The task of balancing of assembly lines is well-known in mass production system but this problem is NP-hard even for the simple straight line. Therefore, utilizing heuristic methods for these problems is totally unquestionable. Furthermore, in line with balancing problems, heuristic methods are the foundation of the metaheuristic methods, thus it seems to be necessary to use more efficient heur...

Large-volume waste products, such as refrigerators and automobiles, not only consume resources but also pollute the environment easily. A two-sided disassembly line is most effective method to deal with large-volume products. How reduce costs while increasing profit has emerged an important challenging research topic. Existing studies ignore diversity of products well uncertain factors corrosio...

To study the effect of boundaries on diffusion of new products, we introduce two novel analytic tools: The indifference principle, which enables us to explicitly compute the aggregate diffusion on various networks, and the dominance principle, which enables us to rank the diffusion on different networks. Using these principles, we prove our main result that on a finite line, one-sided diffusion...

In this paper we are to present a practical application of Axiomatic Design (AD) methodology, as a roadmap to lean production, in redesigning a car body assembly line. Axiomatic Design theory provides a framework to simplify the whole problem. According to the AD principles, a hierarchical structure has been developed. The developed structure originated in lean manufacturing principles and exis...

AMACOIA (for Approche Multi-Agents pour la COnception d’Installations d’Assemblage) is a tool for designing flexible assembly lines. Its objective is to determine the functional specifications of the constituting equipments (manipulators, fixtures, grippers, conveyors, ...) and the organisational structure (cells, workstations) for the least expensive assembly line able to assemble a product (o...

This paper presents the scientific concerns and some results of the LiMITE – on the Assembly Line: Innovation, Work and Employment – project. Even considering the vast number of experimented industry production technologies, the classic assembly line has proved to be a structuring element within the frame of mass production, whereas known the difficulty to find practical alternative solutions. ...