This paper describes how Discrete-Event simulation can be used in production optimization of electronics assembly lines where a lot of decisions concerning production are currently still taken only based on workers experience. Interview of those workers however often shows a lack of understanding of the parameters affecting production. In some cases, choices that are made can even be justified ...

The optimal design and management of assembly systems is crucial to achieve production efficiency, product quality and customer satisfaction. The ongoing and incoming developments in technology are radical, and will not only improve manufacturing productivity and cost efficiency, but will change the way assembly systems operate and increase their product variety. The challenge is how to integra...

In recent decades, there has been a rise in the use o lean production model techniques. Through this approach, companies become more flexible, a fact that increases the interest in studies regarding the introduction of this model in businesses and its impacts on working conditions. Important observations concerning ergonomics, such as the theme of work activity regulation, have been highlighted...

Computer based discrete event simulation (DES) is one of the most commonly used aids for the design of automotive manufacturing systems. However, DES tools represent machines in extensive detail, while only representing workers as simple resources. This presents a problem when modelling systems with a highly manual work content, such as an assembly line. This paper describes research at Cranfie...

Consider a production system that consists of m assembly stations arranged in series. All jobs enter the assembly line at station 1 and proceed with subsequent stations in the same order as in a ßow shop. Each job spends a Þxed amount of time c in each station, known as the production cycle. This production system is synchronous or paced because jobs move one station forward synchronously, ever...

The radical changes which distinguished the market during the last decade force to configure assembly systems as flexible assembly lines able to face demand fluctuation, high volumes and continuous customer driven development of new products. Thus, the optimal design and management of assembly systems is crucial to achieve production efficiency, product quality and customer satisfaction. A rema...

The aim of this paper was to empirically investigate what aspects that gave rise to positive and negative reactions among employees in Swedish companies that introduced Lean Production, and how they perceived their work. Two Swedish production plants that had introduced Lean Production 2-6 years before this study were chosen. Deep interviews with 19 bluecollar workers were performed. Continuous...

Allison Sauppé, Bilge Mutlu Department of Computer Sciences University of Wisconsin–Madison 1210 West Dayton Street Madison, WI 53706 USA [email protected], [email protected] Abstract As robotic products become more ubiquitous in society, fulfilling such roles as teachers and assembly-line workers, they will need to be capable of conversing with their users using spoken and nonverbal language...

[Purpose] We investigated upper-extremity muscle activity during below-knee assembly work performed by healthy adults at three different reach distances evaluate the physical risk factors associated with neck and shoulder disorders of reach distances. [Subjects] Sixteen young male workers were recruited. [Methods] Activities of the right upper trapezius, anterior deltoid, and biceps brachii mus...

With the growth in customers’ demand diversification, mixed-model U-lines (MMUL) have acquired increasing importance in the area of assembly systems. There are generally two different approaches in the literature for balancing such systems. Some researchers believe that since the types of models can be very diverse, a balancing approach without simultaneously sequencing of models will not yield...