Optimization of a pressure transmitter manufacturing line

Abstract

Assembly lines are sequential manufacturing processes, consisting of various stages at which parts are added to the product in a planned manner in order to create the finished product much faster than by handcrafting methods, and embodies the principle of the division of labor. At a multinational company in Dubai, an assembly line for pressure transmitters has been recently set up. This manufacturing line is stochastic and dynamic in nature due to a mixed automated and manual line. The operator takes less time for a manual stage with increasing learning. The line is a multi-product line with a line configuration that is neither U-line nor parallel lines. The product line follows more of a Workcenter model where the stations form a network of queues. The number of products completed at the end of the day is to be maximized while minimizing the queue waiting time at the stations where the bottlenecks occur. The bottlenecks occur, not due to large processing or cycle time of the station but rather due to the station being fed by batch processing stations. With this complex set up, the algorithm proposed is simulation based.