Manual Assembly Lines: Work Syst Ems and T He Methods, M Eas Urement, and Management of W Ork

1
Work Syst ems and t he Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

byMi kell P. Groover, ISBN 0-13-140650- 7.
2007 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle Ri ver, NJ . All rights reserved.
Manual Assembly Lines
Sections:
1. Fundamentals of Manual Assembly Lines
2. Analysis of Single Model Assembly Lines
3. Line Balancing Algorithms
4. Other Considerations in Assembly Line
Design
5. Alternative Assembly Systems
Chapter 4
Manual Assembly Lines
Work systems consisting of multiple workers
organized to produce a single product or a
limited range of products
Assembly workers perform tasks at
workstations located along the line-of-flow of
the product
Factors favoring the use of assembly lines:
High or medium demand for product
Similar or identical products
Total work content can be divided into work
elements
Not possible to automate assembly tasks
2
Why Assembly Lines are Productive
Specialization of labor
Learning curve
Interchangeable parts
Components made to close tolerances
Work flow
Products are brought to the workers
Line pacing
Workers must complete their tasks within
the cycle time of the line
Manual Assembly Line
A production line that consists of a sequence of
workstations where assembly tasks are
performed by human workers
Products are assembled as they move along
the line
At each station a portion of the total work
content is performed on each unit
Base parts are launched onto the beginning of
the line at regular intervals (cycle time)
Workers add components to progressively
build the product
3
Manual Assembly Line
Configuration of an n-workstation manual
assembly line
Two assembly
operators working
on an engine
assembly line
(photo courtesy of
Ford Motor
Company)
4
Assembly Workstation
A designated location along the work flow path at
which one or more work elements are performed
by one or more workers
Typical operations performed at manual assembly stations
Adhesive application
Sealant application
Arc welding
Spot welding
Electrical connections
Component insertion
Press fitting
Riveting
Snap fitting
Soldering
Stitching/stapling
Threaded fasteners
Work Transport Systems
Manual methods
Work units are moved between stations by
the workers without powered conveyor
Problems:
Starving of stations
Blocking of stations
Mechanized work transport - types:
Continuously moving conveyor
Synchronous transport
Asynchronous transport
5
Coping with Product Variety
Single model assembly line (SMAL)
Every work unit is the same
Batch model assembly line (BMAL)
Two or more different products
Products are so different that they must be
made in batches with setup between
Mixed model assembly line (MMAL)
Two or more different models
Differences are slight so models can be
made simultaneously with no downtime
Analysis of Single Model Lines
Annual demand D
a
must be reduced to an
hourly production rate R
p
where S
w
=number of shifts/week, and H
sh
=
number of hours/shift
sh w
a
p
H S
D
R
50
6
Determining Cycle Time
Production rate R
p
is converted to a cycle time
T
c
, accounting for line efficiency E
where 60 converts hourly production rate to
cycle time in minutes, and E =proportion
uptime on the line
p
c
R
E
T
60

Number of Workers Required
The theoretical minimum number of workers
on the line is determined as:
w
*
=Minimum Integer
where T
wc
=work content time, min; and T
c
=
cycle time, min/worker
c
wc
T
T
7
Theoretical Minimum Not Possible
Two reasons why theoretical minimum number of
workers cannot be achieved in practice:
Repositioning losses Some time will be lost
at each station every cycle for repositioning the
worker or the work unit; thus, the workers will
not have the entire T
c
each cycle
Line balancing problem It is not possible to
divide the work content time evenly among
workers, and some workers will have an
amount of work that is less than T
c
Repositioning Losses
Repositioning losses occur on a production
line because some time is required each
cycle to reposition the worker, the work unit,
or both
Repositioning time =T
r
Service time =time available each cycle for
the worker to work on the product
Service time T
s
=T
c
T
r
Repositioning efficiency E
r
=
c
r c
c
s
T
T T
T
T
8
Cycle Time on an Assembly Line
Components of cycle time at several stations on a
manual assembly line
Line Balancing Problem
Given:
The total work content consists of many distinct
work elements
The sequence in which the elements can be
performed is restricted
The line must operate at a specified cycle time
The Problem:
To assign the individual work elements to
workstations so that all workers have an equal
amount of work to perform
9
Work Element Times
Total work content time T
wc
T
wc
=
where T
ek
=work element time for element k
Work elements are assigned to station i that
add up to the service time for that station
T
si
=
The station service times must add up to the
total work content time
T
wc
=
e
n
k
ek
T
1
i k
ek
T
n
i
si
T
1
Precedence Constraints
Restrictions on the order in which work
elements can be performed
Precedence
diagram
10
Measures of Balance Efficiency
Line balance efficiency E
b
E
b
=
Balance delay d
d =
Note that E
b
+d =1
s
wc
wT
T
s
wc s
wT
T wT
Worker Requirements
The actual number of workers on the assembly
line is given by:
w =Min Int
s b
wc
c b r
wc
b r
wc p
T E
T
T E E
T
E EE
T R

60
11
Workstation Manning Level
Defined as the number of workers per station
For a single station, station i, M
i
=w
i
For the line, M=
where w =number of workers, and n =number
of stations on the line
n
w
Tolerance Time
Defined as the time a work unit spends inside the
boundaries of the workstation
Provides a way to allow for product-to-product
variations in task times at a station
T
t
=
where T
t
=tolerance time, min; L
s
=station
length, m (ft); and v
c
=conveyor speed, m/min
(ft/min)
c
s
v
L
12
Line Balancing Objective
To distribute the total work content on the
assembly line as evenly as possible among the
workers
Minimize (wT
s
T
wc
)
or
Minimize (T
s
- T
si
)
Subject to: (1) T
s
(2) all precedence requirements are obeyed
i k
ek
T
1 =
w
i
Line Balancing Algorithms
1. Largest candidate rule
2. Kilbridge and Wester method
3. Ranked positional weights method, also
known as the Helgeson and Birne method
In the following descriptions, assume one
worker per workstation
13
Largest Candidate Rule
List all work elements in descending order based
on their T
ek
values; then,
1. Start at the top of the list and selecting the first
element that satisfies precedence requirements
and does not cause the total sum of T
ek
to
exceed the allowable T
s
value
When an element is assigned, start back at the
top of the list and repeat selection process
2. When no more elements can be assigned to the
current station, proceed to next station
3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 until all elements have
been assigned to as many stations as needed
Largest Candidate Rule
1,2 0.1 4
3 0.11 6
11 0.12 12
- 0.2 1
6,7,8 0.27 9
2 0.3 5
3 0.32 7
5,8 0.38 10
- 0.4 2
9,10 0.5 11
3,4 0.6 8
1 0.7 3
Preceded by T
ek
Work element
14
Solution for Largest Candidate Rule
Solution for Largest Candidate Rule
Physical layout of workstations and assignment of
elements to stations using the largest candidate
rule
15
Kilbridge and Wester Method
Arrange work elements into columns according to
their positions in the precedence diagram
Work elements are then organized into a list
according to their columns, starting with the
elements in the first column
Proceed with same steps 1, 2, and 3 as in the
largest candidate rule
Kilbridge & Wester Method
Arrangement
of elements
into columns
for the K&W
algorithm
16
Ranked Positional Weights Method
A ranked position weight (RPW) is calculated for
each work element
RPW for element k is calculated by summing
the T
e
values for all of the elements that follow
element k in the diagram plus T
ek
itself
Work elements are then organized into a list
according to their RPW values, starting with the
element that has the highest RPW value
Proceed with same steps 1, 2, and 3 as in the
largest candidate rule
Other Considerations in Line Design
Methods analysis
To analyze methods at bottleneck or other
troublesome workstations
Utility workers
To relieve congestion at stations that are
temporarily overloaded
Preassembly of components
Prepare certain subassemblies off-line to
reduce work content time on the final
assembly line
17
Other Considerations - continued
Storage buffers between stations
To permit continued operation of certain
sections of the line when other sections
break down
To smooth production between stations with
large task time variations
Parallel stations
To reduce time at bottleneck stations that
have unusually long task times
Alternative Assembly Systems
Single-station manual assembly cell
A single workstation in which all of the
assembly work is accomplished on the
product or on some major subassembly
Common for complex products produced in
small quantities, sometimes one of a kind
Assembly by worker teams
Multiple workers assigned to a common
assembly task
Advantage: greater worker satisfaction
Disadvantage: slower than line production

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