Principles on balancing divisional seru with cross-trained workers

Abstract

This paper addresses the challenge of preventing blocking in seru production system (SPS), in which seru is a new-type manufacturing mode deriving from Japanese manufacturing practice and it can fast respond to the fluctuate market demands. Specially, the divisional seru with cross-trained workers is concerned since it is particularly susceptible to blockages due to the heterogeneity of workers. Self-balancing production lines, i.e., bucket brigades, is employed to maximize the throughput of divisional seru for various system sizes. A three-station and two-worker case and m-station and n-worker general case are discussed respectively, and for the small-scale divisional seru, the maximum throughput in a specific region is obtained; while for large-scale seru, the chaos of the system is demonstrated by analyzing the staffing and workload. The rules for reaching the maximum throughput are clearly provided, based on the fact that it is not possible to self-management, and therefore the maximum throughput can be achieved by the principles obtained in the study. Valuable insights into effectively managing divisional seru systems and optimizing the performance are provided, thereby offering practical guidance for the manager of SPS.