Abstract

In assembly line design the problem of balancing has received most attention from past researchers and a number of algorithms have been devised for the analysis of single multi- and mixed-product assembly lines In many cases such algorithms seek a solution for the particular situation which is under consideration and therefore have very little flexibility for generic application to assembly line design Real life practical design issues include stochastic operation times parallel workstation requirements feasibility for workstation combining and parallel line implementations all of which are features which are ignored in many analyses