Limère, Veronique

Schmid, Nico

Ghent University Academic Bibliography

Optimizing line feeding under consideration ofvariable space constraintsNico André. SchmidGhent University, Department of Business Informatics and Operations Managemente-mail: nico.schmid@ugent.beVeronique LimèreGhent University, Department of Business Informatics and Operations ManagementFlanders Make, Lommel, Belgiume-mail: veronique.limere@ugent.beNovember 10, 2017Nowadays, assembly systems are used for the assembly of a number of models,often being mass-customized, which increases the number of parts required forassembly. Due to a rise of part numbers, space scarcity at the line is a problemoccouring frequently in practice. Therefore, parts must not only be fed to the linein a cost eﬃcient manner, but space constraints need to be taken into accountas well [Limere et al., 2015]. The assembly line feeding problem (ALFP) dealswith the assignment of parts to line feeding policies in order to reduce costs andobtain feasible solutions [Bozer and McGinnis, 1992].Within this paper, we examine all known distinct line feeding policies, namelyline stocking, kanban, sequencing and kitting (stationary and traveling kits).There is, to the best of our knowledge, no research conducted, including morethan three line feeding policies in a single model [Sali and Sahin, 2016]. However,although using diﬀerent line feeding policies might solve the problem of spacescarcity, it might also be an expensive solution and more cost eﬀective alternativesmight exist. Therefore, in our approach we model the available storing space atevery single station of the line as a variable, while the overall space available forthe complete line stays constrained [Hua and Johnson, 2010]. This way, we caninvestigate if space sharing between stations leads to cheaper solutions.In our research, we model this problem as a MILP problem including a repre-sentation of costs and constraints caused by the necessary line feeding processes,being storage, preparation, transportation, line side presentation and usage. Byincorporating variable space constraints for every station, we provide a decisionmodel minimizing the overall costs for line feeding in assembly systems, sincerigid space constraints at the BoL usually lead to more expensive line feedingpolicies. In contrast, variable space constraints enable balancing of unequal spacerequirements at diﬀerent stations, which allows cheaper line feeding policies to beselected. The proposed model can be solved by standard solvers, such as CPLEXor Gurobi.1Furthermore, we propose a data generation algorithm using case study databeing capable of creating data sets with multiple products, although in the casestudy one model was produced on the line. This paves the way to examine theeﬀect of diﬀerent products on space borrowing and line feeding policy selection.Finally, we use the decision model and multiple generated data sets to runexperiments and analyze the results for decision patterns for line feeding policyand space borrowing decisions. First results, such as cost eﬀects of space borrow-ing or the inﬂuence of demand or part volume on line feeding policy decisions,will be shown.References[Bozer and McGinnis, 1992] Bozer, Y. A. and McGinnis L. F. (1992). Kittingversus line stocking: A conceptual framework and a descriptive model. Inter-national Journal of Production Economics, 28(1):119.[Hua and Johnson, 2010] Hua, S. Y. and Johnson, D. J. (2010). Research issueson factors inﬂuencing the choice of kitting versus line stocking InternationalJournal of Production Research, 48(3):779800.[Limere et al., 2015] Limere, V., van Landeghem, H., and Goetschalckx, M. andMcGinnis L. F. (2015). A decision model for kitting and line stocking withvariable operator walking distances. Assembly Automation, 35(1):4756.[Sali and Sahin, 2016] Sali, M. and Sahin E. (2016). Line feeding optimizationfor just in time assembly lines: An application to the automotive industry.International Journal of Production Economics, 174:5467.

Optimizing line feeding under consideration of variable space constraints

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Optimizing line feeding under consideration of variable space constraints

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