Sequencing for Assembly Lines with Integer Task Times

Abstract

Two heuristic assembly line balancing procedures (the precedence matrix, enumeration method of Hoffman [Hoffman, Thomas R. 1963. Assembly line balancing with a precedence matrix. Management Sci. 9 (4, July).] and the biased sampling procedure of Arcus [Arcus, Alpert L. 1966. COMSOAL: A computer method for sequencing operations for assembly lines. E. S. Buffa, ed. Readings in Production and Operations Management . John Wiley, New York.]) are compared on the balances obtained and the computation time required to solve ALB problems. The use of Hoffman's technique with integer task times and a modified trial cycle time selection generally produces improved balances in less computation time for the problems examined. A modification to Hoffman's procedure for smoothing balance delay is also reported.