An Effective Two-Sided Assembly Line Balancing Approach for Large-Sized Products: A Real Life Application

Abstract

This article addresses the assembly line balancing problem for the large-sized products in a real-world industry application. A two-sided assembly line is the effective method to assemble the large-sized products. In this study, the mathematical model was developed for the line balancing problem of a real two-sided assembly line. This study is carried out for a company which produces personnel elevating platforms. The new assembly line produces more platforms in the same time and ensures a regular material flow, makes maximum use of machine capacities and uses idle times. With the new developed assembly line, the daily production volume of the company is increased from 2 platforms/day to 7 platforms/day. Moreover, supporting the workforce on the line with robotic systems offers the opportunity of increasing the daily production volume to 12 platforms/day. The proposed model has significant application potential in the assembly line balancing problem for the large-sized products.

Keywords: Assembly line balancing, Integer programming, Large-sized product, Two-sided assembly line

DOI: 10.7176/IEL/15-1-05

Publication date: April 30^th 2025