Engineering and Technology Journal

Solving Mixed-Model Assembly Lines Using a Hybrid of Ant Colony Optimization and Greedy Algorithm

Authors

1 Control and System Engineering Dept.,University of Technology-Iraq, Alsina’a street, P.O Box 10066 Baghdad, Iraq.

2 Department of Applied Mechanics, University of Technology-Iraq, Alsina’a street, P.O. Box 10066 Baghdad, Iraq.

Abstract

The assembly line balancing problem deals with the assignment of tasks to work stations. Mixed-model assembly line problem is a type of assembly line balancing problem at which two or more models of the same product are assembled sequentially at the same line. To achieve optimality and efficiency of solving this problem, tasks at each work station have to be well balanced satisfying all constraints. This paper deals with the mixed-model assembly line balancing problem (MALBP) in which the objective is to minimize the cycle time for a given number of work stations. The problem is solved by using a hybrid of an ant colony optimization and a greedy algorithm (Ant-Greedy). MATLAB Software is used to perform the proposed method. Then, the proposed method is applied to a real case problem found in the literature for the assembly line of automatic changeover in the Electronic Industries Company in Iraq. The results of the proposed method are compared with the performance of the Merging Shortest and Longest Operation (MMSLO) method. The comparison shows that the Ant-Greedy optimization method is more efficient, where the efficiency increased from 93.53% for MMSLO method to 97.26% for the Ant-Greedy method.

Highlights

  • Mixed-model assembly line problem is a type of assembly line balancing problem at which two or more models of the same product are assembled sequentially at the same line.
  • A hybrid of an Ant Colony Optimization and a Greedy Algorithm (Ant-Greedy) is presented for mixed-model assembly line balancing problem.
  • The proposed approach is compared with the performance of the Merging Shortest and Longest Operation (MMSLO) method.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References
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Engineering and Technology Journal
Volume 40, Issue 1
Mechanical Engineering
, 33 articles
January 2022
Page 172-180
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