Capacity management for assembly systems with dedicated and reconfigurable resources

Managing changes and disturbances resulted by fluctuating order streams and diverse product portfolios requires efficient capacity management decisions and production planning strategies. High volume products can be produced cost efficiently on dedicated assembly lines, while the assembly of low runners is more efficient on reconfigurable lines. In the paper a hierarchical planning decision workflow is introduced to assign the products to dedicated and reconfigurable lines, and to optimize the system configuration and the production plan of the reconfigurable system in an integrated way. The proposed solution is demonstrated through the results of an industrial case study.