Khamamah

Assembly line balancing and group working: a heuristic procedure for workers' groups operating on the same product and workstation In this paper, we examine an assembly line balancing problem that differs from the conventional one in the sense that there are multi-manned workstations, where workers' groups simultaneously perform different assembly works on the same product and workstation. This situation requires that the product is of sufficient size, as for example in the automotive industry, so that the workers do not block each other during the assembly work. The proposed approach here results in shorter physical line length and production space utilization improvement, because the same number of workers can be allocated to fewer workstations. Moreover, the total effectiveness of the assembly line, in terms of idle time and production output rate, remains the same. A heuristic assembly line balancing procedure is thus developed and illustrated. Finally, experimental result

Main Entry: 1bal·ance Pronunciation: Function: noun Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Vulgar Latin *bilancia, from Late Latin bilanc-, bilanx having two scalepans, from Latin bi- + lanc-, lanx plate Date: 13th century 1: an instrument for weighing: as a: a beam that is supported freely in the center and has two pans of equal weight suspended from its ends b: a device that uses the elasticity of a spiral spring for measuring weight or force 2: a means of judging or deciding 3: a counterbalancing weight, force, or influence 4: an oscillating wheel operating with a hairspring to regulate the movement of a timepiece 5 a: stability produced by even distribution of weight on each side of the vertical axis b: equipoise between contrasting, opposing, or interacting elements c: equality between the totals of the two sides of an account 6 a: an aesthetically pleasing integration of elements b: the juxtaposition in writing of syntactically parallel constructions containing simil