ASSEMBLY LINE BALANCING

Module 1
08.8.01: Facilities Planning & Management
 ASSEMBLY-LINE BALANCING

 Situation: Assembly-line production.

 Many tasks must be performed, and the sequence is

flexible

 Parts at each station same time

 Tasks take different amounts of time

 How to give everyone enough, but not too much work for
the limited time.
PRODUCT-ORIENTED LAYOUT

Operations

Belt Conveyor
PRECEDENCE DIAGRAM
Draw precedence graph
(times in minutes)

B
A 5 G
20
15
E I J
8
C D 12 7
H
5 10 F 12
3
 LEGAL ARRANGEMENTS

A B
5 G
20 15
E I J
C D 8
12 7
H
5 10 F 12
3
 Feasible : AC|BD|EG|FH|IJ
 ABG|CDE|FHI|J or C|ADB|FG|EHI|J

 NOT feasible : BAG|DCH|EFJ|I

 DAC|HFE|GBJ|I
LEGAL ARRANGEMENTS

A B
5 G
20 15
E I J
C D 8
12 7
H
5 10 F 12
3
 AC|BD|EG|FH|IJ = max(25,15,23,15,19) = 25
 ABG|CDE|FHI|J = max(40,23,27,7) = 40

 C|ADB|FG|EHI|J = max(5,35,18,32,7) = 35

AC BD EG FH IJ
CYCLE TIME
 The more units you want to produce per hour, the
less time a part can spend at each station.
 Cycle time = time spent at each spot

Production Time in each day

C=
Required output per day (in units)
 C = 800 min / 32 = 25 min
 800 min = 13:20
NUMBER OF WORKSTATIONS
 Given required cycle time, find out the theoretical
minimum number of stations

Sum of task times (T)

N=
Cycle Time (C)

 N = 97 / 25 = 3.88 = 4 (must round up)

ASSIGNMENTS
Assign tasks by choosing tasks:

 with largest number of following tasks

OR
 by longest time to complete

Break ties by using the other rule

NUMBER OF FOLLOWING TASKS
Nodes # after
C 6 Choose C first, then, if possible,
D 5 add D to it, then A, if possible.
A 4
B,E,F 3
G,H 2
I 1 A B G
5
20 15
E I J
C D 8
H 12 7
5 10 F 12
3
PRECEDENCE DIAGRAM
Draw precedence graph
(times in seconds)

B
A 5 G
20
15
E I J
8
C D 12 7
H
5 10 F 12
3
NUMBER OF FOLLOWING TASKS
Nodes # after A could not be added to first
A 4 station, so a new station must be
B,E,F 3 created with A.
G,H 2 B, E, F all have 3 stations after,
I 1 so use tiebreaker rule: time.
B=5
E=8
F=3
Use E, then B, then F.
A B
5 G
20 15
E I J
C D 8 7
H 12
5 10 F 12
3
PRECEDENCE DIAGRAM
E cannot be added to A, but E can be added to C&D.

B
A 5 G
20
15
E I J
8
C D 12 7
H
5 10 F 12
3
PRECEDENCE DIAGRAM
Next priority B can be added to A.

B
A 5 G
20
15
E I J
8
C D 12 7
H
5 10 F 12
3
PRECEDENCE DIAGRAM
Next priority B can be added to A.
Next priority F can’t be added to either.

B
A 5 G
20
15
E I J
8
C D 12 7
H
5 10 F 12
3
NUMBER OF FOLLOWING TASKS
Nodes # after
G,H2
G and H tie on number coming after.
I 1 G takes 15, H is 12, so G goes first.
PRECEDENCE DIAGRAM
G can be added to F.
H cannot be added.

B
A 5 G
20
15
E I J
8
C D 12 7
H
5 10 F 12
3
PRECEDENCE DIAGRAM
I is next, and can be added to H, but J cannot be added
also.

B
A 5 G
20
15
E I J
8
C D 12 7
H
5 10 F 12
3
PRECEDENCE REQUIREMENTS

A B
5 G
20
15
E I J
C D 8
12 7
H
5 10 F 12
3
Why not put J with F&G?

AB CDE HI

FG J
CALCULATE EFFICIENCY
 We know that at least 4 workstations will be
needed. We needed 5.

Sum of task times (T)

Efficiencyt =
Actual no. of WS * Cycle Time
 = 97 / ( 5 * 25 ) = 0.776
 We are paying for 125 minutes of work, where it
only takes 97.
LONGEST FIRST
Try choosing longest activities first.
A is first, then G, which can’t be added to A.

B
A 5 G
20
15
E I J
8
C D 12 7
H
5 10 F 12
3
LONGEST FIRST
H and I both take 12, but H has more coming after it,
then add I.

B
A 5 G
20
15
E I J
8
C D 12 7
H
5 10 F 12
3
 LONGEST FIRST
D is next. We could combine it with G, which we’ll do later. E is next,
so for now combine D&E, but we could have combined E&G.
We’ll also try that later.

B
A 5 G
20
15
E I J
8
C D 12 7
H
5 10 F 12
3
LONGEST FIRST
J is next, all alone, followed by C and B.

B
A 5 G
20
15
E I J
8
C D 12 7
H
5 10 F 12
3
LONGEST FIRST
F is last. We end up with 5 workstations.

A B
5 G
20
15
E I J
C D 8
12 7
H
5 10 F 12
3
CT = 25, so efficiency is again
Eff = 97/(5*25) = 0.776
LONGEST FIRST- COMBINE E&G
Go back and try combining G and E instead of D and E.

B
A 5 G
20
15
E I J
8
C D 12 7
H
5 10 F 12
3
LONGEST FIRST- COMBINE E&G
J is next, all alone. C is added to D, and B is added to
A.

B
A 5 G
20
15
E I J
8
C D 12 7
H
5 10 F 12
3
LONGEST FIRST- COMBINE E&G
F can be added to C&D. Five WS again. CT is again 25,
so efficiency is again 0.776

B
A 5 G
20
15
E I J
8
C D 12 7
H
5 10 F 12
3
 LONGEST FIRST - COMBINE D&G
Back up and combine D&G. No precedence violation.

B
A 5 G
20
15
E I J
8
C D 12 7
H
5 10 F 12
3
 LONGEST FIRST - COMBINE D&G
Unhook H&I so J isn’t stranded again, I&J is 19, that’s better than 7.
E&H get us to 20. This is feeling better, maybe?

B
A 5 G
20
15
E I J
8
C D 12 7
H
5 10 F 12
3
 LONGEST FIRST - COMBINE D&G
5 Again! CT is again 25, so efficiency is again 97/(5*25) =
0.776

B
A 5 G
20
15
E I J
8
C D 12 7
H
5 10 F 12
3
CAN WE DO BETTER?

B
A 5 G
20
15
E I J
8
C D 12 7
H
5 10 F 12
3
CAN WE DO BETTER?
If we have to use 5 stations, we can get a solution with
CT = 20.

B
A 5 G
20
15
E I J
8
C D 12 7
H
5 10 F 12
3
CALCULATE EFFICIENCY
 With 5 WS at CT = 20

Sum of task times (T)

Efficiencyt =
Actual # WS * Cycle Time
 = 97 / ( 5 * 20 ) = 0.97
 We are paying for 100 minutes of work, where it
only takes 97.
OUTPUT AND LABOR COSTS
 With 20 min CT, and 800 minute workday
 Output = 800 min / 20 min/unit = 40 units
 Don’tneed to work 800 min
 Goal 32 units: 32 * 20 = 640 min/day

 5 workers * 640 min = 3,200 labor min.

 We were trying to achieve

 4 stations * 800 min = 3,200 labor min.
 Same labor cost, but more workers on shorter
workday
HANDLING LONG TASKS
 Long tasks make it hard to get efficient
combinations.
 Consider splitting tasks, if physically possible.

 If not:
 Parallel workstations
 use skilled (faster) worker to speed up
SUMMARY
 Compute desired cycle time, based on Market
Demand, and total time of work needed
 Methods to use:
 Largest first, most following steps, trial and error
 Compute efficiency of solutions

 A shorter CT can sometimes lead to greater

efficiencies
 Changing CT affected length of work day, looked at
labor costs