Examination of appropriate algorithms for apparel industry in assembly line balancing

In this study, 8 line balancing heuristics which are developed in industrial engineering and 2 line balancing heuristics which are frequently used in the apparel industry were examined and the most suitable method for the apparel industry was tried to be determined. For a total of 130 operations in classic men's shirts and denim trousers, which were produced in two different garment companies, data were gathered statistically at 90% confidence interval and standard unit times of operations were calculated. The examined algorithms were applied in two different products and lines were balanced and line efficiency was calculated. It was determined that the method with the highest line efficiency was the method of the incremental utilization heuristic and the method with the lowest line efficiency was shortest operation time method. In line balancing results, it was determined that more than one operation and machinery were assigned to one worker. In fact, workers working in the apparel industry do not have the ability, skill, and desire to use all kinds of sewing machine. Therefore, new algorithms have been developed by creating labor constraints to 8 heuristic algorithms. When the labor constrained heuristics are applied, although there has been a decrease of 2% to 21% in line efficiency, the number of diverse machines assigned to a worker has decreased and the assignments have actually been more applicable. With the application of the improved algorithms to two different products, it has been determined that the incremental utilization heuristic provides the best results for existing products in terms of line efficiency.