Exact Solution Method for Balancing of a Self-Balancing Production Line with Worker- and Station-Dependent Speed

On traditional assembly lines, each worker is usually assigned to a particular fixed operation. However, when there is an imbalance between the speeds of workers, a particular worker delays the overall work on the line, and the production rate of that line will also decrease. To avoid this problem, the “self-balancing production line” was introduced. On this type of line, each worker is assigned work dynamically, and balanced production can be maintained in this way while satisfying certain specific conditions. In previous research, a speed that depended on both the worker and the station was considered for a serial line. For these conditions, a worker coordination policy was proposed that changed the worker sequence based on the average speed. Using this policy, the production rate may decrease, and blocking by a slower worker, which may hinder the work of a faster predecessor, is not considered. As a result, balancing of the line cannot be achieved. Exact solution methods are therefore needed, and in this chapter, an exact solution method for balancing the line is proposed. We also present numerical calculations for two and three workers in order to enable a comparison with the worker sequencing policy put forward in the previous chapter.