Line balancing

Compiled By: Esubalew Gebrie

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
November ,2013 E.C
 Line balancing
 Balancing is a subject that relates to every decision taken
on the production floor
 Meet the production expectations and you find the same
amount of work in process in every operation at any point
in the day.

What is balanced production system?

 Production per hour of each operation is varied
depending upon
 Work content
 Allocation of total man power
 Operator skill level
 Machine capacity
 Bottleneck operation
 An operation with lowest production per hour is called

bottle neck operation for that line

 line balancing is leveling the work load accross all

operations in a line to remove bottle neck and excess

capacity, defined by six sigma

 Why line balancing?
A production line is balanced because:
 Keeping inventory costs low results in higher net
income
 It means Better production planning

 Increase operators efficiency and get more money

during incentive
 Supervisor improve other areas as they can use their
time in better ways
 Planning for Line balancing
Effective planning depends upon:

 Knowledge of the product

 The way it can be produced when sectionalized

 The capacity of work place in terms of both machinery

and of the operators skills

 Balancing tools
The most basic balancing tools are:

 Production Sheet

 The daily production report

 The inventory levels by operation

 Production boards
Items to talk account when balancing
decisions

You should meet production goals by using:

 Regular operations

 Utility operations

 Temporary transfers
Items to talk account when balancing
decisions
You should :
 Ensure that work flow is constant through all
operations
 Avoid overtime

 Determine human resource needs

Items to talk account when balancing
decisions
You should balance:
 Balance the human resource

 Know how much work is needed for each operation

 Check daily absenteeism

 Assign utility operators based on absences

 Update the daily production report every hours

 Make balancing decisions every hours and check them

to the production manager
 Steps for line balancing
The main steps for line balancing are:

1. Calculation of labour requirement

2. Operation breakdown

3. Theoretical line balance

4. Initial balance

5. Balance control
1. Calculation of labour requirement
1. Based on available machine and operators we

calculate target production

2. Based on the target we decide upon the number of

workers required
 Calculation of labour requirement- step1
 Allocate enough people to an order to insure that it is
completed on time.
 The work content of one garment multiplied by the
number in the order gives the work content of the
order.
 The time in which it must be completed is divided by
the work content of the order, to give the required
output in standard hours per hour.
 What we consider ?
 Absenteeism
 Efficiency
 Utilization

Labour Required:

Required out put

60 X utilization X performance of operator X attendance

 Floater Required:

Labour Required X absenteeism

100 X performance of floater X performance of operator

Floaters + operators = labor

 Case Study
The estimated work content is 10 sm. There are no
difficulties due to work sequence, since it is made on a
transporter. 1920 nightdresses must be made on 40 hour
week.
 Attendance= 90%

 Utilization = 80 %

 Performance on standard = 95 BSI

 Floater Performance = 60 BSI

 Let us calculate the following:
 Required out put

 Labour required

 Floater required

 Operators required
 Required out put
= ( size of the order X work content per garment)/ time
in hours
=(1920 X 10)/40
=480 sm/ hour
 Labour Required

Required out put

60 X utilization X performance of operator X attendance

=480/60(0.9 X 0.8 X 0.95)

=480/41.04
=11.7 ~ 12 operators
 Floater Required:

Labour Required X absenteeism

100 X performance of floater X performance of operator

Floaters + operators = labor

Floaters = 12 X 0.1/( 0.6 X 0.95)

=2 floaters
 Operator required

Operator + Floater = Labour

12 – 2 = 10 operators
 2. Operation breakdown

 3. Theoretical line balance
 Elements grouped together, to match the number of
people selected, in calculation of labour requirement.
 No allowance is made for the varying ability of the
people who will man the workstations.
 pitch time is the theoretical operation time, each
operator should take for planned balanced line.
 Calculated as:
=SAM/ no. of operators
=10/10
=1 minute
Rules to follow while combining operations
 Operations require same machine(same type, bed
type, feed type and work aids)
 Sequence of operations
 After combining more than one operation the SMV for
the combined operation should be closer to the pitch
time
 Sometimes, an operative can be provided with two
workplaces next to each other.
 In this case work, in process will still be needed
between them.
 Alternate arrangements
The alternate arrangement in theoretical balancing
includes:
 Operators in parallel operators
 Operators in series
 Method/construction changes
 Work place improvements
 Operatives in series

 There does not need to be one operator per

operation(operatives in series).
 If the operation breakdown has less number of
operations than the number of operators we may need
to split the operations.
 There are obvious difficulties with splitting the
operations and it is sometimes worthwhile to make
minor changes in design in order to permit this.
 Splitting of operation required requires in depth
knowledge of sewing and not always possible.
 Operatives in parallel

 Is Any long operation could be covered by two or more

people
 Method construction changes

 It is the way in which a garment is made up or the

sequence of operation is changed.
 Another form of adjustment is to move one part of
element to another operation.
 There are obvious difficulties and it is sometimes
worthwhile to make minor changes in design in order
to permit this.
 Work place improvements

 An operation which is too big will become a

bottleneck in production and the installation of work
aids or special machinery can sometimes be justified
more on these grounds than labour saving.
 An example of this was when “integrated sewing unit”
were being introduced and were in short supply. Their
installation at a bottleneck operation could cut the
work content up to 15%
 Work place re-engineering methods can be used to
reduce manufacturing time.
 Skills Matrix

 Is a list of manpower in the factory, which shows the

expected performance of themselves across operations
 Is a talent list, out of which operators can be selected
for various operations
 Helps in planning the growth of the skills in the
current workforce
 3. Initial balance
 is the expected performance of the operators derived
from the skill matrix, in order to man the line in a way
that smoothness out potential variations in the output
between stations as shown in the theoretical balancing
 Floaters are usually selected at this stage to manage
absenteeism and skill imbalance.
 Allocation of operators
 Allocation also depends on the type of balance
required.
Intrinsic balance of line
 Find the closet match between operator performance
required and operator performance available
Dynamic balance of line
 Utilize the operators in operations they can do best
 5. Balance control

 Balancing matrix
There are 3 rules for balancing
 Have at least ½ hour of WIP for each operation
 Solve problems before they become any larger
 Meet production goals by keeping every operator
working at their maximum capacity
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