Assembly lines: how to determine the optimal buffer size

What is it about?

An advanced design methodology for assembly lines is presented. It allows to simultaneously allocate the optimal buffer size between workstations and to assign tasks to wkrstations. The innovative approach consists in coupling the most recent advances of simulation techniques with a genetic algorithm approach. The results of extensive experimentation demonstrate that using buffers can improve line efficiency. Even when considering a cost per unit buffer space, it is often possible to find solutions that provide higher throughput than for the case without buffers, and at the same time have a lower design cost.

Featured Image

Why is it important?

Mixed model assembly lines have received a growing attention in the last years, due to their capability of producing a variety of different product models simultaneously and continuously. This feature has become fundamental with the increasing of customized products demand, and the design of such manufacturing systems has nowadays a considerable industrial importance. When different models are assembled in a line, the realized task times assigned to each station can vary, and requires the adoption of un-paced asynchronous lines, in which buffer allocation is crucial to obtain good performances.