficiency value of the improved
must contain all the values of the cycle times,
state with the initial state, it is possible to deduce
with “a” and “b” values to be defined.
• Condition 3 – all the cycle times of the line how effective the implemented solutions were.
must obviously be less than or equal to the
Takt time, but to avoid any risk of exceeding
the Takt time (TT), because of the variations CASE STUDY
of the cycle times and thus the risk of not sat-
isfying the customer’s demand, it is necessary After presenting and defining the proposed
to space the cycle times and in particular the method for line balancing and improving effi-
ideal cycle time ICT from the Takt time, hence
ciency, we decided to implement it on the Dura
the need to respect the condition: ICT ≤ TT - c,
with “c” a value to be defined. assembly line of an automotive wiring company
• Condition 4 – before distributing the operations specializing in the manufacture of electrical har-
to the line workstations, the minimum number nesses for car manufacturers.

Table 1. 5W1H applied to the problematic

What is the problem Low efficiency of the assembly line
WHAT
What is the impact of the problem Low productivity and a lot of wastes
Who is affected by the problem Engineering Department and Production Department
WHO
Who should solve the problem Engineering Department
WHERE Where the problem appears DURA assembly line
WHEN When the problem appears During production
HOW How to measure the problem Calculation of the efficiency and timing of cycle times and operations of each station
WHY Why the problem must be solved Improving the productivity and efficiency of the line

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Define phase It is then essential to understand the manu-

facturing process of the Dura family wiring har-
For a good framing of the problem studied at
the automotive wiring assembly line DURA, the ness by describing each of its stages in detail, as
5W1H tool was used as shown in Table 1. explained in the Figure 6 and Table 2.

Fig. 6. DURA assembly line layout

Table 2. Dura assembly line process description

Operator Workstation Process
Operator 1 1st insertion position The operator snaps 7 terminals into two connectors
The operator continues to snap terminals on the two connectors, mounts the
harness, and glues it with a black bandage, then an aluminum bandage, and finally
Operator 2 2nd insertion position
another black bandage. He then takes the harness, mounts it on OLT, starts the
electrical test, then glues the ticket and removes the harness
The operator picks up and mounts the harness, then picks up 13 wires and a
Operator 3 1st pre-blocking table
connector, starts snapping the terminals, and puts the harness
The operator picks up and mounts the harness, then picks up 10 circuits, snaps
Operator 4 2nd pre-blocking table
them into place, and finally removes the harness
The operator takes 2 connectors and 4 wires, then makes the first snap and the
Operator 5 1st assembly table first assembly on the board, then takes the harness and another wire and makes a
second snap
Operator 6 2nd assembly table The operator takes and prepares 3 wires, he then performs a snap and a bandage
The operator takes and prepares 2 wires, he then performs a snap, a bandage, a
Operator 7 3rd assembly table tube insertion, and a second and third bandage, he then moves the connector and
performs a fourth bandage, a tube insertion, and finally a fifth bandage
The operator takes a tube and performs a tube insertion, a first bandage, a
Operator 8 4th assembly table repositioning of the counterparts, a second bandage, another tube insertion, and
finally a third bandage
The operator performs a first bandage, a tube insertion, a repositioning of the
Operator 9 5th assembly table counterparts, a second bandage, another tube insertion, a third bandage, and
finally another repositioning of the counterparts
The operator takes a tube, then performs a first bandage, a tube insertion, and a
Operator 10 6th assembly table second bandage. Then he inserts another tube and performs a third bandage, and
finally a bandage on the node
The operator performs a repositioning of the counterparts, then takes and inserts 4
Operator 11 7th assembly table clips, then performs a bandage, an insertion of 2 straps, an insertion of 3 clips, and
finally an insertion of the tube
The operator makes a bandage on the node, a bandage on 2 clips, then takes and
Operator 12 8th assembly table inserts 7 clips, then cuts the clips and the straps by gun, and finally dismantles and
removes the harness
The operator prepares channels, picks up and mounts the harness, mounts
Channel mounting
Operator 13 channels and straps, performs a bandage, then cuts straps by gun, and finally
table
dismantles and removes the harness
The operator takes and mounts the harness, then performs a test clip, turns on the
Operator 14 Clips test table
green button, takes and sticks the ticket, and finally dismantles and hooks the harness
The operator picks up and mounts the bundle, then checks the dimensions, and
Operator 15 Dimensional table
finally disassembles and hangs the product
Electrical test/Offline The operator picks up and mounts the bundle, then performs a first test, then
Operator 16
test (OLT) prepares and mounts covers, clips, and straps, and finally cuts them by gun
OLT + product The operator performs a second test, sticking the ticket, then moves the harness,
Operator 17
packaging packages it, scans it, and finally puts it on the pallet

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Mesure phase Takt time = Available time / Demand =

(1)
In this phase, we will proceed to the calcula- = 7,66 * 3600 / 250 = 110,3 ≈ 110 sec
tion of the key indicators, starting with the Takt time Then the cycle times of the 17 stations of
through the quantity of 250 pieces to be produced per the assembly line are timed with the execution
shift, taking into consideration a 20-minute break [4]: time of each process and the elaboration of the

Fig. 7. Standardized work combination table of operator 1 before improvement

Fig. 8. Standardized work combination table of operator 2 before improvement

Fig. 9. Standardized work combination table of operator 3 before improvement

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Fig. 10. Standardized work combination table of operator 4 before improvement

Fig. 11. Standardized work combination table of operator 5 before improvement

Fig. 12. Standardized work combination table of operator 6 before improvement

Fig. 13. Standardized work combination table of operator 7 before improvement

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corresponding SWCT, as explained in the materi- the counterparts, mainly to apply the necessary
als and method and shown in Figures 7 to 23. bandages and insert terminals, clips, and straps.
The first four workstations are mainly dedi- The last five processes are dedicated to chan-
cated to inserting the terminals of the electrical nel assembly, clip testing, electrical testing, di-
wires into the connectors with a few bandages mensional control, and packaging.
and an initial electrical test. Having drawn up the tables of standardized
The next eight stations consist of positioning work combinations for the 17 workstations, we
the beam on the assembly boards and fixing it to can see that, in principle, some cycle times exceed

Fig. 14. Standardized work combination table of operator 8 before improvement

Fig. 15. Standardized work combination table of operator 9 before improvement

Fig. 16. Standardized work combination table of operator 10 before improvement

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Fig. 17. Standardized work combination table of operator 11 before improvement

Fig. 18. Standardized work combination table of operator 12 before improvement

Fig. 19. Standardized work combination table of operator 13 before improvement

Fig. 20. Standardized work combination table of operator 14 before improvement

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Fig. 21. Standardized work combination table of operator 15 before improvement

Fig. 22. Standardized work combination table of operator 16 before improvement

Fig. 23. Standardized work combination table of operator 17 before improvement

the Takt time and that, overall, the workstations Analyze phase
are very unbalanced.
We then deduce the calculation of the ef- Based on the measurement data and the
ficiency of the current state, whose formula is SWCT, a first analysis can be made following the
[4]: elaboration of the Yamazumi or operator balance
chart, as shown in the Figure 20.
Efficiency = (Process Time / Takt time *
(2) We notice a big difference between the cycle
* Number of operators) * 100%
times on the workstations of the line, which makes
with: some of them more loaded than the others and thus
Process Time = Total workstation cycle time creates bottleneck stations and high waiting times.
= 114+113+98+100+90+96+92+87+ Indeed, we notice that the highest cycle time is
(3)
+109+85+85+108+89+45 that of the 1st insertion station, which represents
+46+56+55=1486 s a bottleneck station with a cycle time equal to 114
seconds, exceeding the Takt Time set at 110 sec-
we find:
onds. In addition to this station, we find the sec-
Efficiency = (1468/110*17) *100% = 78% (4) ond one, which also exceeds the Takt Time with a

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Fig. 24. Operator balance chart (Yamazumi chart) before improvement

cycle time equal to 113 seconds, which makes the Table 3. 5whys applied to the detected cause
line unable to satisfy the quantity requested by the Effect Low efficiency
customer per shift, while the cycle times of some Why The process contains several wastes

workstations are much lower than the Takt Time. Why High waiting time

In order to dig deeper into the analysis of the Why Some positions are more loaded than others

root causes of the low efficiency of the line, we Why Incorrect line balancing
Why Lack of a capacity study of needed resources
used the Ishikawa diagram and the 5 whys tools

Fig. 25. Ishikawa diagram of the problematic

Fig. 26. Combination of the Ishikawa diagram and the 5 whys

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combined, as shown in Figures 21 and 22 and • Condition 1 – the process time, or the total of the
Table 3. cycle times of the stations, is equal to 1468 sec-
Hence the need for a more robust capacity onds, but in this situation, this total time has been
study to balance the Dura assembly line and avoid obtained after improvements already made pre-
all types of waste that impact efficiency. viously on this level, and the global process does
not contain any more waste due to useless move-
Improve phase ments or overprocessing, on the other hand, the
losses due to waiting times are obvious.
After analyzing the current state it is time to • Condition 2 – taking into account the com-
improve it by following the 5 conditions of line plexity of some operations in the manufactur-
balancing: ing process of the wiring harness and the fact

Fig. 27. Standardized work combination table of operator 1 after improvement

Fig. 28. Standardized work combination table of operator 2 after improvement

Fig. 29. Standardized work combination table of operator 3 after improvement

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that the largest cycle time must be less than the • Condition 4 – applying the formula:
Takt time, we have chosen the values a = 6 and NOP = PT / ICT ≥ PT/ (TT - 5) (5)
b = 3 so the interval will be [ICT-6, ICT+3].
• Condition 3 – as long as the maximum cycle with: TT = 110 seconds we will have:
time will be ICT+3 and agreeing to leave a NOP ≥ 1468/ (110 – 5) = 13,98 operators (6)
margin of 2 seconds in relation to the Takt
time, we will have ICT+3 ≤ TT - 2 which Thus we have obtained 14 operators as the
makes ICT ≤ TT - 5 so we have set the value optimal number that will allow us to achieve the
c = 5. objective.

Fig. 30. Standardized work combination table of operator 4 after improvement

Fig. 31. Standardized work combination table of operator 5 after improvement

Fig. 32. Standardized work combination table of operator 6 after improvement

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Fig. 33. Standardized work combination table of operator 7 after improvement

Fig. 34. Standardized work combination table of operator 8 after improvement

Fig. 35. Standardized work combination table of operator 9 after improvement

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We pass to the calculation of the ideal time of • Condition 5 – therefore, the distribution of op-
cycle ICT by the formula: erations and the balancing of the line must be
ICT = PT / NOP done in such a way that the cycle times of the
ICT =1468 / 14 (7) different stations must be included in the inter-
ICT = 104,86 s ≈ 105 s val equal to [ICT-6, ICT+3] = [99,108].

Fig. 36. Standardized work combination table of operator 10 after improvement

Fig. 37. Standardized work combination table of operator 11 after improvement

Fig. 38. Standardized work combination table of operator 12 after improvement

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Fig. 39. Standardized work combination table of operator 13 after improvement

Fig. 40. Standardized work combination table of operator 14 after improvement

In fact, the method based on the 5 conditions sensitization towards waste in order to avoid
requires us in this situation to eliminate 3 work- the creation of operations with no added value.
stations and ensure that the cycle times of the re- Then the new elaborated process was practically
maining 14 workstations are included in the inter- implemented.
val [99,108]. To do this, we have decomposed the
process operations into small tasks lasting a few Control phase
seconds and combined them once again, respect-
ing both the required cycle time interval and the After the implementation of the new pro-
necessary chronology of the harness manufactur- cess, we were able to ensure a balance between
ing process. the workstations of the line by reconciling the
Hence, the process is redefined and the opera- cycle times, which are all inferior to the Takt
tions are distributed over 14 operators instead of time as mentioned during the capacity study and
17, as shown in the following SWCT in Figures as shown in the Yamazumi chart in figure 37 be-
27 to 40. low, which allows us to cover and satisfy the cus-
After having elaborated the new SWCT of tomer’s demand with the elimination of waste and
the 14 stations of the DURA assembly line, we especially the waiting times:
proceeded with the training of the 14 opera- As for efficiency, the new value following the
tors on the new manufacturing process and the improvements is:

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Fig. 41. Operator balance chart (Yamazumi chart) after improvement

Efficiency = (Process Time / Takt time * the balancing requirements. On the other hand,
* number of operators) * 100% this methodology will be less effective when the
(8) line contains machines with long cycle times that
Efficiency = (1468 / 110*14) *
* 100% = 95% cannot be decomposed, in which case it is neces-
sary to adapt the line to these cycle times.
Thus, we were able to improve the efficiency Efficiency is a key performance indicator that
by about 17% from a value of 78% to 95%. is generally linked to production lines containing
mostly manual operations or just a few machines,
but the most important industrial indicator for
DISCUSSION automated and robotized production lines is the
overall equipment effectiveness (OEE), the im-
The use of Lean Manufacturing tools has provement of which will be the objective of fu-
clearly shown its effectiveness, especially with the ture research work, especially with the emergence
line balancing methodology based on the 5 condi- of new technologies in industry 4.0.
tions, which directly achieves the ideal situation
for workstation balancing with maximum optimi-
zation of resources. CONCLUSIONS
The application of the proposed methodology
to the case study of the Dura wiring assembly line In this article, we have studied a very common
led to a 78% to 95% improvement in efficiency, problem in industrial companies, namely the low
thanks to a reduction in the number of operators value of efficiency due to the poor balancing of
from 17 to 14. This was only possible thanks to production line items.
precise calculations of the optimum values to en- After studying the literature, we found that
sure perfect load balancing between workstations most of the previous research consisted of ap-
while respecting Takt time and ensuring that the proaches to reduce waste and balance the line
customer’s request was met in terms of lead time. based on iterative attempts until satisfactory re-
Indeed, the 5 conditions for balancing the load sults were achieved.
of the workstations remain general and valid for Then, we proposed a methodology based on
any line balancing problem or even for a capac- the DMAIC approach and Lean Manufacturing
ity study of a new assembly line, as long as the tools, reinforced by line balancing techniques,
choice of the values “a”, “b” and “c” remains to especially the Yamazumi diagram, and support-
be defined by the project team according to the ed in particular by the 5 conditions developed to
complexity of the decomposition of the line op- achieve the ideal situation for balancing worksta-
erations and thus redistribute them according to tions in a direct way.

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This method leads to a significant improve- Improvement of Operational Performance through

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