Effects of Non-Geometric Features and Incentive Schemes on Manual Assembly of System Variants: An Experimental Study

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramaprasad E. Lakshminarayana ◽  
Shun Takai
Keyword(s):  
Assembly Line ◽  
Mixed Model ◽  
Cognitive Effects ◽  
Automated Assembly ◽  
Design Guideline ◽  
Manual Assembly ◽  
Incentive Schemes ◽  
Assembly Operations ◽  
Mixed Model Assembly

Although numerous firms have been shifting toward automated assembly, most still rely on manual assembly when complex assembly operation is required for large-scaled systems. Furthermore, because firms design variants of a system to satisfy diverse customer needs, they may manufacture these system variants in the same assembly line. This type of operation, called mixed model assembly, may improve the utilization of existing manufacturing facilities; however, it may also increase assembly errors due to interchanging geometrically similar parts between system variants. Design for Assembly (DFA) is a design guideline that assists engineers in designing systems that are easier to assemble. However, because DFA guidelines group geometrically similar parts in the same part category, it may be impossible to distinguish geometrically similar but functionally different parts (modules) used in different systems. This paper proposes experimenting how cognitive effects of non-geometric part features influence the productivity and quality in mixed model assembly operations. Furthermore, because the productivity and quality of manual assembly may be influenced by the motivation of operators, this paper examines how productivity and quality may be influenced by different incentive schemes.

An Approach for Improving Design of System Variants

2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramaprasad E. Lakshminarayana ◽  
Shun Takai
Keyword(s):  
Assembly Line ◽  
Mixed Model ◽  
High Reliability ◽  
Automated Assembly ◽  
Design Guideline ◽  
Human Errors ◽  
Assembly Operation ◽  
Incentive Schemes ◽  
The Past ◽  
Design Systems

In the past decades, firms have increased automated assembly operation to improve productivity and reduce human errors; however, manual assembling is still a necessary operation for complex and large-scaled systems that require high reliability. Furthermore, since customers demand more variety in systems, firms increasingly assemble variants of a system in a single assembly line. In this mixed model assembling operation, there are higher chances of assembly errors due to interchanging of geometrically similar parts between system variants. Design for Assembly (DFA) is a design guideline that assists engineers to design systems that are easier to assemble; however, DFA does not provide any guideline for simultaneously designing variants of system being assembled in mixed model operation. Furthermore, incentive schemes for assembly operators that may influence both assembly productivity and errors have not been the scope of DFA research. In this research, the authors conducted assembling experiments with students to investigate how non-geometric part information and incentive schemes affect the assembly productivity and quality in mixed model assembling operation.

A Launching Pattern in a Mixed Model Assembly Line

2014 ◽  
Vol 875-877 ◽  
pp. 1160-1164
Author(s):  
Suksan Prombanpong ◽  
S. Somboonsilp
Keyword(s):  
Cycle Time ◽  
Assembly Line ◽  
Mixed Model ◽  
Production Plan ◽  
Fixed Rate ◽  
Manual Assembly ◽  
Production Requirement ◽  
Mixed Model Assembly Line ◽  
Mixed Model Assembly ◽  
Production Demand

This paper aims to sequence the production plan of a condenser unit of an air-conditioned assembly line, which is a manual assembly line. In this case there are six different models with different required production rate that must be assembled simultaneously. The assembly line consists of twenty four workstations with thirty four workers. Due to the fact that the cycle time of each condenser model is varied. Thus, it is difficult to design a launching pattern so that the production requirement of each model is exactly met at each production hour. In turn, the production demand of some models can be satisfied while other models cannot be met. In order to solve this problem, the fixed rate launching algorithm is applied and the result is considered satisfactory.

scholarly journals Real Time Implementation of Learning-Forgetting Models for Cycle Time Predictions of Manual Assembly Tasks after a Break

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (14) ◽  
pp. 5543
Author(s):  
Steven Hoedt ◽  
Arno Claeys ◽  
El-Houssaine Aghezzaf ◽  
Johannes Cottyn
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
Cycle Time ◽  
Mixed Model ◽  
Manufacturing Companies ◽  
Manual Assembly ◽  
Time Prediction ◽  
Curve Model ◽  
Assembly Operations ◽  
Assembly Tasks ◽  
Mixed Model Assembly

Industry 4.0 provides a tremendous potential of data from the work floor. For manufacturing companies, these data can be very useful in order to support assembly operators. In literature, a lot of contributions can be found that present models to describe both the learning and forgetting effect of manual assembly operations. In this study, different existing models were compared in order to predict the cycle time after a break. As these models are not created for a real time prediction purpose, some adaptations are presented in order to improve the robustness and efficiency of the models. Results show that the MLFCM (modified learn-forget curve model) and the PID (power integration diffusion) model have the greatest potential. Further research will be performed to test both models and implement contextual factors. In addition, since these models only consider one fixed repetitive task, they don’t target mixed-model assembly operations. The learning and forgetting effect that executing each assembly task has on the other task executions differs based on the job similarity between tasks. Further research opportunities to implement this job similarity are listed.

scholarly journals Mixed-model assembly line sequencing using beam search

2007 ◽  
Vol 45 (22) ◽  
pp. 5265-5284 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erdal Erel ◽  
Yasin Gocgun ◽  
İhsan Sabuncuoğlu
Keyword(s):  
Assembly Line ◽  
Mixed Model ◽  
Beam Search ◽  
Mixed Model Assembly Line ◽  
Mixed Model Assembly
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