ASSEMBLY LINE – THEORY AND PRACTICE Edited by Waldemar Grzechca Assembly Line – Theory and Practice Edited by Waldemar Grzechca Published by InTech Janeza Trdine 9, 51000 Rijeka, Croatia Copyright © 2011 InTech All chapters are Open Access articles distributed under the Creative Commons Non Commercial Share Alike Attribution 3.0 license, which permits to copy, distribute, transmit, and adapt the work in any medium, so long as the original work is properly cited. After this work has been published by InTech, authors have the right to republish it, in whole or part, in any publication of which they are the author, and to make other personal use of the work. Any republication, referencing or personal use of the work must explicitly identify the original source. Statements and opinions expressed in the chapters are these of the individual contributors and not necessarily those of the editors or publisher. No responsibility is accepted for the accuracy of information contained in the published articles. The publisher assumes no responsibility for any damage or injury to persons or property arising out of the use of any materials, instructions, methods or ideas contained in the book. Publishing Process Manager Romina Krebel Technical Editor Teodora Smiljanic Cover Designer Jan Hyrat Image Copyright Hywit Dimyadi, 2010. Used under license from Shutterstock.com First published July, 2011 Printed in Croatia A free online edition of this book is available at www.intechopen.com Additional hard copies can be obtained from orders@intechweb.org Assembly Line – Theory and Practice, Edited by Waldemar Grzechca p. cm. ISBN 978-953-307-995-0 free online editions of InTech Books and Journals can be found at www.intechopen.com Contents Preface IX Part 1 Assembly Line Balancing Problem 1 Chapter 1 Final Results of Assembly Line Balancing Problem 3 Waldemar Grzechca Chapter 2 Assembly Line Balancing and Sequencing 13 Mohammad Kamal Uddin and Jose Luis Martinez Lastra Chapter 3 A Metaheuristic Approach to Solve the Alternative Subgraphs Assembly Line Balancing Problem 37 Liliana Capacho and Rafael Pastor Chapter 4 Model Sequencing and Worker Transfer System for Mixed Model Team Oriented Assembly Lines 51 Emre Cevikcan and M. Bulent Durmusoglu Chapter 5 Assembly Line Balancing in Garment Production by Simulation 67 Senem Kurşun Bahadır Part 2 Optimization in Assembly Lines 83 Chapter 6 Tackling the Industrial Car Sequencing Problem Using GISMOO Algorithm 85 Arnaud Zinflou and Caroline Gagné Chapter 7 A Review: Practice and Theory in Line-Cell Conversion 107 Ikou Kaku, Jun Gong, Jiafu Tang and Yong Yin Chapter 8 Small World Optimization for Multiple Objects Optimization of Mixed-Model Assembly Sequencing Problem 131 Huang Gang, Tian Zhipeng, Shao Xinyu and Li Jinhang VI Contents Chapter 9 Optimizing Feeding Systems 149 Shramana Ghosh and Sarv Parteek Singh Part 3 Assembly Line Inspection 179 Chapter 10 End-Of-Line Testing 181 Wolfgang Klippel Chapter 11 Multi-Classifier Approaches for Post-Placement Surface-Mount Devices Quality Inspection 207 Stefanos Goumas and Michalis Zervakis Chapter 12 Machine Vision for Inspection: A Case Study 237 Brandon Miles and Brian Surgenor Preface An assembly line is a manufacturing process in which parts are added to a product in a sequential manner using optimally planned logistics to create a finished product in the fastest possible way. It is a flow-oriented production system where the productive units performing the operations, referred to as stations, are aligned in a serial manner. The work pieces visit stations successively as they are moved along the line usually by some kind of transportation system, e.g. a conveyor belt. Assembly lines are mostly designed for a sequential organization of workers, tools or machines, and parts. The motion of workers is minimized to the extent possible. Each worker typically performs one simple operation. All parts or assemblies are handled either by conveyors or motorized vehicles such as forklifts, or gravity, with no manual trucking. Henry Ford was the first who introduced the assembly line and was able to improve other aspects of production. An assembly line is designed to be highly efficient, and very cost effective. The workers focus on a small part of the overall whole, meaning that they do not require extensive training. Parts are fed along a conveyor belt or series of belts for workers to handle, creating a continuous flow of the desired product. At the peak of production, Ford's assembly line turned out a new automobile every three minutes, and modern assembly lines can be even more rapid, especially when they combine automated machinery with human handlers. The present edited book is a collection of 12 chapters written by experts and well- known professionals of the field. The volume is organized in three parts according to the last research works in assembly line subject. The first part of the book is devoted to the assembly line balancing problem. Assembly line balancing problem (ALBP) consists of a finite set of tasks, where each of them has a duration time and precedence relations, which specify the acceptable ordering of the tasks. One of the problems inherent in organizing the mass production is how to group the tasks to be performed on a workstation so as to achieve the desired level of efficiency. Line balancing is an attempt to locate tasks to each workstation on the assembly line. The basis ALB problem is to assign a set of tasks to an ordered set of workstations, so that the precedence relationships were satisfied, and performance factors were optimized. X Preface The first part includes chapters dealing with different problems of ALBP. We can read about identification of the plant needs and design steps of the line. A knowledge about balancing and sequencing is given. A novel generalized assembly line balancing problem, entitled ASALBP: the Alternative Subgraphs Assembly Line Balancing Problem, is also presented in this part. In this problem, alternative variants for different parts of an assembly or manufacturing process are considered. Each variant is represented by a subgraph that determines the tasks required to process a particular product and the task precedence relations. One of the chapter concludes balancing of assembly line model in garment production by suggesting possible scenarios that eliminate the bottlenecks in the line by various what-if analyses using simulation technique. Different problems of final results estimation are mentioned. In the second part of the book some optimization problems in assembly line structure are considered. In many situations there are several contradictory goals that have to be satisfied simultaneously. In fact, real-world optimization problems rarely have a single goal. This is the case for the Industrial Car Sequencing Problem (ICSP) on an automobile assembly line. The ICSP consists of determining the order in which automobiles should be produced, taking into account the various model options, assembly line constraints and production environment goals. Also, a multiple objects optimization in mixed model assembly line is shown. Assembly line structure is known since the beginning the 20th century and the mathematical description was first given more than 50 years ago. There are a lot of discussions how to convert this structure to another. One of the idea (conversion from assembly line into production cell) is also discussed in the second section of the book. Optimization, not only of models but also of real equipment (feeders), is underlined as well. The third part of the book deals with testing problems in assembly line. This section gives an overview on new trends, techniques and methodologies for testing the quality of a product at the end of the assembling line. Collecting meaningful data, exchanging information more smoothly and improving the communication between suppliers, manufacturers, developers and customers are the most important objectives. The contents of the whole book present us with valuable overview of theory and practice in assembly line production structure and assembly line balancing problem. The editor would like to express his gratitude to the authors for their excellent work and interesting contributions. We hope that assembly lines structure and assembly line balancing problem become more clear and the book brings closer all readers to the detailed knowledge of described problems. Waldemar Grzechca The Silesian University of Technology Poland [...]... Assembly line balance (c=12) Station 1 Station 3 Station 5 Station 7 Conveyour Station 2 Station 4 Station 6 Station 8 Fig 14 Assembly line structure (c=12) In two-sided assembly line balancing problem it is very difficult to obtain a complete station structure This type of line very hard depends on precedence and position constraints 12 Assembly Line – Theory and Practice 7 Conclusions Assembly lines... and sequencing of assembly line, Physica- Verlag, ISBN 9783790811803, Heidelberg New-York Sury, R.J (1971) Aspects of assembly line balancing, International Journal of Production Research, Vol 9, pp 8-1 4 2 Assembly Line Balancing and Sequencing Mohammad Kamal Uddin and Jose Luis Martinez Lastra Tampere University of Technology Finland 1 Introduction Assembly line balancing (ALB) and sequencing is an... fuzzy logic approach to assembly line balancing, Mathware & Soft Computing, Vol 12, pp 5 7-7 4 Grzechca W (2008) Two-sided assembly line Estimation of final results Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Informatics in Control, Automation and Robotics ICINCO 2008, Final book of Abstracts and Proceedings, Funchal, 1 1-1 5 May 2008, pp 8 7-8 8, CD Version ISBN: 97 8-9 8 9-8 11 1-3 5-7 Grzechca W (2010)... 8 11 Fig 6 Numerical example of 12 tasks – time duration and positional constrains are given in brakes (L – left, R – right, E – any position) Fig 7 Final solution of assembly line balancing problem – RPW heuristic Fig 8 Final solution of assembly line balancing problem – IUFF - WET heuristic 10 Assembly Line – Theory and Practice 6 Assembly line structure problem We consider numerical example from... 14.) The structure of assembly line can changed for different cycle times (Grzechca, 2010) Fig 9 Assembly line balance (c=16) Station 1 Station 3 Conveyour Station 2 Fig 10 Assembly line structure (c=16) Fig 11 Assembly line balance (c=15) Station4 11 Final Results of Assembly Line Balancing Problem Station 1 Station 3 Station 5 Conveyour Station 2 Station 4 Station 6 Fig 12 Assembly line structure (c=15)... stochastic assembly line balancing, Management Science, Vol 22, No 10, pp 109 7-1 104 Lee, T.O., Kim Y., Kim Y.K (2001) Two-sided assembly line balancing to maximize work relatedness and slackness, Computers & Industrial Engineering, Vol 40, No 3, pp 27 3-2 92 Salveson, M.E (1955) The assembly line balancing problem, Journal of Industrial Engineering, Vol.6, No 3 pp 1 8-2 5 Scholl, A (1999) Balancing and sequencing... where: SIL- smoothness index of the left side of two-sided line STmaxL- maximum of duration time of left allocated stations STiL- duration time of i-th left allocated station Smoothness index of the right side SI R = K ( STmaxR − ST iR ) 2 i =1 (6) where: SIR- smoothness index of the right side of two-sided line, STmaxR- maximum of duration time of right allocated stations, STiR- duration time of i-th... Balancing two-sided assembly lines: A case study, International Journal of Production Research, Vol 31, No,10, pp 244 7-2 461 Baybars, I (1986) A survey of exact algorithms for simple assembly line balancing problem, Management Science, Vol 32, No 8, pp 90 9-9 32 Erel, E., Sarin S.C (1998) A survey of the assembly line balancing procedures, Production Planning and Control, Vol 9, No 5, pp 41 4-4 34 Fonseca... 1993) Station 1 Station 3 Station (n-3) Station (n-1) Station (n-2) Station n Conveyor Station 2 Station 4 Fig 1 Two-sided assembly line structure The final result estimation of two-sided assembly line balance needs some modification of existing measures (Grzechca, 2008) Time of line for TALBP LT = c ⋅ ( Km − 1 ) + Max {t(S K ) ,t(S K − 1 )} (4) where: Km – number of mated-stations K – number of assigned... case of mixed model lines, different models often utilize available capacity in very different intensities Therefore modification of balancing or line re-balance might be necessary A family of products is a set of distinguished products (variants), whose main 18 Assembly Line – Theory and Practice functions are preferably similar, usually produced by mixed-model lines Mixed model lines are generally . ASSEMBLY LINE – THEORY AND PRACTICE Edited by Waldemar Grzechca Assembly Line – Theory and Practice Edited by Waldemar Grzechca. of theory and practice in assembly line production structure and assembly line balancing problem. The editor would like to express his gratitude to the authors for their excellent work and. Station 3 Station (n-2) Station 4 Station 2 Station (n-3) Station (n-1) Fig. 1. Two-sided assembly line structure The final result estimation of two-sided assembly line balance needs some