Recource-constrained mixed model assembly line balancing and application in apparel company

Apparel production has a labor-intense and complex production structure.It is not financially feasible to assign distinct lines and workers for the production of models having low production numbers and variety. For this reason assembly lines which allow the production of various models are preferred widely. In addition , low efficiency and line balancing and planning difficulties stemming from low order numbers are the main drawbacks of the apparel industry.In this study , the problems of assembly line balancing and some recommendations in a small scale company producing mixed-model men shirts have been extensively studied. The main aim is to construct lines which allow the assembly of orders on various amount and models and to balance the assembly lines in order to deliver the goods meeting the requirements of the asked quality and productivity and at the lowest cost.The data has been analysed via COMSOAL which is an intuitive and meta intuitive algorithm. Computer Method for Sequencing Operations for Assembly Lines is also used to tabulate assembly line operation. The program is coded in Delphi programming language. Microsoft Access data base program has been used as a data base program. Small apparel establishments can easily be copied to any computer without installing.The data has been obtained from the shirt company by the researcher. Firstly work and time survey throughout the line has been performed to analyze men shirts production line. Only the data about the assembly has been collected. The cutting and material preparation process in the company hasnt been taken into account. The concurrent cutting of various products and material production has been in a continious process and made ready for the asssembly. Therefore the assembly line balancing process hasnt been affected. The time period has been compiled by taking the company records and observational values into account and therefore accepted as deterministic.A machine park has been formed by determining the names and numbers of the machines used in the assembly line. This data is collected in the process of mixed model assembly line balancing in order to evaluate the available source for tabulation.The work time analysis for seven shirt models produced in the company in question is realized and workflow schemes have been made for each shirt model. The results have been obtained by data entry into the developed resource costrained mixed model comsoal programme. By this programme it is possible to enter new shirt models and make changes about the workers and time for the available shirt models.The problems in mixed model assembly line balancing in shirt production for men and some solution recommendations have been proposed by using the developed resource constrained mixed model Comsoal algorithm. It has been designed to meet the need for the necessity of producing varied sized and types of men shirts at the same day at the same line. Different from the traditional comsoal algorithm suitable for the apparel production process the constraints of one worker for one machine , forming a paralel station and the necessity of making different tasks at different machines have been added. New studies can be conducted by adding different tasks having a job rotation performing different tasks and the constraint of machines and workers which can be assembled.Key Words: Men Shirt, Apparel, Assembly Line Balancing, Resource-Constrained Mixed Model Assembly Line Balancing, COMSOAL (Computer Method for Sequencing Operations for Assembly Lines)