Development of a Software for Standard Time Calculation and Assembly Line Balancing in an Automation Technology Manufacturer

In this study, two assembly lines with high product diversity are considered in an automation technology manufacturer. It has been observed that the standard times of the products produced in the assembly lines are incomplete, and there is imbalance in the workloads of the operators. This study aims to eliminate the bottlenecks in the production, to provide continuous flow, and to increase workforce productivity. In the first phase, the predefined time systems MTM-1 and MTM-UAS are compared to determine the standard times. MTM-UAS is chosen due to its fast and close to accurate results. Creating a database that contains the product specifications and production operations, the standard times for all products are determined by MTM-UAS. In the second stage, an integer programming model has been developed for the mixed model assembly line balancing problem, and the model is verified in a pilot application. However, for all products, a solution cannot be obtained quickly and efficiently with the mathematical model. For this reason, an algorithm based on simulated annealing is proposed. The parameters of the proposed algorithm are determined by experimental design. In the last stage, in order to facilitate the use of the proposed approach in the company, a software with two modules is developed. With the proposed approach, the time needed to calculate the standard time and prepare the work order per product has been reduced from five days to 27 seconds. In addition, an average improvement of 6% in the workforce productivity of each product and an annual production capacity increase of 6.7% are achieved