A Balancing Approach to Stochastic Assembly Lines.

Authors

Ahmed Abdel-Shafi, Assistant Professor of Industrial Production Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt.

Corresponding Author

Abdel-Shafi, Ahmed

Subject Area

Production Engineering and Mechanical Design

Article Type

Original Study

Abstract

This paper presents a cost-oriented approach for analyzing, balancing. and evaluating stochastic assembly lines. Task times are assumed to be normally distributed random variables with known means and variances. The work is concerning with the design or an approximately minimum cost layout by assigning tasks to work stations along the line such that the probability of completing all tasks within the cycle time is greater than or equal to certain confidence level. A new decision parameter is used for assignment, this parameter helps in regulating the stochastic behavior of task durations along the span of each work station. A candidate line layout is evaluated by computing the total operating cost under off-line repair and on-line repair conditions. The procedure was programmed in 'FORTRAN-77 and applied to a case study problem from the national industry.

Recommended Citation

Abdel-Shafi, Ahmed (2020) "A Balancing Approach to Stochastic Assembly Lines.," Mansoura Engineering Journal: Vol. 19 : Iss. 1 , Article 14.
Available at: https://doi.org/10.21608/bfemu.2021.163078