Comparison of Heuristic solutions for assembly line balancing problem

The assembly line balancing problem includes distributing the tasks among the work stations along a production line. Task isolating sometimes cannot result in increasing the line balancing, but heuristic line balancing methods can help line balancing with making a higher utilization. This paper aims to find the most efficient assembly line balancing technique arrangement across four heuristic line balancing methods namely (longest candidate rules; position weight method; Kilbridge and Wester method and network method). At the first, assembly line balancing problem of a case study in textile and clothing industry was analyzed using data of producing t-shirt. Then the Balancing methods were applied. These methods are tested in a computational experiment using various samples got from the literature review and then compared with each other in terms of Performance and Efficiency indices. The outcomes show that the network method is more efficient than other heuristic method and can be quite practical compared to each other and find the best solution for planning and scheduling of a production line.

Keywords:

Heuristic methods , line balancing , longest candidate rules , position weight method , Kilbridge and Wester method , network method.