DEVELOPMENT OF FLEXIBLE ASSEMBLY LINE WITH LIMITED SPACE

ALLOCATION FOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY

NOOR AISHAH BINTI ABD MAJID

A project report submitted in partial fulfilment of the

Requirement for the award of the degree of

Master of Engineering (Industrial Engineering)

Faculty of Mechanical Engineering

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

JUNE 2014

iii

Alhamdulillah praise to Allah S.W.T for blessing me and giving

me the strength to complete this project in time without facing any

difficulty.

To my beloved parents, family and friends,

For their endless love, encouragement sacrifices and support.

iv

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

First and foremost, I would like to thank to my supervisor Professor Dr. Syed

Ahmad Helmi Bin Syed Hassan for the valuable guidance and advice of my master

study and research. He inspired me greatly to work in this project and his willingness

to motivate me contributed tremendously to my project. I could not have imagined

having a better advisor and mentor for my master study.

Besides, we would like to thank the authority of University Technology

Malaysia (UTM) for providing me with a good environment and facilities such as

UTM library database for me for searching references in order to complete this

project.

Finally, an honorable mention goes to our families and friends for their

understanding and supports on me in completing this project. Without support from

those who are, I would face many difficulties while doing this final project and

might be this report can’t be completed on time.

v

ABSTRACT

Space is an important asset for contract manufacturing to compete with other

companies. In order to compete that, manufacturing company must have industrial

knowledge before developing assembly line and flexible assembly line is one of the

factors contributed to the optimization of space. Then, in order to remain competitive

and increase the output and optimize the man powers used, Assembly line balancing

(ALB) must be identified and solved. Ultimately, the better line balancing will gives

better impression on the space. Furthermore, single model assembly lines are not

popular. Aim for this study is developing flexible assembly line with limited space

allocation for manufacturing company. From here, flexible assembly line is able to

save a space for manufacturing company and the significance of having a well-

structured multi product assembly line in terms of resource reduction. At the first

step, the first model (model A) demand, operation hours, number of man powers,

method time measurement (MTM), equipment selection, process and activities are

studied. In the second steps, based on the TAKT time calculation, line for model A is

balanced. Model A and model B is studied using same approach. Flexible assembly

line is introduced for model A and model B because of the process is almost same.

Equipment selection has been introduced by changing conveyor to the pipe and

concept to implement U-shaped assembly line to more further to optimize the space.

Based on the result of space, man powers and line efficiency is showing that U-

shaped assembly line has brought great savings to the company. Ultimately, the

results shows that by implementing line balancing using TAKT time calculation,

MTM, flexible multi model, manpower on line are reduced to 6 man powers, space

reduced from 350sq ft to 238sq ft while line efficiency is increased until 77%.

vi

ABSTRAK

Ruang adalah merupakan asset yang penting bagi pengilangan kontrak untuk

bersaing dengan syarikat lain. Dalam usaha untuk bersaing, syarikat pembuatan

mesti ada pengetahuan industri sebelum membangunkan barisan pemasangan dan

barisan pemasangan fleksibel adalah salah satu faktor yang menyumbang kepada

pengoptimuman ruang. Kemudian, untuk kekal berdaya saing dan meningkatkan

pengeluaran dan mengoptimumkan penggunaaan operator pengeluaran, pemasangan

yang seimbang (ALB) dikenalpasti dan diselesaikan. Pengimbangan talian yang baik

akan memberikan gambaran yang baik pada ruang. Pengimbangan talian bagi model

tunggal tidak begitu popular. Kajian ini untuk membangunkan pemasangan fleksibel

dengan peruntukan ruang yang terhad untuk syarikat pembuatan. Barisan

pemasangan fleksibel dapat menjimatkan ruang untuk syarikat pembuatan dan

kepentingan mempunyai pelbagai barisan pemasangan produk berstruktur dengan

baik dari segi pengurangan sumber. Pada langkah pertama, model pertama (model

A) permintaan, waktu operasi, bilangan operator pengeluaran, pengukuran masa

kaedah, pemilihan peralatan, proses dan aktiviti yang dikaji. Dalam langkah kedua,

berdasarkan pengiraan masa takt, talian bagi model A adalah seimbang. Model A

dan model B dikaji menggunakan pendekatan sama. Barisan pemasangan fleksibel

model A dan model B diperkenalkan kerana proses adalah hampir sama. Untuk

mengoptimumkan ruang, pemilihan peralatan telah diperkenalkan dengan menukar

penghantar ke paip dan konsep untuk melaksanakan pemasangan talian berbentuk U.

Berdasarkan kepada keputusan ruang, operator dan kecekapan menunjukkan

pemasangan talian berbentuk U telah membawa penjimatan besar kepada syarikat.

Akhirnya, keputusan menunjukkan bahawa dengan melaksanakan pengimbangan

talian menggunakan pengiraan masa takt, MTM, model multi fleksibel, operator

dikurangkan kepada 6, ruang dikurangkan daripada350kakipersegi kepada 238kaki

persegi manakala kecekapan talian dinaikkan meningkat sehingga 77%.

vii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER TITLE PAGE

DECLARATION ii

DEDICATION iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT iv

ABSTRACT v

ABSTRAK vi

TABLE OF CONTENTS vii

LIST OF TABLES xi

LIST OF FIGURES xii

LIST OF ABBREVIATION xiv

LIST OF APPENDICES xv

1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Introduction 1

1.2 Background 1

1.3 Problem Statement 3

1.4 Research Objectives 4

1.5 Scope of the Study 4

1.6 Significance of Findings 7

1.7 Organization of Thesis 8

1.8 Conclusion 11

2 LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Introduction 12

2.2 Essential Terms 12

viii

2.2.1 Space Requirements 13

2.2.2 Straight Assembly Line 14

2.2.3 Flexible Assembly Line 16

2.2.3.1 General Assumptions for Flexible Assembly Line 17

2.2.4 Material Supply Movement 18

2.2.5 Time Study 19

2.2.5.1 Predetermined Time Systems 19

2.2.5.2 Assembly Line Balancing 20

2.2.6 Ergonomic Implementation for Efficient Assembly

Line Design 22

2.2.7 Simulation on Space Optimization 23

2.3 Summary of Related Literature Review 24

2.3.1 Space Optimization 24

2.3.2 Assembly Line 26

2.3.3 Line Balancing Problem 27

2.3.4 Ergonomics in Assembly Line 28

2.4 Conclusion 29

3 METHODOLOGY

3.1 Introduction 31

3.2 Research Framework 32

3.3 Data Collection 33

3.3.1 Observation 35

3.3.2 Interviews with Contract Manufacturing's Engineer 35

3.3.3 Understand the Company Documentation before

Develop Flexible Assembly Line 36

3.3.3.1 Assembly Drawing 38

3.3.3.2 Process Flow 38

3.3.3.3 Predetermined Time System 38

3.3.3.4 Demand 41

3.3.3.5 Space Available 42

3.3.3.6 Precedence Diagram 43

3.4 Designing Industrial Layout Using AutoCAD Software 45

3.5 Conclusion 45

ix

4 DATA GATHERING AND ANALYSIS

4.1 Introduction 46

4.2 Case Study 47

4.3 Current State 48

4.3.1 Current State Process Flow 49

4.3.2 Conducting Predetermined Time System @ MTM 48

4.3.3 Demand and Line Balancing 52

4.3.4 Equipment Selection 53

4.3.5 Current State of Assembly Line for Model A using Excel 54

4.3.6 Space Requirements and Visual Management 55

4.4 Balanced State 57

4.4.1 Demand and Line Balancing 57

4.4.2 Precedence Diagram for Model A 60

4.4.3 Equipment Selection 61

4.4.4 Balanced State Assembly Line using AutoCAD 64

4.4.5 Space Requirements and Visual Management 65

4.5 Flexible Multi Product Assembly Line 69

4.5.1 Process Flow for Model B 69

4.5.2 Conducting Predetermined Time System @ MTM for

Model B 70

4.5.3 Demand and Line Balancing for Model B 72

4.6.3.1 Balanced State for Model B 74

4.5.4 Precedence Diagram for Current State Model B 75

4.6.4.1 Precedence Diagram for Balanced State Model B 76

4.5.5 Equipment Selection for Model B 77

4.5.6 Future Flexible Assembly Line using AutoCAD 77

4.5.7 Space Requirements and Visual Management for Model A

and Model B 80

4.6 Conclusion 81

5 RESULT AND DISCUSSION

5.1 Introduction 83

x

5.2 Flexible Manufacturing System 84

5.3 U-Shaped Assembly Line Compared to Straight Assembly Line 85

5.4 Floor Area Reduction 86

5.5 Fixed Conveyor and Pipe and Joint Concept 87

5.6 Discussion 88

5.6.1 Performance Measure 88

5.6.2 Significance of Study 90

5.6.3 Findings 90

5.6.4 Limitations of the Project 91

5.7 Application 91

5.8 Conclusion 92

6 CONCLUSION

6.1 Introduction 95

6.2 Challenges 95

6.3 Recommendation for Future Study 97

6.3.1 Ergonomics 97

6.3.2 Material Handling 99

REFERENCES 101 Appendices A – C 105

xi

LIST OF TABLES

TABLE NO. TITLE PAGE

2.1 Literature review related with space optimization 25

2.2 Literature review related with assembly Line 27

2.3 Literature review related with line balancing problem 28

2.4 Literature review related with ergonomics 29

3.1 Research objectives 33

3.2 Space information 43

3.3 Details information for model A 44

4.1 Balanced state detail information for model A 60

4.2 Current state detail information for model B 73

4.3 Balanced state detail information for model B 74

5.1 Efficiency comparison 89

xii

LIST OF FIGURES

FIGURE NO. TITLE PAGE

1.1 Flow of problem statement 6

1.2 Organization of thesis 11

2.1 Straight assembly line 15

2.2 U-shaped assembly line 17

2.3 U-shaped assembly line 21

3.1 Research framework 32

3.2 Systematic layout planning 37

3.3 Process flow 37

3.4 Sample of method time measurement 39

3.5 Line balancing for model A 42

3.6 Precedence diagram for model A 44

4.1 Process flow for model A 51

4.2 Current state assembly line for model A 56

4.3 Visual management implementation on model A 56

4.4 Balanced state line balancing for model A 59

4.5 Balanced state precedence diagram for model A 61

4.6a Workstation with the frontal loading concept 62

4.6b Material used to make a workstation 63

4.6c Side workbench 63

4.6d Pipe and Joint trolley 64

4.7 Future layout for balanced state assembly line model A 67

4.8 Visual management for balanced state assembly line model A 68

4.9 Process flow for model B 71

xiii

4.10 Current state line balancing for model B 73

4.11 Balanced state line balancing for model B 75

4.12 Precedence diagram for current state model B 75

4.13 Precedence diagram for balanced state model B 76

4.14 Future Flexible Assembly Line for model A and model B 79

4.15 Visual management for flexible assembly line for model A and

model B 80

5.1 The application for the development of flexible assembly line with

limited space allocation for manufacturing company 94

6.1 Relationship between product, process and logistics 96

6.2 Ergonomic principles 98

xiv

LIST OF ABBREVIATION

1. ALB - Assembly Line Balancing

2. BOM - Bills of Material

3. FAL - Flexible Assembly Line

4. JIT - Just – In - Time

5. MTM - Method Time Measurement

6. NPI - New Product Introduction

7. SAL - Straight Assembly Line

8. SOP - Standard Operation Procedures

9. TPS - Total Production System

10. PTS - Predetermined Time System

11. WIP - Work in Process

xv

LIST OF APPENDICES

APPENDIX TITLE PAGE

A Master Project 1 105

B Method Time Measurement for Model A 106

C Method Time Measurement for Model B 109

1

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Introduction

This chapter explains on the introduction on the development of flexible

assembly line with limited space allocation for manufacturing company located at

Tampoi, Johor Bahru. Due to space constraints, the manufacturing company needs to

change their assembly design from the straight assembly line to the U-shaped

assembly line and ultimately change to flexible assembly line because has 2models

involved in order to optimize the space. When the workers comfortable doing their

task given, productivity will increase through ergonomic approach. Next, the

problem statement, objectives and scope are defined.

1.2 Background

Nowadays, many types of production line had been introduced and

implemented to optimize and fully utilized the production space especially for the

manufacturing company that doesn’t has enough space to run the process until

2

complete in the one assembly line or in the lean manufacturing approach this is

called as one piece flow production flow. There are few types of layout can be

implemented in order to solve space problem such as straight assembly line, u-

shaped assembly line and also flexible assembly line. Furthermore, layout is an

arrangement of the space and facilities according to the type and size of activities to

be carried out, convenience of operations, efficiency, productivity, economy and

safety of the facilities and the users.

As a contract manufacturing company, to provide a space allocation as

required by the main manufacturing for assembly activities is important for them.

Sometimes there need to implement flexible assembly line due to not enough space

and to ensure whole process can be perform in same floor in order to reduce the

resources required likes man power, equipment and space as well. The world

“flexible” is associated with such a system since it is able to manufacture a large

number of different part types. The components of a flexible manufacturing system

are processing equipment, the material handling equipment and also the computer

control equipment. The computer control equipment is used to track parts and

manage the overall flexible manufacturing system [1].

Groover [1] lists the following manufacturing situations for which a flexible

manufacturing system might be appropriate:

• Production of families of work parts

• Random launching of work parts onto the system

• Reduced manufacturing lead time

• Increased machine utilization

• Reduced direct and indirect labor

• Better management control

In order to ensure the production is running in efficient and effective manner,

ergonomic principles or human factor engineering need to be implemented and

3

practiced as well in order to avoid absenteeism and finally will impact on the

productivity. Generally, principles for workspace design is considering during the

development of designing the flexible of assembly line. The reason of putting this

manner into designing of line layout is to reduce human error, increase productivity,

and enhance safety and comfort. All the measurement of the work space height,

work surface depth and work space inclination must be considered in order to

achieve the successful of ergonomics.

The study identifies limited space allocation is one of the problem for the

manufacturing company which is located at Tampoi, Johor Bahru. Furthermore, due

to constraints on process design, one piece flow approach needs to be performed.

And because of this, large space is required to perform this activity. AutoCAD

software is used to visualize the development of flexible assembly line before setup

into the real assembly line. Therefore, with the identification of problem and the

source that were provided in this study, production system and processing can be

improved and optimized in this manufacturing company. Other than that, this study

also helps manufacturing company and others organization as well that flexible

assembly line can gives biggest impact on the space of production floor.

1.3 Problem Statement

Space must be provided by the contract manufacturing once received a

business from the main manufacturing or so called customer. But the problem is,

when line has been designed by the customer, contract manufacturing don’t has

enough space as per required and stated in main manufacturing’s assembly line

design.

4

In order to solve this, main manufacturing need to change their layout based

on the space available at contract manufacturing and main manufacturing need to

design again the layout based on the space available not based on the space

requirements. This task is not efficient where engineer need to design the assembly

line two times due to space constraints.

However, it can be solved when main manufacturing has a using all the

technical and manufacturing knowledge for designing the layout with the minimum

space by considering material supply movement, material transport equipment,

equipment selection and also ergonomics in order to ensure line has been designed

with the minimum space. Furthermore, AutoCAD software will helps them to solve

this problem also where contract manufacturing and main manufacturing can viewed

design layout on the paper before transform it into actual production floor. The

details flow of the problem statement has been shown in figure 1.1.

1.4 Research Objectives

The objective of this project is to design a new and efficient assembly line

with limited space provided by the contract manufacturing. And also to implement

flexible assembly line for two models due to space limitation at contract

manufacturing.

1.5 Scope of the Study

The scopes of the study for this project are as below;

5

i. This study is done in assembly line of the contract manufacturing

company.

ii. A single model, U-shaped assembly line is selected as a main focus of

the study using AutoCAD Software.

iii. Balancing loss, process flow, method time measurement, task

distribution and material supply movement also considered in order to

improve the assembly line.

iv. Considered ergonomics principles during developing of assembly line.

6

Main manufacturing received orderfrom their customer

Layout/ assembly line design designed by main manufacturing

(Manufacturing engineer)

Space Requirements

Line Setup

Space

Available

Send to the contract manufacturing

Demand for the product has beenidentified

Product designed by main manufacturing

Figure 1.1 Flow of problem statemen

7

1.6 Significance of Findings

The result of this project is essential as it is able to provide an optimum

solution for the manufacturing company to solve on the limited space allocation for

complete assembly process by implementing the flexible assembly line. This

optimum solution was achieved by comparing the straight line assembly with the

flexible line assembly by implementing U-shaped assembly line, line balancing,

material supply movement and selection equipment to more reducing the space used

and also ergonomics.

The significance of this project can be shown through space where two

models can be running in the same production floor. Space is fully utilize

eventhough demand is not higher because of this model is still new and under new

product introduction stage.

Therefore, following advantages are expected to be obtained while studying

and developing the flexible assembly line;

i. Assembly line is designing based on demand.

ii. Minimizing resource consumption (manpower, machines, number of

workstation) through material supply movement such as one piece flow

and kanban.

iii. Maximizing company’s total profit in the NPI stage via space, manpower

and machines optimization.

iv. Assigned task on man power using precedence diagram.

v. Efficient material supply movement.

vi. Better productivity through ergonomics principles.

8

1.7 Organization of Thesis

This thesis is divided into six chapters which are introduction, literature

review, methodology, data gathering and analysis, result and finally is a conclusion.

The detail explanation on thesis structure as below;

Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 1 is an introduction to the project which explains the background of

the study, statement of the problem, research objectives, scope of the study,

significance of findings, organization of thesis and conclusion. Furthermore,

statement of the problem explained on the differentiation between straight line and

the flexible line.

Chapter 2: Literature Review

The literature review of the project is being discussed in the second chapter.

It contains several related issues found in the book, internet and also actual situation

in the assembly line at the manufacturing company. Definition, principles and

approach used in conducting the research. Broad areas has been discussed beginning

from the assembly drawing, assembly chart, time study and predetermined time

study has been used for line balancing since this product is still in the new product

introduction (NPI) stage.

Types of assembly line, balancing loss and material supply movement and

ergonomics has been covered in this chapter in order to develop efficient flexible

assembly line even though space allocation is limited provided by contract

manufacturing. The purpose is to study what have been studied before on this topic

and find the gaps to more practical solutions regarding the nature of the problem.

9

However, ergonomics is not fully covered in this project but it is useful to increase

the productivity.

Chapter 3: Methodology

The methodology of the research is discussed in the third chapter. Concept

and problem solving tools used during the research process are described in this

chapter. Case study, data collection method, conceptual framework, process

mapping, line balancing and line design suite to knows on the effective of the

flexible line design without actual line is being setup. Material supply movements

have been considered in order to simply the process and ultimately reduce the space

allocation. AutoCAD software to design industrial layout had been discussed also in

order to ensure project can be running smoothly when start installing because this

project is a new layout for new product.

Chapter 4: Data Gathering and Analysis

Main focus for this chapter is on the case study related with data gathering

and analysis. We have studied why straight assembly line is not efficient in order to

optimize the production space. We have chosen U-shaped assembly line in order to

optimize the production space where it is also suitable for the flexible assembly line.

On this chapter, all the current and future documents had been studied to

achieve the objective of this project which is to develop flexible assembly line with

limited space allocation at contract manufacturing. The data related such as demand,

MTM, line balancing, drawing are required as a main documents to develop a

flexible assembly line with limited space allocation by contract manufacturing. On

this chapter, there are two models has been studied and analyse and this two models

will used same assembly line which is called as flexible assembly line due to

demand for both models is lower.

10

Chapter 5: Result and Discussion

On the discussion stage, this project mentioned why U-shaped assembly line

had been selected during developing flexible assembly line and it also helps to solve

a space problem on the manufacturing company. Result had been achieved to

optimize the production space through equipment selection, line balancing, material

supply movement and also U-shaped assembly line. This chapter also includes

discussion on performance measure, significance of study, findings and limitations

of the project.

Chapter 6: Conclusion

This chapter includes the conclusion of the study, challenges when

developing flexible assembly line with limited allocation and some recommendation

for future study such as more examples related on ergonomics or human factors

engineering and material handling. Briefly, ergonomics is important in order to

reduce absenteeism among workers and ultimately able to increase the productivity.

The organization of thesis is summarized in Figure 1.1 below;

11

Figure 1.2 Organization of thesis

1.8 Conclusion

This chapter explained a general introduction about the entire research

beginning from the introduction then follow by the background, problem statement,

research objectives, scope of the study, significance of the findings, organization of

thesis and end by the conclusion. In the beginning, space is a problem for the

contract manufacturing when get a business from main manufacturing. However, it

can be solved by developing the flexible assembly line design by considering few

factors such as demand, line balanc8ing, equipement selection and so on. The next

chapter need to be focus is a literature review.

Introduction

Methodology

Literature Review

Data gathering and Analysis

Result and Discussion

Conclusion

101

REFERENCES

James A. Tompkins, John A. White, Yavuz A. Bozer, J.M.A. Tanchoco. Facilities

Planning. 4th edition. January 2010, ©2010

Wickens, C.D., J.D. Lee, Y. Liu, and S.E. Gordon Becker (2004). An Introduction

to Human Factors in Engineering, 2nd edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ:

Pearson Prentice Hall.

M. Yoshimura, S. Yoshida, Y. Konishi, K. Izui and T.Inagaki (2006). A Rapid

Analysis Method for Production Line Design 44(6): 1171-1192

Yuval Cohen (2012). Absenteeism as a Major Cause of Bottlenecks in Assembly

Lines. Israel: The Open University, Tel-Aviv

Francesco Longo, Giovanni Mirabelli, and Enrico Papoff. (2006). Effective Design

of An Assembly Line Using Modeling and Simulation. Calabria: Winter

Simulation Conference

Mr. Gurunath V Shinde et al. (2012). Ergonomic Analysis of An Assembly

Workstation to Identify Time Consuming and Fatigue Causing Factors Using

Application of Motion Study.

Meyers, F.E. and Stewart, J.R.. Motion and Time Study for Lean Production. 3rd

edition. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. 2002.

Falkenauer,e. Line Balancing in the Real World. International Conference on

Product Lifecycle Management. 2005.

Michal Marton, Iveta Paulova. One Piece Flow – Another View on Production Flow

in The Next Continuous Process Improvement. Trnava: Institute of Industrial

Engineering. 2012.

Eida Nadirah Roslin, Ong Gee Seang, and Siti Zawiah Md. Dawal. A study on

Facility Layout in Manufacturing Production Line Using WITNESS. Malaysia:

University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur. 2008.

102

Nuchsara Kriengkorakot and Nalin Pianthong. The U-line Assembly Line Balancing

Problem. KKU Engineering Journal., Ubon Rajathanee University. 2007,

34(3), 267-274.

Wang, Q.Owen, G.W.Mileham. Comparison Between Fixed and Walking-Worker

Assembly Lines. PreQuest Central. Institution of Mechanical Engineers, 2005,

219, 845.

Nguyen, D. M. Empirical Manufacturing Line Designs in Japanese Automobile

Plants. Original Scientific Paper. Nagoya University, Japan, 2009, 8, 69-80.

Assembly Line Design: A Survey

Kursad Agpak, M. Fatih Yegu and Hadi Gokcen. Two-sided U-type Assembly Line

Balancing Problem. International Journal of Production Research, 2012, 50,

5035-5047. University Ankara, Turkey.

Yakup Kara. Line Balancing and Model Sequencing to Reduce Work Overload in

Mixed-Model U-line Production Environments. Engineering Optimization,

Vol. 40, No. 7, July 2008, 669–684.

Mohammad Kamal Uddin and Jose Luis Martinez Lastra. Assembly Line Balancing

and Sequencing. Tampere University of Technology, Finland. 2011.

James M. Wilson. Henry Ford vs. Assembly Line Balancing. Adam Smith Business

School, University of Glasgow, Scotland, UK. 2013.

M.M. Dessouky, S. Adiga and K. Park. Design and Scheduling of Flexible Assembly

Lines for Printed Circuit Boards, 1995, Vol. 33, No. 3, 757 - 775.

Jia Zhenyuan, LU Xiaohong and Wang Wei. Design and Implementation of Lean

Facility Layout System of a Production Line. International Journal of Industrial

Engineering, 2011, 18(5), 260 – 269.

Tarek AIGeddawy and Hoda EIMaraghy. Design of Single Assembly Line for the

Delayed Differentiation of Product Variants, 2010, Vol. 22, 163 – 182.

Jay Heizer and Barry Render. Operation Management –Sustainability and Supply

Chain Management. 11th Edition. Published by Pearson Education, Inc., 2014.

Anjos, M. F., and Vannelli, A., “A New Mathematical-Programming Framework for

Facility Layout Design, “INFORMS Journal on Computing, vol. 18,no. 1, pp.

111-118, 2006.

Mikell P. Groover,”Design of A Conveyorized Production Line, “ Professor of

Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering Lehigh University.

103

Hytrol, “Ergonomic considerations for designing conveyor system workstations,

“HY-LITES Journal, vol. 455, Sept 2005.

Daniel Lartey. Planning a layout design for the washing line of Parker Hannifin Oy,

Universiy of Applied Sciences. 2011.

Naresh Paneru. Implementation of Lean Manufacturing Tools in Garment

Manufacturing Process Focusing Sewing Section of Men’s Shirt. Oulu

University of Applied Sciences. 2011.

Tee Chun Teck. Productivity Improvement for Furniture Industry by Using Witness

Simulation Software. Universiti Malaysia Pahang, Malaysia. 2010.

Zhuling Chen. Production System Improvement: Floor Area Reduction and Visual

Management. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, China. 2012.

Frazelle, E. H., “Material Handling: A Technology for Industrial Effectiveness,”

Material Handling Research Center Technical Report, Georgia Institute of

Technology, Atlanta, April 1986

Mr. Gurunath V Shinde, “Ergonomics analysis of an assembly workstation to

identify time consuming and fatigue causing factors using application of

motion study, vol 4, Sept 2012.

LouisJ. Plebani and Sihua Chen. Balancing U-Shaped Assembly Lines with Parallel

Stations. Lehigh University.

Ronnachai Sirovetnukul and Parames Chutima., “The impact of walking time on U-

shaped Assembly Line Worker Allocation Problems”,.Vol. 4. April 2010.

Cecil Bozarth and Pedro M. Vilarinho. “Analyzing the Impact of Space Utilization

and Production Planning on Plant Space Requirements – A Case Study and

Methodology”, International Journal of Industrial Engineering, Vol 13 (1),

pp.81-89. 2006.

Rea Kook Hwang a , Hiroshi Katayama a & Mitsuo Gen b. U-shaped assembly

line balancing problem with genetic algorithm. Waseda University. 2008.

.Venkataramani Narayanan. Design of Hybrid Layouts for Large Size Facility Layout

Problems, Degree Thesis, Bharathiar University, India. 2004.

Shahram Taj and Lismar Berro. “Application of Constrained management and lean

manufacturing in developing best practices for productivity improvement in an

auto-assembly plant”, Emeraldinsight, Vol 55, pp.332. 2006.

104

Razman Bin Tahar, Ali A. J Adham. “Multi-objectives and Simulation Models for

Develop Production Line in Automobiles Manufacturing System”, Chinese

Business Review, Vol. 10, No. 7, 553-558. 2011.

D. Rossetti, R. R. Hill, B. Johansson, A. Dunkin and R. G. Ingalls, eds. Assembly

Line Design Principles Using Six Sigma and Simulation. Winter Simulation

Conference. 2009.

A.S. Simaria a , M. Zanella de Sá a & P.M. Vilarinho. “Meeting demand variation

using flexible U-shaped assembly lines”, University of Aveiro , Aveiro,

Portugal. 2009.

Yossi Bukchin and Russell D. Meller. “A Space Allocation Algorithm for Assembly

Line Components”, IEE Transaction, Vol 37, pp.51-61. 2005.