KKU Engineering Journal (Jun 2014)
Heuristics comparison for u-shaped assembly line balancing in the apparel factory
Abstract
In recent year, many industries have adopted a Just-in-time (JIT) approach to manufacturing. One of the important changes resulting from JIT implementation is the replacement of the traditional straight lines with Ushaped assembly lines. The important characteristic of these new configurations is that multiskilled workers perform various tasks of different stations along the production line. This research is to improve the assembly line balancing in apparel factory in case study of T-shirt style 53287. The efficiency of production line was 55.48%, the factory balanced line with the traditional method in straight line. Then, the u-shaped assembly line balancing problem (UALBP) is to be performed instead of straight line. By using the heuristics of Maximum Task Time, Minimum Task Time, Maximum Ranked Positional Weight (RPWmax) and Greedy Randomized to determine the optimal solutions related to the number of stations and line efficiency. The results indicate that two heuristics have given the good solution which have produced by the use of Maximum Task Time and Greedy Randomized. The minimum number of stations have reduced from 17 stations to 11 stations in UALB and the line efficiency was increased from 55.48% to 85.75%. The U-line configuration frequently improves the line efficiency and has fewer work stations compared to the traditional lines.
