A particle swarm optimization algorithm for maximizing production rate and workload smoothness

In this paper, we study the assembly process of an electric unit at an international company which operates in Turkey. During the production process, some sub-assemblies and semi-products need to be assembled to the electric unit at many different stations, and no buffer is allowed between stations. Based on the analysis of the assembly process, the problem can be formulated as a single-model assembly line balancing problem (SALBP), and no buffer is allowed. Besides, the line has already been in use and the plant wants to rebalance it. Due to the problem nature, this is a type 2 problem. The primary optimization objective of our problem is to minimize the cycle time, or equivalently maximize the production rate. Also we aim to maximize the workload smoothness. To achieve these two objectives, we propose a particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm which has rarely been applied to assembly line balancing problems.