Line Balancing, Operation Management

Assignment Help:
#What do you understand by “line balancing”? What happens if balance doesn’t exist?uestion..

Related Discussions:- Line Balancing

Find what is the economic order quantity, The Central Valve Company sells i...

The Central Valve Company sells industrial valves and fluid control devices. One of Central's most popular valves, the Western, has an annual demand of 6,000 units. The price of ea

Explain the role of purchasing, Describe the role of purchasing in contribu...

Describe the role of purchasing in contributing to the profitability of the enterprise

Describe a work breakdown structure, A Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) compo...

A Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) component is a term that simply refers to an entry in the WBS that can be at any level.

Explain differentiate between a workcentre, Differentiate between a WorkCen...

Differentiate between a WorkCentre and a manufacturing cell

Explain the pros and cons of the theory, Explain the McGregor's Theory x-y,...

Explain the McGregor's Theory x-y, the pros and cons of the theory

Explain how was your performance compared to the standards, Think of a clas...

Think of a class you've taken in the past. What standards of performance did your professor establish? How was your actual performance measured? How was your performance compared t

Explain ethical for employers to use information technologie, Is it ethical...

Is it ethical for employers to use information technologies to extend work into employees home lives?

Explain upper control limit for an r-chart, Twenty samples of subgroup size...

Twenty samples of subgroup size 3 (n=3) were collected for a variable measurement. Determine the upper control limit (UCL) for an R-chart if the mean of the sample ranges equals

Determine the implementation of lean, 1. To what extend does lean manufactu...

1. To what extend does lean manufacturing help GM to control production to meet customer needs, and how does this help to make GM competitive? 2. Do you think the implementation

Describe quantities would your supplier selection change, Your company asse...

Your company assembles five different models of a motor scooter that is sold in specialty store in the United States. The company uses the same engine for all five models. You have

Daina

2/12/2013 7:08:07 AM

Line Balancing
- Line: an assembly line composed of various work stations, at which particular operations are performed.

- To work efficiently, with no work pile-ups between stations, the line must be balanced, for example work must get through each workstation in roughly similar amount of time.
Goals:
1. To meet production goals,
2. Maximize output.

General Approaches to Line Balancing Technique
1. Estimating number of operators for a specific number of stations,
2. Work element sharing: grouping “activities” each work elements into “stations” or jobs performed by a single person (occasionally multiple people work in concert at a single station or machine)

Diana

2/12/2013 7:09:42 AM

Write your Aim – It only applies to assembly lines. It aims at minimizing the idle time along the line by dividing work equally among members. Tasks are grouped in such a way that they have equal time requirement.

When is line Balancing is Done

· When the line is initially set-up

· When the changes are made in process / desired output rate

Difficulty associated with LB – Not feasible to combine certain activities

Necessity of line balancing – In absence of line balancing, it might create morale problem for workers at slower station who work continuously

(Draw Precedence Diagram)

Cycle Time = Longest time at the any of the work element OR (Operating Time / Desired Output Rate)

CT = 1 min

(In Question, it may be given as 480 units per 8-hour day, Hence CT = 8*60 min per day / 480 units per day = 1 minute per cycle)

Theoretical Minimum number of workstations, Nmin = Sum of time at all WS / CT = (0.1+1.0+0.7+0.5+0.2) / 1.0 = 2.5 = 3 Workstations

Rules in Assigning task

1. Choose new WS if

a. All preceding tasks are completed

b. Task Time is less than or equal to Time Remaining

2. Always first assign the task with greatest task time to a workstation, in case there is a choice between work elements. In case task time is same, choose the element having greatest number of followers.

3. For every new WS, always start with cycle time

WS


Time Remaining


Eligible


Assign Task


Revised Time remaining


WS Idle Time

1


1.0


A,C


C(0.7)


0.3 (1.0-0.7)




0.3


A


A(0.1)


0.2


0.2

2


1.0


B


B(1.0)


0


0

3


1.0


D


D(0.5)


0.5




0.5


E


E(0.2)


0.3


0.3

Total Idle time = 0.2 + 0.3 = 0.5 minutes

Balance Delay in % (% of idle time on assembly line) = Total idle time * 100/ (Actual No of WS * Cycle Time)

=0.5*100/(3*1) = 16.7%

Line efficiency = 100% - Balance delay% = 83.3%

Other considerations in line-balancing

1. Technical considerations –

a. Skill requirement of different tasks - If the skill requirements of tasks are quite different, it may not be feasible to place the tasks in the same workstation

b. Incompatible tasks - If the tasks themselves are incompatible (example – Use of fire and flammable liquids), it may not be feasible even to place them in stations that are near to each other

2. Variable tasks by human –

a. Reasons for variation are Fatigue, boredom and failure to concentrate on the task at hand.

b. Absenteeism can also affect the balance

Other approaches to achieve smooth flow of production

1. Make parallel workstations – They increase the workflow and provide flexibility

2. Cross-train workers / Dynamic line balancing – It helps workers perform more than 1 task. In case they are idle, they can assist other workers who are temporarily over-burdened

3. Mixed model line - Design a line to handle more than 1 product on the same line. The different products are similar in many ways and hence, the process applied on them is also samemessage here..

Write Your Message!

Captcha
Free Assignment Quote

Assured A++ Grade

Get guaranteed satisfaction & time on delivery in every assignment order you paid with us! We ensure premium quality solution document along with free turntin report!

All rights reserved! Copyrights ©2019-2020 ExpertsMind IT Educational Pvt Ltd