Development, operation, and testing of a heuristic line balancing program for a microcomputer

Abstract

Abstract This paper discusses the development, operation, and testing of a heuristic line balancing program that solves the Type I Line Balance problem using a microcomputer. The line balancing method selected was based on previous studies that compared different line balancing techniques. The model is built primarily using the Hoffman (1963) procedure with modifications described by Gehrlein and Patterson (1975). For purposes of comparison the Rank Positional Weight technique (Helgeson and Birnie, 1961) is also included in the model. Testing included thirty-seven different balances using problems from the literature. For each balance both Rank Positional Weight and Hoffmann solutions were obtained in the forward and reverse directions. Delay factors used for the Hoffmann balances were 0.0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.25, 1.5, and 2.0. Thus for each balance problem a total of fourteen tests were conducted. The total number of tests was 518. Four measures of performance were considered in this study. These measures of performance were: (1) the average percent a balance is above the optimum solution, in terms of number of stations; (2) time to obtain a balance; (3) the best solution in terms of the lowest number of stations and lowest standard deviation of the slack times, and (4) the largest value of minimum station slack time. Overall it was found that the Modified Hoffmann procedure with a delay factor of 1.5 performed best. The time to obtain a balance using the Modified Hoffmann procedure is significantly less than the time for a solution without the modifications.