Journal of Korean Institute of Industrial Engineers (대한산업공학회지)

Korean Institute of Industrial Engineers (대한산업공학회)
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A Decentralized Self-Control Strategy for Assembly Cell Using Bucket Brigade

Bucket Brigade를 기반으로 한 분산자율형 조립셀 운영전략

  • Koo, Pyung Hoi (Department of Systems Management and Engineering, Pukyong National University)
  • 구평회 (부경대학교 시스템경영공학부)
  • Received : 2015.02.09
  • Accepted : 2015.06.09
  • Published : 2015.08.15
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Abstract

A bucket-brigade is a way of transporting items where items are passed from one person to the next. The operation of the bucket brigade imitates the cooperative behavior of ants when brood, food or other resources are moved. Koo (2009) presented a bucket brigade-based assembly cell where 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 flow line is self-balanced without any predetermined job assignment. However, there are some productivity losses related to hand-off and blocking. This paper examines the hand-off and blocking losses and presents a new bucket brigade-based assembly cell where working areas for each assembler is restricted with the help of buffer interfaces. Simulation experiments are used to validate the performance of the new assembly system.

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References

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