IE interfaces (산업공학)

Korean Institute of Industrial Engineers (대한산업공학회)
권호 표지

Application of Bucket Brigades in Assembly Cells for Self Work Balancing

자율적인 밸런싱을 실현하는 Bucket Brigade 기반의 조립셀 운영방식

  • Koo, Pyung-Hoi (Department of Systems and Management Engineering, Pukyong National University)
  • 구평회 (부경대학교 시스템경영공학과)
  • Received : 2009.02.20
  • Accepted : 2009.04.29
  • Published : 2009.06.01
Download PDF
⟨ Previous Next ⟩

Abstract

Assembly line has been recognized as an efficient production system in mass production. However, the recent production environment characterized as mass customization urges production managers to transform a long assembly line to a number of short assembly cells. To maximize the utilization of resources in an assembly cell, it is important to have the line balanced. This paper presents a bucket brigade-based assembly cell. Bucket brigade is a way of coordinating workers who progressively perform a set of assembly operations on a flow line. Each worker follows a simple rule: perform assembly operations on a product until the next worker downstream takes it over; then go back to the previous worker upstream to take over a new assembly job. In this way, the line balances itself. The bucket brigade assembly cell is analyzed and compared with traditional assembly lines and general assembly cells. The paper also discusses some prerequisite requirements and limitations when the bucket brigade assembly cells are employed.

Keywords

References

  1. Anderson, C., Boomsma, J. J., and Bartholdi, J. J. (2002), Task partitioning in insect societies : bucket brigades, Insectes Sociaux, 49, 1-10 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00040-002-8269-z
  2. Arcus, A. L. (1966), COMSOAL : A computer method of sequencing operations for assembly lines, International Journal of Production Research, 31, 259-277 https://doi.org/10.1080/00207546508919982
  3. Bartholdi, J. J. and Eisenstein, D. D. (1996), A production line that balances itself, Operations Research, 44(1), 21-34 https://doi.org/10.1287/opre.44.1.21
  4. Bartholdi, J. J., Eisenstein, D. D., Foley, R. D. (2001), Performance of bucket brigades when work is stochastic, Operations Research, 49(5), 710-719 https://doi.org/10.1287/opre.49.5.710.10609
  5. Bartholdi, J. J., Eisenstein, D. D., and Lim, Y. F. (2006), Bucket brigades on in-tree assembly networks, European Journal of Operational Research, 168(3), 870-879 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejor.2004.07.034
  6. Becker, C. and Scholl, A. (2006), A survey on problems and methods in generalized assembly line balancing, European Journal of Operational Research, 168, 694-715 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejor.2004.07.023
  7. Bratcu, A. I and Dolgui, A. (2005), A survey of self-balancing production lines (“bucket brigade”), Journal of Intelligent Manufacturing, 16, 139-158 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10845-004-5885-7
  8. Buzacott, J. A. (2002) The impact of worker differences on production system output, International Journal of Production Economics, 78, 37-44 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0925-5273(00)00086-4
  9. Corominas, A., Pastor, R., Plans, J. (2008), Balancing assembly line with skilled and unskilled workers, OMEGA, 36(6), 1126-1132 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.omega.2006.03.003
  10. Johnson, D. J. (2005), Converting assembly lines to assembly cells at sheet metal products: Insights on performance improvements, International Journal of Production Research, 43(7), 1483-1509 https://doi.org/10.1080/00207540412331299594
  11. Koo, P. H. (2008), Application of bucket-brigades to order picking in warehouses, IE Interfaces, 21(3), 333-342
  12. Lapierre, S. D., Ruiz, A., and Soriano, P. (2006), Balancing assembly lines with tabu search, European Journal of Operational Research, 168(3), 826-837 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejor.2004.07.031
  13. Munoz, L. F, Villalobos, J. R. (2002) Work allocation strategies for serial assembly lines under high labor turnover, International Journal of Production Research, 40(8), 1835-1852 https://doi.org/10.1080/00207540210123625
  14. Park, S. H. (2003), Design of the U-shaped assembly line to replace conveyor systems, IE Interfaces, 16(2), 240-247
  15. Ruiz-Torres, A. J. and Mahmood, F. (2007), Impact of worker and shop flexibility on assembly cells, International Journal of Production Research, 45(6), 1369-1388 https://doi.org/10.1080/00207540600690727
  16. Scholl, A. and Becker, C. (2006), State-of-the-art exact and heuristic solution procedures for simple assembly line balancing, European Journal of Operational Research, 168(3), 666-693
  17. Schultz, K. L., McClain, J. O. and Thomas, L. J. (2003), Overcoming the dark side of work flexibility, Journal of Operations Management, 21, 81-92 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0272-6963(02)00040-2
  18. Sengupta, K. and Jacobs, F. R. (2004), Impact of work teams: a comparison study of assembly cells and assembly line for a variety of operating environment, International Journal of Production Research, 42(19), 4173-4193 https://doi.org/10.1080/00207540410001720421
  19. Slomp, J., Bokhorst, J. A. C., and Molleman, E. (2005), Cross-training in a cellular manufacturing environment, Computers and Industrial Engineering, 48, 609-624 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cie.2003.03.004
  20. Spearman, M. L., Woodruff, D. L., and Hopp, W. J. (1990), CONWIP：a pull alternative to kanban, International Journal of Production Research, 28(5), 879-894 https://doi.org/10.1080/00207549008942761
  21. Wemmerlov, U. and Johnson, D. J. (1997), Cellular manufacturing at 46 user plants : Implementation experiences and performance improvements, International Journal of Production Research, 35, 29-49 https://doi.org/10.1080/002075497195966