MANUAL ASSEMBLY LINES

A manual assembly line is a production line that consists of a sequence of workstations where
assembly tasks are performed by human workers
Characteristics

Fig 15.1

Demand for the product is high or medium

The products made on the line are identical or similar
The total work required to assemble the product can be divided into small work elements
It is technologically impossible or economically infeasible to automate the assembly
operations

A mechanized transports system is used to move the base part along the line as they are gradually
transformed into final product.
Manning level
=

With utility workers

=

Transport system: manual or mechanized system.

Types of manual assembly lines

1. Single model line: one product in large quantities
2. Batch model line: two or more products in batches
3. Mixed model line: product are not produced in batches

ANALYSIS
PRODUCTION RATE
=

[
]
52. .

Da : annual demand [units/yr]

Sw: [shift/wk]
Hsh: [hr/shift]
CYCLE TIME
=
E: line efficiency (0.90 to 0.98)

60
[]

LABOR
=

LINE BALANCING
WORK ELEMENT TIME (Te)
It is a small amount of work that has a specific limited objective, that cannot be subdivided.
TASK TIME (SERVICE TIME)
Time composed of the work element times that have been assigned to one work station

 =
ASSUMPTIONS

Element times are constant values

Te values are additive

WORK CONTENT TIME

=

Ilustracin 15.4

PRECEDENCE CONSTRAINTS
It refers to the order wich work element can be performed

Ilustracin 15.5

ALGORITHMS
The objective is to distribute the total work load on the assembly line as evenly as possible among
the workers.
Mathematically

Minimize (wTs Twc)

Minimize ( )
Subject to:
1.
2. All precedence requirements are obeyed