UNIVERSITI TEKNIKAL MALAYSIA MELAKA

Line Balancing and Optimization for Single

Model Assembly Line at a Small Medium
Industry (SMI)

Thesis submitted in accordance with the partial requirements of the Universiti

Teknikal Malaysia Melaka for the Bachelor of Manufacturing Engineering
(Manufacturing Process)

By

AZIZUL BIN MOKHTAR

Faculty of Manufacturing Engineering

April 2007

ABSTRACT

In todays competitive manufacturing environment, companies are constantly

looking for ways to improve. Because of this, many companies are striving to become
lean by implementing lean manufacturing, which is a difficult process. Line balancing
is part of the lean manufacturing. To aid in the implementation of line balancing
manufacturing, simulation was used to reduce the trial-and-error period of line balancing
manufacturing and find to optimum approach to implement the line balancing
manufacturing principle.
This thesis content is about the line balancing and the method to solving the
problem. The scope of this thesis focuses on optimizing the production line of a SME
company using Witness simulation software. The implementation of this thesis will be
done at the small medium industry located at Shah Alam. There are three alternatives
solutions in order to manage bottleneck and optimize the production line. The first
alternative simulate about eliminate the workstation for reducing the idle time. Assembly
1, assemble 2 and meter potting is the three processes that reduce the workstation. Next
the second alternative is about adding the new workstation at the critical processes.
There are three processes that add with new workstation to improve the production line.
Programming, FOS passivation and final assembly processes is the process that add with
new workstation. This alternative is suitable for use to produce extra capacity in
production. Lastly, the third alternative is about reducing the cycle time to optimize the
product output. All of the alternative will analyze and compare with the current
production line. The best alternative selected to improve the production line. To improve
this thesis, further research about simulation needing for improve the simulation result
and can give more than three alternative for optimize the production line.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

In the name of Allah, the most gracious, the most merciful. I would like to take
this opportunity to express my utmost gratitude to the people who have directly or
indirectly involved in my thesis.
Proceeding with no particular order, I would like to thank Prof. Mohd Razali B.
Mohamad, (Dean of Faculty of Manufacturing Engineering), Mr. Nor Akramin B.
Mohamad and Mr. Nik Mohd. Farid B. Che Zainal Abidin ( PSM Committee).
I would like to thank Ms. Rohana Abdullah for providing me with a lot of very
helpful information and feedback regarding my work on this project, without it the
advances made would not have been possible.
My parents have also been a big help in their support, encouragement and love
that they offered me. In addition, I would like to express my gratitude to my graduate
committee for all of their help, support and encouragement. Friends also gave me
encouragement and support which I am grateful for as well.

CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION

1.1

Background
Line balancing is a tool that can be used to optimize the workstation or assembly

line throughput. This tool will assist in the reduction of the production time and
maximizing the output or minimizing the cost. Assembly line is a flow oriented
production system where the productive units performing the operation referred to the
workstation and the work pieces move from one station to one station with some kind of
transportation system. Usually the chain conveyor system is utilized as the mode of
transportation for the work pieces in the assembly line.
Normally there will be a problematic area in an assembly line or technically
known as the bottleneck workstation. Bottleneck is based on the analogy of the shape of
a bottle. When liquid is poured into a bottle, the liquid will flow slowly at the
bottlenecks that have a smaller parameter compare to the wider body. That is the concept
or application that is used for the term bottleneck in assembly line. At an assembly line,
bottleneck is will create a queue and a longer overall cycle time. The example of the
bottleneck concept can be referred at figure 1.
Cycle time, number of machine, number of workers, and shift pattern are the
basic data enquired in order to perform the line balancing activity. The cycle times of
each process in the factory were gathered to give a better understanding of the
bottlenecks that might exist and of the work content at each station. Gathering detailed
information on cycle times and work content for all workstation is important in order
identify the bottleneck of the entire operation.
There are number of methods that can be use to analyze the data collection. This
thesis will use simulation method to analyze production line identified in a case study.
With this method it needs to construct a simulation model will be constructed to mimic

the real world production system. The bottleneck workstation will be determined from
the simulation results. The process that has the lowest performance will be declared as
the bottleneck workstation. Simulation model experimental will be applied to balance
the production line. Trial-and-error technique will be applied to solve this problem.
Witness 2006 Manufacturing Performance Edition is the simulation software that used
in this thesis. Through simulation modeling, the company can save cost to improve the
assembly line performance compare to the traditional way of trial and error on the actual
system. Depending on the accuracy of the data gathered, the simulation model is able to
provide result to achieve efficient result which can be closed to 100% to the real world
situation.

Figure 1: Bottleneck Concept (Jodge, M.D , 1999)

1.2

Problem Statement
In order to achieve highly productive assembly line, the optimum amount of

resources in terms of workstations and labor will need to be determined. One way to do
this is by performing a line balancing study. Line balancing tool can help to characterize
the line capacity and take into account the dynamic behavior of the system. Line
balancing tool also can assist in implementing changes in a quick and effective manner
where experimentation with the real world system can be very costly. It also is able to
evaluate and optimize the line throughput, machine utilization and cycle time. The line
balancing problem is often express in one possible term which is to determine the
minimum number of work stations needed and task allocation to produce maximum
output rate.

1.3

Objectives

The objectives of this project are:

1.4

i.

To develop a validated capacity model utilizing Witness.

ii.

To identify bottleneck process.

iii.

To manage the bottleneck process and balance the production line.

Scope of Project
The scope of this project is to perform detail study of the production line such as

process flow, resource capacity, cycle time, shift patterns and etc. In this scope student
need to identify a factory to perform the research. Student need to get the information
data about the process flow and cycle time for all process. The data gathered will be
entered in the witness simulation. Using Simulation, the dynamic behavior of the actual
process is able to be captured. The simulation model has been verified and validated and
the result of the study will be to determine the bottleneck process that occurs at the
production line. In addition, witness simulation software will be used as the line
balancing tool will be used to improve the production line.

1.5

Methodology Synopsis
Methodology is method or procedure that will be used to achieve the objectives

of the study. For this thesis the methodology consist of has seven steps which are
objectives definition, scope and requirement, data gathering and analysis, model
construction, model verification and validation, simulation experimentation and
optimization. The objectives and scope was explained earlier in this paper. The tools to
be used for this project are the data collection form, the stop watch for time study and
the witness simulation software. Each tool has its own function that will be use in this
thesis. The gathering of process time set-up, breakdown data and other information will

need to be conducted at the company selected for the case study. This thesis uses the
simulation software to analyze the data. All the required data will need to be entered into
the simulation software. The result of the bottleneck process will be presented in the
graph format line balancing will be done in order to optimize the resource utilizes of the
production system.

CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE RIVIEW

2.1

History of Manufacturing
History of manufacturing is not very precise. Manufacturing has been one of the

human activities for a very long time. Before manufacturing revolution, ancient man
produced stone articles only using his muscular power. An earlier manufacturing activity
remained in the hand of the Artisan and their apprentices and earlier development in
manufacturing took place under their supervision. The second revolution of
manufacturing is focused on copper manufacturing where copper is the first metal
melted by man. Excavation of Mohanjodaro and Harappa ( 5000-4000BC) show the
metal and jewelry work. There are examples of in Greek and Roman civilization that
craftsman used casting process. (History of Manufacturing and Production System
,http://paniit.iitd.ac.in/~pmpandey)
The concept of the machining is very old. Some of the researcher believed that
the idea of the lathe machine concept has been derived from the potters wheel that
existed before 2500 Bc. Figure 2 show the example of the potters wheel. Early 1700
BC, potters wheel concept is applied to produce the round groove marks on wooden
bowl until this concept is perfected before the 6th century.(The History of Manufacturing
,http://home.business.utah.edu/fincmb/day28/sld003.htm)

Figure 2: Potters Whell (Davis, D.1999)

Before the revolution, the concept of tool has already been established. Basically
the material to make the tool is stone piece and tree branch. The tree branch functions as
a lever and stone piece as a head. The example of the tool that made from stone pieces
and wooden branch is shown in Figure 2. Now revolution has changed the stone piece to
the metal material. This makes the tool more perfect that before.

Figure 2.1: Hand-Held Tool with Tree Branch as a Lever. (Davis, D.1999)

First industrial revolution is in 1750s. England is the first country that experienced
the industrial revolution. This revolution is focused on the production and the
mechanization. The modern mechanization began in England and Europe with the
development of textile machinery and the machine tools for cutting metals. This
technology soon moved to United States where it was developed further, including
the important advances of designing, making and using interchangeable parts.
The second industrial revolution started during mid 20th century with enormous
growth in solid state electronics computer that can perform task very rapid efficiency
with lower cost. Thus the second revolution is focused on the flexible automation. Today
with the help of computer-integrated manufacturing system, production method has gone
through further advancement. The new technologies are able to give more benefit in
improving the mass production rate.

2.2

Production System
In a factory, a production system function is to produce a product or output. The

production system consists of man, machines, material, material handling equipment and
method of manufacturing. Production system can be divided into two categories:

2.2.1

i.

Production facilities

ii.

Manufacturing support system

Production Facilities
A production facility in manufacturing sector is referring to the total of the

product that will be produce in a month or year. There are three type of the production
facilities;
i. Low quantity production
ii. Medium quantity production
iii. High quantity production.

2.2.1.1 Low Quantity Production

Low quantity production is one type of production facilities. The manufacturing
firm that produced 1 to 100 products per year will be classified under low quantity
production firm. The other characteristic for this type of production facilities is, the firm
usually specializes and customizes in producing one product. Example of this type of
production is aircraft manufacturing and special machinery. In this firm sector need the
highly skilled for the labor force to make the product.

2.2.1.2 Medium Quantity Production

The second type of production facilities is medium quantity production. This
type of production produces 100 to 10,000 product per year. The normal practice in two
type production is termed as Batch production. In batch production, batch of one product
is made in such a way that rate of production is more than demand rate. In the
intermediate time, a batch of another product is manufactured. This change over
involves non-production time because of tooling change and set up change. This is the
drawback of batch production.

2.2.1.3 High Quantity Production

The factory that produce 10,000 to millions unit per year is classified as high
quantity production type. The situation is characterized by high demand rate and the
system is dedicated to the single item only. Usually the standard machine with special
tooling will be used to produce the product. The layout arrangement will normally use
the cellular layout where the workstations are arranged in sequence and the product
moves through the sequence until the completing. Single model production line or
mixed-model production line will be used as the workstation design for this type of
system.

2.2.2

Manufacturing Support System

Manufacturing Support System is the tool to improve the production line. Lean

or Just in Time manufacturing are examples of the tools that can be used control the
production rate. Japan is the country that introduces these tools. The production is
controlled by current demand. The main purpose is to eliminate of waste like material,
machine capital main power, and inventory, waste of motion, waste from product defect
and waiting or idle time.

2.3

Cycle Time Definition

Cycle time is one of the important data for the line balancing at any production

line. Cycle time is the time it takes to finish one product or the total of time takes before
the product leaves the workstation and move to the next workstation. The cycle time
required to process a customer order might start with the customer order and end with
the order being delivered. The overall process is made up of many sub-processes such as
order entry, assembly, inspection, packaging, and delivery. Cycle time is inversely
related to throughput, decrease cycle time leads to increased throughput, show in the
following equation ( Mejabi,2003):

Total Operating Time

Cycle Time ,c=
Quantity of Production Produced
1
=
Throughput
1
Production Rate, p=
Cycle Time, c

2.3.1 Cycle Time Reduction

Cycle Time Reduction is identifying and implementing more efficient ways to do
things. Reducing cycle time requires eliminating or reducing non-value-added activity,
which is defined as any activity that does not add value to the product. Examples of nonvalue- added activity in which cycle time can be reduced or eliminated include repair
due to defects, machine set-up, inspection, test and schedule delays. Reducing cycle time
will have a significant impact on a company's bottom line when implemented.
Cycle time reduction is provides tremendous benefit to a company. From the
cycle time reduction the non-value added activity will be reduce or eliminated. The
benefit from this reduction is following below:
i. Reduced cost
ii. Increase throughput
iii. Streamlined processes
iv. Improved communications
v. Reduced process variability
vi. Schedule integrity
vii. Improve on-time delivery

2.4

Queueing System
Line balancing concept starts from the queuing theory. This application concept

is referred to the problem at queuing system. The solution for this problem gives a idea
to solve the line balancing problem.
The three main aspects in queueing theory are customers, queues, and servers
(service mechanisms). The meaning of these terms is reasonably self-evident. In
general, in a queueing system, customers for the queueing system are generated by
an input source. (Martinich J.S, 1997) The customers are generated according to a
statistical distribution (at least, that is the simplifying assumption made for modeling
purposes) and the distribution describes their interarrival times, in other words, the
times between arrivals of customers. When customer arrives, they will join a queue.
At various times, customers are selected for service by the server (service

mechanism). The basis on which the customers are selected is called the queue
discipline. The head of the queue is the customer who arrived in the queue first.
Another piece of terminology which is sometimes used is the tail of the queue.
The meaning of this varies depends upon the context and the source. It normally means
either all of the queue except the head or the last item in the queue, in other words the
customer who arrived last and is at the back of the queue. Both uses are in common
usage, and the terminology front and back of the queue will be used to describe the
customers who arrived least recently and most recently (respectively) to avoid
ambiguity.

2.4.1 Little's Theorem

Queueing system has a theorem to make the analysis of the problem. Littes
Theorem is the theorem that use in this system. Little's theorem states that;The average
number of customers (N) can be determined from the following equation (Quirk,1999):

Here lambda is the average customer arrival rate and T is the average service time
for a customer. Proof of this theorem can be obtained from any standard textbook on
queueing theory. Here we will focus on an intuitive understanding of the result.
Consider the example of a restaurant where the customer arrival rate (lambda)
doubles but the customers still spend the same amount of time in the restaurant (T).
This wills double the number of customers in the restaurant (N). By the same logic if
the customer arrival rate remains the same but the customers service time doubles,
this will also double the total number of customers in the restaurant.

2.4.2 Queueing System Classification

With Little's Theorem, we have developed some basic understanding of a
queueing system. To further our understanding we will have to dig deeper into
characteristics of a queueing system that impact its performance. For example, queueing
requirements of a restaurant will depend upon factors like:

How do customers arrive in the restaurant? Are customer arrivals more

during lunch and dinner time (a regular restaurant)? Or is the customer traffic
more uniformly distributed (a cafe)?

How much time do customers spend in the restaurant? Do customers

typically leave the restaurant in a fixed amount of time? Does the customer
service time vary with the type of customer?

How many tables does the restaurant have for servicing customers?

The above three points correspond to the most important characteristics of a

queueing system. They are explained below:

Table 2:Characteristics of a Queueing System (Introduction to Queues and Queueing

Theory ,http://home.iitk.ac.in/~skb/qbook/Slide_Set_1.PDF)

The probability density

distribution that determines the

Arrival Process

customer arrivals in the system.

In a messaging system, this refers

to the message arrival probability
distribution.

The probability density

distribution that determines the
customer service times in the
system.

In a messaging system, this refers

to the message transmission time

Service Process

distribution. Since message

transmission is directly
proportional to the length of the
message, this parameter indirectly
refers to the message length
distribution.

Number of servers available to

service the customers.

Number of Servers

In a messaging system, this refers

to the number of links between
the source and destination nodes.

Based on the above characteristics, queueing systems can be classified by the

following convention:

A/S/n

Where A is the arrival process, S is the service process and n is the number of
servers. A and S are can be any of the following:

Table 2.1:A and S variable (Queueing Theory,http://www.new- destiny.co.ukAndrew

/past_work/queueing_theory/Andy)

M (Markov)

Exponential probability density

D (Deterministic)

All customers have the same value

G (General)

Any arbitrary probability distribution

Examples of queueing systems that can be defined with this convention are:

M/M/1: This is the simplest queueing system to analyze. Here the arrival and
service time are negative exponentially distributed (poisson process). The system
consists of only one server. This queueing system can be applied to a wide
variety of problems as any system with a very large number of independent
customers can be approximated as a Poisson process. Using a Poisson process for
service time however is not applicable in many applications and is only a crude
approximation.

M/D/n: Here the arrival process is poisson and the service time distribution is
deterministic. The system has n servers. (e.g. a ticket booking counter with n
cashiers.) Here the service time can be assumed to be same for all customers)

G/G/n: This is the most general queueing system where the arrival and service
time processes are both arbitrary. The system has n servers. No analytical
solution is known for this queueing system.

2.5

Overall Equipment Effectiveness

To track team efforts for process and equipment performance, some manufacturers
uses overall equipment effectiveness (OEE). OEE is a diagnostic tool for analyzing
process performance and assist in identifying problem areas. It uses four parameters
in an overall equation to measure the fundamental aspect of equipment effectiveness:
availability, operating efficiency, rate efficiency, and rate of quality. The OEE
measurement equation is (Hancock,1998):
OEE= Availability X Operating Efficiency X Rate Efficiency X Rate of Quality

The team evaluates each of this parameter for the equipment and process under
evaluation, and then calculates the OEE measurement equation. It is important that the
team obtains accurate data that represent true equipment performance, or else all the
effort is wasted. Often data is available on the workstation software database system.
Measuring these four parameters and summarizing them in the OEE equation
help the team to assess process performance and identify areas that need improvement.
To calculate each OEE parameter, use the following four parameter equations
(Hancock,1998):

Availability= (Total Time Total Downtime)

Total Time

Availability represent the time that the equipment is available for production. Total
time is the number of hours in the measurement period, such as 168 hours in a week.
Avoid using short time periods because it is difficult to accurately assess the
performance. Total downtime includes all reason the equipment is not available for
production: equipment breakdown, idle time for any reason, setup time, product
qualification, repair and maintenance is the only legitimate reason for equipment
downtime.

Operating Efficiency= Equipment Utilization

Available Hours
Operating efficiency measure how effectively the equipment is operated when it
is available to production. (Gian ,1998) Typical reasons for inefficient operation include
no product to run or no available operator.

Equipment Utilization is the time the

equipment is used for any reason, including regular product processing engineering build
request, and test build. Available hour is the total time minus the total downtime.

Rate Efficiency =

Actual Rate
Theoretical Rate

Rate efficiency reflects the equipments efficiency for producing product during
operation. (Gian,1998)Poor rate efficiency could result from insufficient quantity of part
during a run, rework of part, or idle time due to no operator, lunch the equipment
utilization time period previously defined, and can be extracted directly from the floor
control software database at the tool. Theoretical rate is the number of part produced if
the equipment is processing parts under ideal conditions. It rates also included load and
unload times.
Rate of Quality = Good Output
Total Input
Rate of quality represent how good the product is. Any product that conforms to
the product specifications with no rework or scrap is good output. Good output is
defined as the total number of acceptable parts produced by the equipment and sent to
the customer. Total input is the total number of parts that were started on the equipment.
(Gian ,1998)

To collect the OEE data, the team should measure data in the following order.
i. Availability: Measure the time the equipment is available to production.
ii. Operating Efficiency: Measure the time equipment is actually operated
iii. Rate Efficiency: Count the number of actual product through the equipment .
iv. Rate of Quality: Count the good product built on the equipment.

2.6

Bottleneck

In the line balancing tool, the bottleneck is the main objective that needs to
defined. The term bottleneck has been extensively used in operation management
literature. (Akagi ,1983 and Aase, 2004) mention that bottleneck identification is the first
step in resource acquisition decisions faced by managers.
The term bottleneck refers to the shape of a bottle and the fact that the bottle's
neck is the narrowest point, and thus the most likely place for congestion to occur,
slowing down the flow of liquid from the bottle. A point of congestion in a system that
occurs when workloads arrive at a given point more quickly than that point can handle
them. The inefficiencies brought about by the bottleneck often create a queue and a
longer overall cycle time. More generally, a bottleneck is one process in a chain of
processes, such that its limited capacity reduces the capacity of the whole chain.

2.7

Line Balancing
Line balancing is the important tool to decreasing production time, maximizing

the output or minimizing the cost of a product. In other word, line balancing is one of the
most important aspect to design the stage for flow-line production systems (Martinich
J.S,1997 ).
In the line balancing tool the important data is the details of the process flow and
the cycle time at each workstation. The classical line balancing problem consists of
assigning each operation to a workstation such that the number of workstations is
minimized and precedence constraints are satisfied. The sum of time for all operations of
this workstation must not exceed the given cycle time. The difference between the cycle
time and workstation time is called idle time. The balance delay time will be minimal if
and only if the number of workstations is minimal too. The dual problem is minimization
of the cycle time for a given number of workstations.

Improving bottleneck workstation is the main objective the line balancing tool.
To achieve the objective, the cycle time data at each workstation need to be taken for
making the analysis or sub-graph result which will define the bottle neck workstation.
There are number of parameters that can be balanced at the workstation which are
balance by time, balance by work content, balance material, and balance by inventory.
Balance by time is referring to the cycle time of the workstation. In this term it
needs to utilize the time study method of data collection. All the time that are involved in
the process will be taken. After that a certain amount of allowance is given to the process
especially for the manually operated workstation.
The second parameter that can be balanced is the work content.

Some

workstations will be balanced perfectly and can be left alone. Work content at others will
need to be shifted around or taken out of its original sequence. New ways of working
will be created to make the line flow properly. Balancing by work content must use the
knowledge of operators and engineers.
Material is one the parameter that can be balanced. Example of this method can
be referred at the individual work elements, focus to outsized parts that require large
workstation. Although in the ideal state, operators should stay in their workstations
without having to leave for any reason, it may be necessary to allow time for lifting parts
or a little walking to retrieve them from bins. Small bits of waste like these will remain
in the process for a while.
The last parameter that can be balance is inventory. While excessive inventory is
waste, having some inventory can help in line balancing. To balance by inventory, the
new design of the space a workstation to allow an operator to work on more than one
unit.

Line balancing can be done in two method, traditional and simulation. In the
traditional method it will involve some formulas to define the problem. This method
is used in a long time ago. In the modern world now, the simulation will be used to
define the problem and automatically can solve the problem with the line balancing.
Although there are different methods in line balancing tool but both of this method,
required the same data collection to done the process.

2.8

Assembly Line Balancing (ALB) Problem

An assembly line is a flow-oriented production system where the productive units
performing the operations, referred to as stations, are aligned in a serial manner. The
workpieces visit stations successively as they are moved along the line usually by
some kind of transportation system, e.g. a conveyor belt.

Originally, assembly lines were developed for a cost efficient mass-production of

standardized products, designed to exploit a high specialization of labour and the
associated learning effects (Harrell 2000 and Davis 1999) .
Since the times of Henry Ford and the famous model-T, however, product
requirements and thereby the requirements of production systems have changed
dramatically.
Therefore, the reconfiguration of an assembly line is of critical importance for
implementing a cost efficient production system. Configuration planning generally
comprises all tasks and decisions which are related to equipping and aligning the
productive units for a given production process, before the actual assembly process can
start. This includes setting the system capacity (cycle time, number of stations, station
equipment) as well as as-signing the work content to productive units (task assignment,
sequence of operations).

2.8.1 Additional Characteristics of ALB

Due to very different conditions in industrial manufacturing, assembly line

production systems and corresponding ALB problems show a great diversity. In the

following, we characterize the relevant properties of assembly lines which have to be

considered when balancing those lines.

2.8.1.1 Number and Variety of Products

If only one product or several products with (almost) identical production processes,
e.g. production of compact discs (Aase 2004 and Maurer, 1998), are assembled, the
production system can be treated as a single-model line. In modern production systems,
however, several products or different models of the same base product often share the
same assembly line. In general, two different forms of organization are distinguished:

A mixed-model line produces the units of different models in an arbitrarily

intermixed sequence (Manar b.1999) . The sequence is important with respect to
the efficiency of a line, because the task times may differ considerably between
models. Therefore, the mixed-model ALB problem is connected to a sequencing
problem which has to find a sequence of models to be produced such that
inefficiencies like utility work, line stoppage, and off-line repair are minimized
(Joseph,1997, Micheal,1999 , John, 2000). However, the balancing and the
sequencing problem usually cannot be solved simultaneously, because the
sequence depends on the short-term model-mix which is typically not known at
the time when the line has to be balanced. Instead, the balancing problem is often
based on an average model-mix. In order to anticipate the later sequencing
problem adequately, a horizontal balancing objective is usually utilized which
attempts to equalize the work content of stations over all models .

A multi-model line produces a sequence of batches (each containing units of

only one model or a group of similar models) with intermediate setup operations.
Therefore, the ALB problem is not only connected to a (batch) sequencing but
also to a lot sizing problem (Burns and Daganzo, 1987 and Dobson and Yano,
1994). However, both additional problems are typically not part of the
long/medium-term configuration decisions.

2.8.1.2 Line Control

Assembly systems can be distinguished with regard to the control of job

movements between stations. The exact type of line control has far reaching
consequences for the structure of the balancing decision:

Those assembly systems where a fixed time value restricts the work content of
stations are referred to as paced lines. In the standard case, the same cycle time
applies to all stations, so that they can all start their operations at the same time
and workpieces are transferred at the same rate. These assembly lines thus have a
fixed production rate, which is equal to the reciprocal of the cycle time. Under
certain conditions, it might be required that cycle times are just kept on average
or with a certain given probability Even locally diverging cycle times, which
only apply to a group of stations, have been addressed, e.g. to meet different
production targets in multi-model-production or to enable the installation of test
stations which need to examine reworked workpieces repeatedly (Detty, 2000)

In unpaced lines, workpieces do not need to wait until a predetermined time span
is elapsed, but are rather transferred when the required operations are finished.
This type of line control is often implemented if stochastic variations influence
processing times. Depending on the connection of the movements, two cases
have to be distinguished (Buzacott and Shanthikumar, 1993):
a) In the synchronous case, workpieces are moved as soon as all stations have
finished their operations. Stations which finish early must thus wait until the
station with the highest work content has completed its operations (Colomen
1994 , Akagi 1983 and Aese 2004).

b) Under asynchronous movement, a station passes on its workpiece as soon as it has

finished all operations as long as the successor is not blocked by another workpiece. It

can hence continue to process the next workpiece, unless the predecessor was not able to
deliver his workpiece in time (starving). In order to reduce waiting times due to blocking
or starving