Line Balancing
Line Balancing
(OP)
Hi. I have a pretty basic question about line balancing. After time studies have been done at each station of current assembly line, you can calculate the allowable minutes and delay time for each station. When trying to balance the line, how do you take into account that you can add accumulation space between stations (in essence reducing or eliminating the delay time)? How do you show that? In other words, if the allowable minutes for the line is 1 and the normal time for a station is 0.5 minutes, then the delay time would show up as 0.5 minutes for that station. I can add accumulation in front of the line which I believe will allow the worker to continue working and not have delay time due to the worker in front of them. Do I just show the line as balanced at that point?





RE: Line Balancing
Regards,
RE: Line Balancing
Might I enquire as to the background behind your query? Generic questions tend to yield generic answers.
Regards,
RE: Line Balancing
RE: Line Balancing
Barry1961
RE: Line Balancing
RE: Line Balancing
1. If you cannot have more people in manual working station you can separate this point from the rest of the line by making temporary warehouse on that position. This is the same as very big accumulation space, but this way you can optimize separated half-lines by different working schedules (fast line can work, say 1 shift, while part of line which includes manual point can work 2 shifts and similar: that can help overall production effectivenes: line usage and schedule efficiency very much)
2. Accumulation space will generally help to overcome short stoppages upstream. That is the best use of it.
When we are talking about balancing, we have to go back in design and concept phase of the line setup, that is the moment when you do it! I know in practice for two balancing concepts:
1. Starting from the equipment with most expensive machine time (normally it is the most expensive and complicated equipment). From this point you gradually add capacity upstream and downstream. The point is to have uninterrupted work of your main equpment which overwhelmes cost of added capacity of other equipment.
2. Backwards balancing. The last equipment in line has the largest capacity and then it is gradually lowered upstream.
I saw in literature forward balancing (opposite to backward) but never saw it in practice.