Resource constrained assembly line balancing problem and an application in an assembly line

Assembly line balancing problems generally focus on two objectives, minimizing workstations or minimizing cycle time. Recently, it has become important to minimize the resources (workers, machinery, equipment, energy, etc.) used to make assembly lines more efficient. For this reason, it has been observed that studies conducted in recent years have focused on the resource-constrained assembly line balancing problem. In this study, a new assembly line balancing application was made for the products produced on the assembly line of a company that produces industrial kitchen equipment, taking into account the resource constraints. Within the scope of the study, a mathematical model was proposed using the model developed by Corominas et al. (2011) in order to minimize the resource usage cost and station opening cost by using 19 different resource types for 4 different products in a single assembly line. The problem was solved by coding in the GAMS 24.3 program and obtaining optimum results with the CPLEX solver. With the proposed solution, costs for each product have been improved by at least 49% in the current situation. The total number of equipment used was reduced from 46 to 31. Currently, the number of employees has been reduced from 4 to 2. In addition, in the new situation, the line has been balanced so that the products produced on 2 different lines are produced on a single line.