Design of electronic assembly lines: An analytical framework and its application

✍ Scribed by Reza H. Ahmadi; Panagiotis Kouvelis

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1999
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 447 KB
• Volume: 115
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0377-2217
• DOI: 10.1016/s0377-2217(98)00200-8

✦ Synopsis

The design of component assembly lines in Printed Circuit Board (PCB) manufacturing environments is a challenging problem faced by many ®rms in the electronics industry. The main design approaches to such component assembly lines are the Mini-Line, Flexible Flow Line, and Hybrid Line designs. In this paper, we discuss the operational trade-os associated with these design alternatives and present a mathematical programming framework that captures relevant system design issues. Each of the design alternatives can be viewed as a special case of the stated mathematical programming model. We develop eective algorithms to solve these mathematical programs. We have used the framework in a speci®c PCB manufacturing environment to advise managers on the best con®guration of their lines. The models were used as sensitivity analysis tools. The results of our computational experiments, combined with qualitative comparisons of dierent design approaches developed by a crossfunctional team (engineers, manufacturing and product managers), have led to the development of a set of managerial guidelines for the selection of the design plan for component assembly lines in the studied environment.