Applying the equal piles problem to balance assembly lines

Abstract

The equal piles problem applied to assembly lines seeks to assign assembly tasks to a fixed number of workstations in such a way that the workload on each station is nearly equal. We present a new algorithm to treat this special application of the assembly line balancing problem. The algorithm uses a grouping genetic algorithm (GCA), based on an equal piles approach, and heavily modified with respect the precedence constraints between operations. The main concern is the quality of the resulting line in terms of balancing, and its suitability to the user's preferences. The essential and distinct concepts adopted by the method are described along with its step-by-step execution procedure and an illustrative example.