Evaluation of alternative
assembly line arrangements
with stochastic operation times
A computer simulation approach
Biman Das
Department of Industrial Engineering, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada
Alberto Garcia-Diaz
Department of Industrial and Information Engineering, University of Tennessee,
Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
Corinne A. MacDonald
Department of Industrial Engineering, Dalhousie University,
Halifax, Canada, and
Kalyan K. Ghoshal
Department of Industrial Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station,
Texas, USA
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop a computer simulation model to evaluate increasing
versus decreasing mean operation times assembly line arrangement for normal and exponential
distributions and the variances equal to 1 and 16.
Design/methodology/approach – The model was developed on the basis of a realistic case problem
and applied to a six-station assembly line. The evaluation criteria were: the minimization of the
total elapsed time; the maximization of the average percentage of working time; and the minimization of
the average time in the system.
Findings – The increasing mean operation times line arrangement is superior to the decreasing mean
operation times line arrangement for the normal and exponential distributions and the variances equal
to 1 and 16, in terms of the total elapsed time and the average percentage of the working time
evaluation criteria. The decreasing mean operation times lines is marginally superior to the increasing
operation times line for the normal distribution for the variances equal to 1 and 16, in terms of the
average time in the system evaluation criterion. The above inference can be made for the exponential
distribution for the variance 16, but no definitive conclusion can be made for the variance 1. Overall,
the increasing mean operation times line arrangement has proven to be superior to the decreasing
operation times line arrangement for both the stated distributions and variances, in terms of the
important evaluation criteria.
Originality/value – The paper contributes to the computer simulation approach to solving assembly
line problems that deal with the impact of normally and exponentially distributed operation times, with
variances equal to 1 and 16, on the increasing and decreasing mean operation times assembly line
arrangements.
Keywords Assembly lines, Operations management, Assembly line balancing,
Increasing and decreasing mean operation times, Computer simulation, Stochastic operation times
Paper type Research paper
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/1741-038X.htm
JMTM
23,6
806
Received 22 December 2010
Revised 7 September 2011,
26 October 2011
Accepted 17 November 2011
Journal of Manufacturing Technology
Management
Vol. 23 No. 6, 2012
pp. 806-822
q Emerald Group Publishing Limited
1741-038X
DOI 10.1108/17410381211253353