Parallel Walking-Worker Flexible Assembly Lines for High-Mix Low-Volume Demand

Miqueo, Adrian (Universidad de Zaragoza) ; Yagüe-Fabra, José A. (Universidad de Zaragoza) ; Torralba, Marta ; Oliveros, María-José (Universidad de Zaragoza) ; Tosello, Guido

Resumen: Demand trends towards mass customization drive the need for increasingly productive and flexible assembly operations. Walking-worker assembly lines can present advantages over fixed-worker systems. This article presents a multiproduct parallel walking-worker assembly line with shared automated stations, and evaluates its operational performance compared to semiautomated and manual fixed-worker lines. Simulation models were used to set up increasingly challenging scenarios based on an industrial case study. The results revealed that semiautomated parallel walking-worker lines could achieve greater productivity (+30%) than fixed-worker lines under high-mix low-volume demand conditions.

Idioma: Inglés

DOI: 10.3390/pr11010172

Año: 2023

Publicado en: PROCESSES 11, 1 (2023), 172 [21 pp.]
ISSN: 2227-9717

Factor impacto JCR: 2.8 (2023)

Categ. JCR: ENGINEERING, CHEMICAL rank: 80 / 170 = 0.471 (2023) - Q2 - T2

Factor impacto CITESCORE: 5.1 - Chemical Engineering (miscellaneous) (Q2) - Bioengineering (Q3) - Process Chemistry and Technology (Q3)

Factor impacto SCIMAGO: 0.525 - Chemical Engineering (miscellaneous) (Q2) - Process Chemistry and Technology (Q3) - Bioengineering (Q3)

Tipo y forma: Article (Published version)

Área (Departamento): Área Ing. Procesos Fabricación (Dpto. Ingeniería Diseño Fabri.)