Integrated Mixed Model Assembly Line Balancing Procedure In Presence Of Multiple Secondary Feeder Lines In An Ato Environment,

The research of efficiency and flexibility has forced assembly systems to change to mixed model assembly lines. Moreover the necessity to reduce inventory has led to pass from single to multi line systems, where some components are assembled in secondary lines, called feeder lines, connected to the main one with a “pull philosophy”. A possible approach to configure such an assembly system is to balance the main line first and use the retrieved cycle time to balance each feeder line separately. It is questionable, especially if operators can perform tasks on both the feeder and the main line. In addition, the use of a single representative “virtual average model” creates overload/idle time at the stations, with negative effects on productivity and buffer space constrains. This paper introduces an innovative balancing procedure in presence of multiple unpaced feeder lines. The proposed approach is compared with the classical one and validated through simulation and industrial applications.