MDP408a

Production & Operations

Management (Facilities Planning)
Lecture #8
Assembly Line Balancing
 Today’s lecture
• Characteristics of production/assembly lines
• Assembly line balancing
 Production/Assembly lines
• In repetitive/mass production systems, the
sequence of the manufacturing operations is
what determines the locations of the
production equipment.
• They take the form of a line or parallel lines
that meet at specific assembly points.
 Representation

WS1 WS2 WS3 WSn

Production line

A B

WS1 WS2 WS3 WSn

Assembly line
Auto assembly
 Workstations
• A workstation is a collection of one or more
machines or manual stations that perform
identical functions.
 Definitions
• A part is a piece of raw material / component /
subassembly / assembly that is worked on in a
workstation in a plant.
– Raw material refers to parts purchased from outside the
plant (e.g., sheet metal blanks, bar stock).
– Component is an individual piece that is assembled into
more complex products (e.g., gears).
– Subassembly is an assembled unit that is further
assembled into more complex subassemblies or end
products.
– Assembly is a fully assembled product.
– End item is a part that is sold directly to a customer (either
it is a final assembly, subassembly or component).
 Throughput and Capacity
• Throughput (TH) or sometimes throughput
rate is the average output of a production
process (machine, workstation, line, plant) per
unit time (e.g., parts per hour).
• An upper limit on the throughput of a
production process/system is its capacity.
 Utilization
• A utilization of a workstation can be defined
as the fraction of time it is not idle for lack of
parts.
𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒
• Utilization =
𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑣𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒
• This includes the fraction of time the
workstation is working on parts or has parts
waiting and is unable to work on them
because of a machine failure, setup, or other
detractor.
 Utilization
• Suppose that a workstation can process jobs with
a rate of 10 parts/hour.
• This means that one part needs 6 minutes to be
finished.
• Now, suppose that jobs arrive with a rate of 6
parts/hour. This means that a new job will be
introduced to the workstation every 10 minutes.
• Therefore, the utilization will be calculated as:
Utilization = actual production time / total available time
= 6 / 10 = 60%
 Utilization
• If parts arrive to the workstation with a rate 𝜆
(parts/min)
• the workstation contains one machine with a
production rate of 𝜇 (parts/min)
• Then the utilization of the workstation under
perfect conditions can be expressed as:
𝜆
Utilization =
𝜇
 Performance measures
• What if λ > μ?
 Parameters
• Bottleneck rate (rb) is defined as the rate (parts per unit
time) of the workstation having the highest long-term
utilization.
• By long-term it is meant that outages due to machine
failure, operator breaks, quality problems and so forth,
are averaged out over the time horizon under
consideration.
• So, depending on the length of the planning horizon,
some causes of outages may or may not be considered.
If we are talking about a daily plan, we would not
consider machine overhaul outage which is done once
a year. But if the planning horizon is one year, such an
outage must be considered.
 Parameters (cont.)
• Consider the following example in which there are two consecutive
workstations with production rates of 1 and 0.5 parts per minute
respectively. Only y percent of the output of the first workstation is good
and fed into the second workstation (i.e., there is 1-y scrapped parts).

1 min. 2 min.
y
r A B

1-y

Now if we calculate the utilization of each workstation,

r So, depending on the value of y, the bottleneck
u ( A) = =r
1 workstation and the bottleneck rate may be changed.
yr If y < 0.5, the utilization of station A is higher than that
u ( B) = = 2 yr
0.5 of station B and hence it is the bottleneck.
 Example
• Consider the following production line with the
processing times on each workstation recorded:
Bottleneck
workstation

rb = 1/30 parts per minute or 2 parts per hour.

 Parallel machines example
Now suppose that workstation C is changed such that 3 parallel
identical machines are working instead of one, and two
identical machines in workstation D are used instead of one.

Station Number of Process time Station Capacity

machines (min.) (parts per hour)
A 1 10 6
B 1 15 4
C 3 30 6
D 2 20 6
 Parallel machines example (cont.)
Station Number of Process time Station
machines (min.) Capacity (parts
per min.)
A 1 10 0.1
B 1 15 0.067
C 3 30 0.1
D 2 20 0.1

Based on the stations’ capacities, the bottleneck workstation is station

B, so rb = 0.067 parts per minute or 4 parts per hour.
Assembly Line Balancing..
 Examples of assembly lines
• https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=assembly+line
+for+LED+TV&view=detail&mid=9ED8E7EA2255C8AF2
F959ED8E7EA2255C8AF2F95&FORM=VIRE
• https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Assembly+Lin
e+Worker&&view=detail&mid=C8DFB52B7199B3CB42
5AC8DFB52B7199B3CB425A&&FORM=VRDGAR
• https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Production+A
ssembly+Line&&view=detail&mid=755A88737542A405
38FE755A88737542A40538FE&&FORM=VRDGAR
 Line Balancing
• The production sequence of a given product is
divided into a sequence of work elements.
• In line balancing, we are looking for combining
a set of consecutive work elements in a single
workstation.
• The main purpose is to minimize the number
of workstations that are required to produce a
given number of units.
 Line Balancing Example
EXAMPLE
Green Grass’s plant manager just received marketing’s latest forecasts of
fertilizer spreader sales for the next year. She wants its production line to
be designed to make 2,400 spreaders per week. The plant will operate 40
hours per week.

a. What should be the line’s cycle time or throughput rate per hour be?
Throughput rate/hr = 2400 / 40 = 60 spreaders/hr
Cycle Time = 1/Throughput rate= 1/60 = 1 minute = 60 seconds
Line balancing Example continued:
Assume that in order to produce the new fertilizer spreader on the assembly
line requires doing the following steps in the order specified:
Work Time Immediate
Description
Element (sec) Predecessor(s)

A Bolt leg frame to hopper 40 None

B Insert impeller shaft 30 A
C Attach axle 50 A
D Attach agitator 40 B
E Attach drive wheel 6 B
F Attach free wheel 25 C
G Mount lower post 15 C
H Attach controls 20 D, E
I Mount nameplate 18 F, G
Total 244

b. What is the number of workstations required?

Minimum number of workstations = total production time / cycle time
= 244/60 = 4.067 or 5
 Draw a Precedence Diagram
SOLUTION
The figure shows the complete diagram. We begin with work element A,
which has no immediate predecessors. Next, we add elements B and C, for
which element A is the only immediate predecessor. After entering time
standards and arrows showing precedence, we add elements D and E,
and so on. The diagram simplifies
interpretation. Work element F, D
H
for example, can be done B 40
20
anywhere on the line after 30 E
element C is completed. 6
However, element I must A
F
await completion of 40 C
25
elements F and G. 50
I
18
G
Precedence Diagram for
assembling the spreader 15
Allocating work or activities to stations
or machines
• The goal is to cluster the work elements into workstations
so that
1. The number of workstations required is minimized
2. The precedence and cycle-time requirements are not violated

⚫ The work content for each station is equal (or nearly so, but less than) the
cycle time for the line
⚫ Trial-and-error can be used but commercial software packages are also
available
 Finding a Solution
• The minimum number of workstations is 5 and the cycle
time is 60 seconds, so Figure 5 represents an optimal
solution to the problem

D
H
B 40
20
30 E
6
A
F
40 C
25
50
I
18
G
15

Firtilizer Precedence Diagram Solution

 Calculating Line Efficiency

c. Now calculate the efficiency measures of a five-station solution:

t 244
Efficiency = (100) = = 81.3%
nc 5(60)

Balance delay (%) = 100 – Efficiency = 100% - 81.3% = 18.7%

Idle time = nc – t = 5(60) – 244 = 56 seconds

Calculations for assembly line forming
• The desired output rate is matched to the
staffing or production plan
• Line Cycle Time is the maximum time
allowed for work at each station is
1
c=
r

where
c = cycle time in hours
r = desired output rate
Calculations for assembly line forming
• The theoretical minimum number of
stations is
t
TM =
c

where
t = total time required to assemble
each unit
Calculations for assembly line forming
• Idle time, efficiency, and balance delay
Idle time = nc – t

where
n = number of stations

t
Efficiency (%) = nc (100)

Balance delay (%) = 100 – Efficiency

 Solved Problem 2
A company is setting up an assembly line to produce 192 units per 8-hour
shift. The following table identifies the work elements, times, and
immediate predecessors:

Work Element Time (sec) Immediate Predecessor(s)

A 40 None
B 80 A
C 30 D, E, F
D 25 B
E 20 B
F 15 B
G 120 A
H 145 G
I 130 H
J 115 C, I
Total 720
 Solved Problem 2
a. What is the desired cycle time (in seconds)?
b. What is the theoretical minimum number of stations?
c. Use trial and error to work out a solution, and show your solution on a
precedence diagram.
d. What are the efficiency and balance delay of the solution found?

SOLUTION
a. Substituting in the cycle-time formula, we get

1 8 hours
c= r = (3,600 sec/hr) = 150 sec/unit
192 units
 Solved Problem 2
b. The sum of the work-element times is 720 seconds, so

t 720 sec/unit
TM = c = = 4.8 or 5 stations
150 sec/unit-station

which may not be achievable.

 Solved Problem 2
c. The precedence diagram is shown in Figure 7.6. Each row in the
following table shows work elements assigned to each of the five
workstations in the proposed solution.
Work Immediate
Element Predecessor(s)
D A None
25 B A
C D, E, F
D B
B E C
E B
80 20 30 F B
G A
F J
A H G
15 115 I H
40 G J C, I
120
H I

145 130

Precedence Diagram
 D

Solved Problem 2
25

B E C

80 20 30
J

A F 115

Using the Largest Candidate Rule 40 G 15 I

H
120 130
145

Work-Element Cumulative Idle Time

Station Candidate(s) Choice
Time (sec) Time (sec) (c= 150 sec)
S1

S2

S3
S4

S5
 D

Solved Problem 2
25

B E C

80 20 30
J

A F 115

Using the Largest Candidate Rule 40 G 15 I

H
120 130
145

Work-Element Cumulative Idle Time

Station Candidate(s) Choice
Time (sec) Time (sec) (c= 150 sec)
S1 A A 40 40 110
B B 80 120 30
D, E, F D 25 145 5
S2 E, F, G G 120 120 30
E, F E 20 140 10
S3 F, H H 145 145 5
S4 F, I I 130 130 20
F F 15 145 5
S5 C C 30 30 120
J J 115 145 5
 Solved Problem 2
d. Calculating the efficiency, we get

t 720 sec/unit
Efficiency (%) = nc (100) =
5(150 sec/unit)

= 96%

Thus, the balance delay is only 4 percent (100–96).

 Classroom Activity
A plant manager needs a design for an assembly line to assembly a new
product that is being introduced. The time requirements and
immediate
Immediate
predecessors for the Work Element Time (sec)
Predecessor
work elements are A 12 ―
as follows: B 60 A
C 36 ―
D 24 ―
E 38 C, D
F 72 B, E
G 14 ―
H 72 ―
I 35 G, H
J 60 I
K 12 F, J
Total = 435
 precedence diagram
Draw a precedence diagram, complete I, F, J, and K

Work Time (sec) Immediate

Element Predecessor A
A 12 ―
B 60 A
C 36 ― B
D 24 ―
C
E 38 C, D F
F 72 B, E
D E K
G 14 ―

H 72 ―
J
I 35 G, H
G I
J 60 I

K 12 F, J

Total = 435
H
Cycle time and theoretical minimum
If the desired output rate is 30 units per hour, what are the cycle time and
theoretical minimum?

1 1
c= r = (3600) = 120 sec/unit
30

t 435
TM = c = = 3.6 or 4 stations
120
 In class - Example
Suppose that we are fortunate enough to find a solution with just four
stations. What is the idle time per unit, efficiency, and the balance delay
for this solution?

Idle time = nc – t = 4(120) – 435 = 45 seconds

t 435
Efficiency (%) = nc (100) = (100) = 90.6%
480

Balance delay (%) = 100 – Efficiency = 100 – 90.6 = 9.4%

 In class - Example
Using trial and error, one possible solution is shown below.

Work
Elements Idle Time
Station Assigned Cumulative Time (c = 120)
1 H, C, A 120 0
2 B, D, G 98 22
3 E, F 110 10
4 I, J, K 107 13
5 A fifth station is not needed
 Other Rules for Selecting Candidate
Stations
• Ranked Positional Weight Method
• Shortest processing time
• Highest number of succeeding tasks
• …