Heuristic method of assembly scheduling of multi-option products for assembly line with intermediate buffers

Abstract

The method intended to build the possibly shortest assembly schedules is presented in the paper. The method is constructed for assembly lines without parallel machines. The intermediate buffers are located between the assembly machines. A flow of products of different types is unidirectional in the assembly line. The proposed method is a heuristic because the fixed tasks are characterized by a large size and considerable computational complexity. It is a relaxation heuristic. The linear mathematical model is used in the mentioned heuristic method. The method is constructed for assembly scheduling for multioption products. Assembly of various types of products in different variants is the reply to the contemporary challenges faced by the manufacturers, who try to satisfy the demands of individual customers. The planned downtimes of machines are regarded in the method, for example downtime of machines connected with maintenance. The results of computational experiments with proposed heuristic method are presented. The described heuristic method is compared with optimal method based on the integer programming. The fixed makespans and computational fixed times using heuristic method and optimal method are compared. 

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