A BALANCING APPROACH TO STOCHASTIC ASSEMBLY LINES

This paper presents a cost-oriented approach for anal yzing. balancing. and avaluating stochastic assembly lines. Task ti mes are assumed to be normally distributed random variables with known means and variances. The work is concerning with the design of an appro>ci matel y minimum cost layout by assigning tasks to work stations along the line such that the probability of completing all tasks within the cycle time is greater than or equal to certain confidence level. A new decision parameter is used for assignment, this parameter helps in regulating the stochastic behavior of task durations along the span oC each work station. A candidate li ne layout is evaluated by computing the total operating cost under off-line repair and on-line repair conditions. The procedure was programmed in 'FORTRAN—77' arid applied to a case study problem from the national industry.