Assembly--Line Balancing

Assembly
Dr Ateekh-Ur-Rehman
Refer Chapter 9 in Text Book

Assembly--Line Balancing
Assembly
Objective is to minimize the imbalance
between machines or personnel while
meeting required output
Starts with the precedence relationships
1.

Determine cycle time

2.

Calculate theoretical minimum number of workstations

3.

Balance the line by assigning specific tasks to workstations

Copier Example
Task
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I

Performance
Time
(minutes)

10
11
5
4
12
3
7
11
3
Total time 66

Task Must Follow

Task Listed
Below

A
B
B
A
C, D
F
E
G, H

This means that

tasks B and E
cannot be done
until task A has
been completed

Copier Example
Task
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I

Performance
Time
(minutes)

10
11
5
4
12
3
7
11
3
Total time 66

Task Must Follow

Task Listed
Below

A
B
B
A
C, D
F
E
G, H

5
10

11

C
4

12

G
3

11

H
Figure 9.13

Copier Example
Task
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I

Performance
Time
(minutes)

10
11
5
4
12
3
7
11
3
Total time 66

480 available mins

per day
40 units required

Task Must Follow

Task Listed
Below

A
Production time available
B
per day
CycleBtime =
Units required per day
A
= 480 / 40
5
C, D
= 12 minutes per unit
C
F
10
11
3
n
E
BTime for task i F
A
Minimum
G, H
i=1
4
number of =
Cycle time

workstations

12

= 66 / 12E
= 5.5 or 6 stations

11

H
Figure 9.13

Copier Example

Line-Balancing Heuristics

1. Longest task time

Choose the available
480 task
available mins
Performance
Task Must
Follow
with the longest task time
per day
Time
Task Listed
40 task
units required
Task2. Most
(minutes)
following tasks Below
Choose the available
number
A
10
with the largestCycle
time of
= 12 mins
B
11
Afollowing tasksMinimum
= 5.5 or 6
C 3. Ranked5 positional
BChoose the available
workstations
task for
D
Bwhich the sum of following
weight4
E
12
Atask times is the longest
5
F
3
C, D
the available
task
C
G 4. Shortest
7 task time
FChoose
10 shortest
11
3
7
with the
task time
H
11
E
A
B
G
F
I 5. Least number
3
G,Choose
H
4
of
the available
task
3
with the least number
of
Totalfollowing
time 66 tasks
D
I
12
11
following tasks
E

H
Table 9.4

Figure 9.13

Copier Example
Performance
Time
(minutes)

Task

A
10
B
11
Station
C
52
D
4
11
E 10
12
B
F A
3
G
7
H
11
I
3
Stationtime 66
Total
1

480 available mins

per day
40 units required

Task Must Follow

Task Listed
Below

12

A
5
B
C B
A
C, D
4
F
D E
G, H

Cycle time = 12 mins

Minimum
workstations = 5.5 or 6
3

Station 4

I
11

Station
3

Station
5

Station 6

Figure 9.14

Copier Example
Task

Performance
Time
(minutes)

Task Must Follow

Task Listed
Below

480 available mins

per day
40 units required

A
10

Cycle time = 12 mins

B
11
A
Minimum
C
5
B
workstations = 5.5 or 6
D
4
B
E
12
A
F
3
C, D
Task mes
G
7
F
Efficiency =
H
11 (actual numberEof workstations) x (largest cycle time)
I
3
G, H
= 66 minutes / (6 stations) x (12 minutes)
Total time 66
= 91.7%

Example 2

Step 1: Identify Tasks & Immediate

Predecessors
Example 10.4 Vicki's Pizzeria and the Precedence Diagram
Immediate
Task Time
Work Element Task Description
Predecessor
(seconds
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I

Roll dough
Place on cardboard backing
Sprinkle cheese
Spread Sauce
Add pepperoni
Add sausage
Add mushrooms
Shrinkwrap pizza
Pack in box

None
A
B
C
D
D
D
E,F,G
H
Total task time

50
5
25
15
12
10
15
18
15
165

Layout Calculations
Step 2: Determine output rate
Vicki needs to produce 60 pizzas per hour

Step 3: Determine cycle time

The amount of time each workstation is allowed to
complete its tasks
Cycle time (sec./unit)

available time sec./day 60 min/hr x 60 sec/min

60 sec./unit
desired output units/hr
60 units/hr

Limited by the bottleneck task (the longest task in a

process):
Maximum output

available time
3600 sec./hr.

72 units/hr, or pizzas per hour

bottleneck task time 50 sec./unit

Layout Calculations (continued)

Step 5: Assign tasks to workstations
Start at the first station & choose the longest eligible task following precedence
relationships
Continue adding the longest eligible task that fits without going over the desired
cycle time
When no additional tasks can be added within the desired cycle time, begin
assigning tasks to the next workstation until finished
W o rk s ta tio n
1

E lig ib le ta s k
A
B
C
D
E, F, G
E, F
F
H
I

T a s k S e le c te d
A
B
C
D
G
E
F
H
I

T a s k tim e
50
5
25
15
15
12
10
18
15

Id le tim e
10
5
35
20
5
48
38
20
5

Last Layout Calculation

Step 6: Compute efficiency and balance delay
Efficiency (%) is the ratio of total productive time divided
by total time
Efficiency

(%)
NC

165 sec.
100 91.7%
3 stations x 60 sec.

Balance delay (%) is the amount by which the line falls

short of 100%
Balance delay 100% 91.7% 8.3%

Example 3
Task

Imm. predecessor

Task time (sec)

None

55

30

22

35

B, C

50

15

10

TOTAL

222

Draw precedence diagram

Determine cycle timedemand = 50 units/hr
Theoretical minimum no. of work stations
Assign tasks to workstations using cycle time
Efficiency and balance delay of line?
Bottleneck?
Maximum output?

Example 4 Golf Club mfg/assy firm

Customer demand requires production volume of 24 finished clubs
in an 8 hour shift
task

task description

operation
time (min)

must
follow

inspection

trim the shaft to length

weight the head

13

finish the shaft

gel coat the head

assemble the head to the shaft

D, E

total work content

44

 How often does a club need to come off the line in order to meet the
customer demand required?
Exclude initial start-up
Cycle time = (480 min/shift)/(24 clubs/shift) = 20 min/club
Takt time (for this example, same as cycle time as defined above)
Takt time = available work time/customer demand
Aligns output of a process with customer demand (or the pull
of the customer)
Takt is a German word referring to the rhythm or beat of
music
Theoretical minimum number of workstations for this operation
Total work content/cycle time
44 min/20 min per workstation = 2.2 workstations 3
workstations

stations

A, C

E, B, D

time per club

18 min

20 min

6 min

time available per unit

20 min

20 min

20 min

idle time

2 min

0 min

14 min

tasks

Efficiency of the line

= (total work content)/(# of workstations x cycle time)
= (44 min)/(3 workstations x 20 min/workstation) = 0.733 (73.3%)
Where is the bottleneck?
Capacity fully utilized
Work-in-process inventory builds up in front of workstation 2

Example 5
Balancing manufacturing line
For a manufacturing line, the data below on the task precedence
relationships exist (assume the tasks cannot be split)
task

performance
time (min)

must
follow

C, B

D, E, F, G

Example 5
continue
Construct the precedence diagram for the tasks.
What is the theoretical minimum cycle time?
To balance the line to the cycle time determined
above, what is the minimum number of work
stations?
Use the "longest-operation-time" rule to balance
the line to the theoretical minimum cycle time
determined above.
Calculate the efficiency of the balanced line.