Abstract
The Reconfigurable Transfer Line Balancing Problem (RTLB) is considered in this paper. This problem is quite recent and motivated by the growing need of reconfigurability in the new industry 4.0 context. The problem consists into allocating a set of operations necessary to machine a single part to different workstations placed into a serial line. Each workstation can contain multiple machines operating in parallel and the tasks allocated to a workstation should be sequenced since sequence-dependent setup times between operations are needed to perform tool changes. Besides, precedence constraints, inclusion, exclusion and accessibility constraints between operations are considered. In this article we propose an efficient matheuristic of type Balance First, Sequence Last (BFSL). This method is a two-step heuristic with a constructive phase and an improvement phase. It contains several components from exact methods (linear programming, constraint generation and dynamic programming) and metaheuristics (simulated annealing). In addition, we show that the constructive algorithm approximates the optimal solution when the setup times are bounded by the processing times and give an approximation ratio. The obtained results show the effectiveness of the proposed approach. The matheuristic clearly outperforms a genetic algorithm from literature on quite large benchmark instances.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Battaïa, O., Dolgui, A.: A taxonomy of line balancing problems and their solution approaches. Int. J. Prod. Econ. 142(2), 259–277 (2013)
Borisovsky, P.A., Delorme, X., Dolgui, A.: Genetic algorithm for balancing reconfigurable machining lines. Computers & Industrial Engineering 66(3), 541–547 (2013). Special Issue: The International Conferences on Computers and Industrial Engineering (ICC&IEs)—series 41
Essafi, M., Delorme, X., Dolgui, A.: Balancing lines with CNC machines: a multi-start ant based heuristic. CIRP J. Manuf. Sci. Technol. 2(3), 176–182 (2010)
Essafi, M., Delorme, X., Dolgui, A.: Balancing machining lines: a two-phase heuristic. Stud. Inf. Control 19(3), 243–252 (2010)
Essafi, M., Delorme, X., Dolgui, A.: A reactive grasp and path relinking for balancing reconfigurable transfer lines. Int. J. Prod. Res. 50(18), 5213–5238 (2012)
Essafi, M., Delorme, X., Dolgui, A., Guschinskaya, O.: A MIP approach for balancing transfer line with complex industrial constraints. Comput. Ind. Eng. 58(3), 393–400 (2010)
Held, M., Karp, R.M.: A dynamic programming approach to sequencing problems. J. Soc. Ind. Appl. Math. 10(1), 196–210 (1962)
Koren, Y.: The global manufacturing revolution: product-process-business integration and reconfigurable systems, vol. 80. Wiley, New York (2010)
Koren, Y., Heisel, U., Jovane, F., Moriwaki, T., Pritschow, G., Ulsoy, G., Van Brussel, H.: Reconfigurable manufacturing systems. CIRP Ann. 48(2), 527–540 (1999)
Koren, Y., Shpitalni, M.: Design of reconfigurable manufacturing systems. J. Manuf. Syst. 29(4), 130–141 (2010)
Koren, Y., Wang, W., Gu, X.: Value creation through design for scalability of reconfigurable manufacturing systems. Int. J. Prod. Res. 55(5), 1227–1242 (2017)
Lahrichi, Y., Deroussi, L., Grangeon, N., Norre, S.: Reconfigurable transfer line balancing problem: a new MIP approach and approximation hybrid algorithm. In: MOSIM 2018 (Modélisation et Simulation). Toulouse, France (2018)
Salii, Y.: Revisiting dynamic programming for precedence-constrained traveling salesman problem and its time-dependent generalization. Eur. J. Oper. Res. 272(1), 32–42 (2019)
Salveson, M.E.: The assembly line balancing problem. J. Ind. Eng. 18–25 (1955)
Van Laarhoven, P.J., Aarts, E.H.: Simulated annealing. In: Simulated annealing: theory and applications, pp. 7–15. Springer, Berlin (1987)
Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge the support received from the Agence Nationale de la Recherche of the French government through the program “Investissements d’Avenir”(16-IDEX-0001 CAP 20-25).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Lahrichi, Y., Deroussi, L., Grangeon, N. et al. A balance-first sequence-last algorithm to design RMS: a matheuristic with performance guaranty to balance reconfigurable manufacturing systems. J Heuristics 27, 107–132 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10732-021-09473-1
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10732-021-09473-1