Application of line balancing heuristics for achieving an effective layout: a case study.

This project is a case study conducted in a manufacturing company aiming at improving its productivity using line balancing techniques. Waste reduction, especially the time waste, is an important factor to shrink the manufacturing cost. The main purpose of this project is to suggest a better line balancing approach with an aim of reducing the idle time, work station number, and manpower requirement while improving the efficiency to meet the target production in the apparel manufacturing organization. For accomplishing the purpose, different line balancing methods named Largest Candidate Rule, Kilbridge & Wester method, and Ranked Positional Weight method carried out for analyzing the line efficiency, production rate, work station number, manpower requirement, and time utilization. Finally, an efficient and balanced line were proposed with respect to the auspicious outcome of the production area. Also, by using the line balancing techniques, a new sequence of work has been developed to arrange the work elements into the workstation. Some optimum layout has been proposed that has minimized the idle time and manpower requirement.

Keywords:

Line balancing techniques , Idle Time , manpower requirement , line efficiency , auspicious outcome