Fundação Araucária; RENAULT; Seti / A Pesquisa Operacional investiga as (melhores) formas de se configurar e coordenar sistemas ou operações usando técnicas de otimização. Geralmente, a otimização de um sistema é modelado com base no estado final almejado. Porém, como atingir ou implementar tal estado final em sistemas é pouco retratado na literatura. Esta dissertaçãode mestrado propõe uma nova classe de problema de otimização: a programação das operações entre o estado inicial e o final de um sistema, o Problema de Implementação. A programação das operações é especialmente importante para linhas de montagem. A indústria automobilística é fortemente baseada em linhas de produção que podem ser usadas até 24 horas por dia. Assim, as oportunidades de intervenções para mudar ou otimizar o sistema produtivo são poucas. As condições de implementação aplicadas ao balanceamento de linhas produtivas são discutidas, e as características observadas resultam no proposto Problema de Implementação de Linhas de Montagem (PILM). Na dissertação, um guia de modelagem baseado em Programação Linear Inteira Mista (PLIM) é desenvolvido para a formulação de diversas variações do Problema de Implementação. As instruções de modelagem são usadas para desenvolver um conjunto de modelos PLIM para o Problema de Implementação de Linhas de Montagem. Para a obtenção de resultados, um conjunto de instâncias é proposto. Assim, uma análise de sensibilidade em função de cada um dos parâmetros formadores das instâncias é realizada. As formulações são comparadas, junto com as diferentes formas de apresentar e resolver o problema. Ademais, um método de decomposição é usado para resolver um problema industrial real. A modelagem mostrase correta para a divisão da implementação de mudanças em linhas de montagem. Os resultados mostram que a divisão do esforço de implementação resulta em apenas poucas mudanças a mais (cerca de 7% para os casos pequenos e médios) comparadas com a implementação em uma fase. A possibilidade de programar a implementação em etapas menores aumenta a aplicabilidade de projetos, que, de outra forma, requeririam grande paradas de produção. / Operations Research investigates the (best) ways to configure and coordinate systems or operations with optimization procedures. Usually, the optimization of a system is modeled based on the aimed final configuration. However, little is published about how to reach or implement such optimal configurations in the systems. This master thesis proposes a new class of optimization problem: a scheduling of operations between initial and final states of a system, the Implementation Problem. The scheduling of operations is especially important to assembly lines. The automotive industry strongly relies on production lines that can operate 24 hours a day. Thus, the intervention opportunities to change or optimize the production system are very few. The implementation conditions of balancing on assembly lines are discussed, and the observed characteristics result in the proposal of the Assembly Line Implementation Problem (ALIP). The master thesis proposes a Mixed-Integer Linear Programming (MILP) modeling guide for the formulation of several variations of Implementation Problems. The modeling instructions are used to develop a set of MILP models for the Assembly Line Implementation Problem. For the results, a dataset is proposed and a sensitivity analysis on each of the consistent parameters of the dataset is performed. The proposed formulations are compared, along with the different forms of presenting and solving the problem. Furthermore, a decomposition method is used to solve a real-world industrial problem. The modeling correctly represents the division of the implementation of changes in assembly lines. The results show that the division of the effort in multiple stages only need a few more changes (around 7\% for the small and medium cases) comparing to a straightforward implementation. The possibility of scheduling the implementation in smaller steps increases the applicability of projects that otherwise would require a large system's stoppage time.

Fundação Araucária; RENAULT; Seti / A Pesquisa Operacional investiga as (melhores) formas de se configurar e coordenar sistemas ou operações usando técnicas de otimização. Geralmente, a otimização de um sistema é modelado com base no estado final almejado. Porém, como atingir ou implementar tal estado final em sistemas é pouco retratado na literatura. Esta dissertaçãode mestrado propõe uma nova classe de problema de otimização: a programação das operações entre o estado inicial e o final de um sistema, o Problema de Implementação. A programação das operações é especialmente importante para linhas de montagem. A indústria automobilística é fortemente baseada em linhas de produção que podem ser usadas até 24 horas por dia. Assim, as oportunidades de intervenções para mudar ou otimizar o sistema produtivo são poucas. As condições de implementação aplicadas ao balanceamento de linhas produtivas são discutidas, e as características observadas resultam no proposto Problema de Implementação de Linhas de Montagem (PILM). Na dissertação, um guia de modelagem baseado em Programação Linear Inteira Mista (PLIM) é desenvolvido para a formulação de diversas variações do Problema de Implementação. As instruções de modelagem são usadas para desenvolver um conjunto de modelos PLIM para o Problema de Implementação de Linhas de Montagem. Para a obtenção de resultados, um conjunto de instâncias é proposto. Assim, uma análise de sensibilidade em função de cada um dos parâmetros formadores das instâncias é realizada. As formulações são comparadas, junto com as diferentes formas de apresentar e resolver o problema. Ademais, um método de decomposição é usado para resolver um problema industrial real. A modelagem mostrase correta para a divisão da implementação de mudanças em linhas de montagem. Os resultados mostram que a divisão do esforço de implementação resulta em apenas poucas mudanças a mais (cerca de 7% para os casos pequenos e médios) comparadas com a implementação em uma fase. A possibilidade de programar a implementação em etapas menores aumenta a aplicabilidade de projetos, que, de outra forma, requeririam grande paradas de produção. / Operations Research investigates the (best) ways to configure and coordinate systems or operations with optimization procedures. Usually, the optimization of a system is modeled based on the aimed final configuration. However, little is published about how to reach or implement such optimal configurations in the systems. This master thesis proposes a new class of optimization problem: a scheduling of operations between initial and final states of a system, the Implementation Problem. The scheduling of operations is especially important to assembly lines. The automotive industry strongly relies on production lines that can operate 24 hours a day. Thus, the intervention opportunities to change or optimize the production system are very few. The implementation conditions of balancing on assembly lines are discussed, and the observed characteristics result in the proposal of the Assembly Line Implementation Problem (ALIP). The master thesis proposes a Mixed-Integer Linear Programming (MILP) modeling guide for the formulation of several variations of Implementation Problems. The modeling instructions are used to develop a set of MILP models for the Assembly Line Implementation Problem. For the results, a dataset is proposed and a sensitivity analysis on each of the consistent parameters of the dataset is performed. The proposed formulations are compared, along with the different forms of presenting and solving the problem. Furthermore, a decomposition method is used to solve a real-world industrial problem. The modeling correctly represents the division of the implementation of changes in assembly lines. The results show that the division of the effort in multiple stages only need a few more changes (around 7\% for the small and medium cases) comparing to a straightforward implementation. The possibility of scheduling the implementation in smaller steps increases the applicability of projects that otherwise would require a large system's stoppage time.

The thesis is concerning rotator assembly at Indexator. A need to increase production has been seen and it can be done by implementing an optimized assembly process. In addition to the assembly process a new design on workstations and new test equipment is needed.The study resulted into three assembly process proposals. The processes were balanced, layouts were produced and Plant simulation was utilized to produce simulation models. Each proposal were analyzed based on cost, performance, ease of implementation, flexibility and worker condition. This resulted in a stationary assembly process being most promising and a 3D simulation model was produced for visualization and better understanding. The stationary assembly process has a capacity for 90 rotators per day, while reducing the amount of workers by one.The layout of the workstations was done based on the assembly process layout and further developed to make the work cell lean and ergonomic. It resulted in three workstations to perform the assembly. The test bench was developed by creating target specifications, establish a test procedure and decide components for the test bench layout. The finished test bench can measure dynamic torque, count particles to ensure cleanliness and is able to run the test unattended. / Examensarbetet handlar om montering av rotatorer på Indexator. Målet är att ta fram en optimerad monteringsprocess som kan implementeras i Indexators fabrik utan svårigheter. Den nya monteringsprocessen kommer kräva en ny design på arbetsstationerna och nya testbänkar.Fyra koncept på monteringsprocessen togs fram, baserat på monteringens behov och målsättning. Efter utvärdering så modifierades de fyra koncepten till tre förslag på monteringsprocesser. Processerna balancerades, layouter utvecklades och simuleringsmodeller producerades för varje process. Varje förslag analyserades baserat på kostnad, prestanda, implementation,flexibilitet och arbetar-förhållande. Resultatet blev en stationär monteringsprocess och en 3Dsimulering gjordes för visualisering och förståelse. Den stationära monteringsprocessen har en kapacitet på 90 rotatorer per dag och reducerar behovet av montörer.Layouten för monteringsstationerna baseras på processens layout och har modifierats för ergonomiska aspekter. Inom monteringsstationerna så utvecklades layouten för att minimera antalet onödiga rörelser för montören. Testriggens design utvecklades genom att analysera de behov som fanns, skapa en kravspecifikation samt utvärdera och besluta om testprocedur, upplägg för testrigg och dess ingående komponenter. Testriggen uppfyller målsättningen som är att kunna mäta dynamiskt vridmoment, räkna partiklar för att säkerställa renhet i rotatorn och kunna utföra testningen självgående för att frigöra montören under testprogrammet.

Denna studies syfte är att leverera ett förslag på hur ett tillverkande företag i Sverige kan öka sin kapacitet, sitt genomflöde och flexibilitet i en manuell produktionslina. Produktionsgolvet är trångt för de anställda på grund av stora lagernivåer intill produktionslinan. Det finns fem arbetsstationer, tre flaskhalsar i produktionen och antalet PIA (Produkter I Arbete) är högt. Studien genomför mätningar för att kartlägga nuläget, hur den aktuella layouten och prestandan ser ut. För att mäta nuläget samlar studien in data genom observationer, en processpromenad, informella intervjuer och genomför egna mätningar. Datainsamlingen analyseras med hjälp av teorier och metoder från Lean, TOC (Theory of Constrains), linjebalansering och produktionsledning. Studien använder sig av 5s som angreppssätt för att systematiskt uppnå genomgående renhet av arbetsplatsen och en standardisering av påfyllnads- och prognostiseringsprocessen. Studien finner att för att öka produktionslinans kapacitet kan bemanningen på produktionslinan ökas, med detta som utgångspungspunkt föreslås en ny layout som tillåter två extra anställda att arbeta på produktionslinan. Detta uppnås genom att dela upp nuvarande delmoment i produktionslinan och skapa två extra stationer. Detta ändrar antalet arbetsstationer från fem till sju och tillåter två extra anställda att arbeta i produktionslinan. Detta eliminerar också två mindre flaskhalsar i produktions flödet. Vidare innefattar förslaget en ny rutin för påfyllnad- och prognostiseringsprocessen som bestämmer hur många artiklar som ska lagerföras vid produktionslinan. Till sist föreslås att den nu enda flaskhalsen ska styra takten, vilket gör processen till ett dragande system styrt av efterfråga istället för ett styrt av generell tillgång. Detta innefattar också att produktionslinan ska börja tillverka ett säkerhetslager med färdiga produkter, detta säkerhetslager ska bytas ut kontinuerligt för att hindra produkterna passerar utgångsdatum. Resterande majoritet av produktionen ska endast ske mot kundorder istället för mot ett lager. För att implementera förslaget bör organisationen utbilda sig och dess anställda i teorierna studien använder sig av. Både ledning och anställda i produktionslinan måste förstå teorierna och varför de används för att implementeringen ska lyckas. / The purpose of this study is to deliver a proposition on how a Swedish manufacturing company can improve its’ capacity, flow and flexibility in a manual production line. The production floor is crowded as a result of large quantities of articles adjacent to the production line. The production line has five workstations, three bottlenecks and has a high number of WIP (Work-In-Progress). The study collects data to assess the situation, the production lines performance and how the current layout is planned. To measure the current situation the study collects data through observations, a process tour, informal interviews and conducts its own measurements. The collected data is analysed using theories and methods from lean, TOC (Theory of Constrains), line balancing and production management. The study is approaching the problems using 5s to systematically achieve pervading cleanness in the workplace and a standardisation of the refilling- and prognostication process. The study finds that to increase the capacity of the production line, the staffing can be increased. Using this as a standing point, the study proposes a new production layout that allows two extra employees to work on the production line. This is achieved by creating two additional workstations in the production line. Changing the number of stations from five to seven and allowing two extra employees to work in the production line. This layout change also eliminates two smaller bottlenecks in the production flow. Furthermore, the propositions suggest a new routine for the refilling- and prognostication process that determines how many articles to store within the production floor. Lastly the proposition suggests that the now single bottleneck in the production flow decides the production rate. Making the production line a pulling system set by the demand of the bottleneck, rather than a system set by general assets. This also includes that the production line is going to start producing safety stock of completed products, this safety stock will continuously be replaced to prevent the products from passing expiration date. The remaining majority of the production should only be done by customer order, rather than producing to store complete products. In order to implement the proposition, the organization need to educate itself and its employees, both management and workers need to understand the concepts the proposition uses and why the concepts are used in order for the implementation to be successful. / <p>Sekretess</p>

M. Tech. (Department of Industrial Engineering and Operations Management, Faculty of Engineering), Vaal University of Technology. / The current business environments in many companies are characterized by markets facing tough competitions, from which customer requirements and expectations are becoming increasingly high in terms of quality, cost and delivery dates, etc. These emerging expectations are even getting stronger due to rapid development of new information and communication technologies that provide direct connections between companies and their clients. As a result, companies should have powerful control mechanisms at their disposal. To achieve this, companies rely on a number of functions including production scheduling. This function has always been present within companies, but today, it is facing increasing complexities because of the large number of jobs that must be executed simultaneously. Amongst many factors, it is time driven. This study demonstrates that several disciplines can be married into one model (i.e. a unified model) to solve scheduling problems after disruptions, and clears the way for future multi-disciplinary research efforts. Scheduling problem is modeled as follows: Ito’s stochastic differential rule is used to analyse the time evolution of random or stochastic processes. Multifactor productivity is used to unify various disruption factors. Theory of line balancing is also employed to determine the required number of resources to minimize bottleneck. Reliability: disruptions are considered to be equivalent to system failure. The failure rate of the system is translated to the reliability of the system mathematically. The probabilities of failure are used as indicators of disruptions, and the theory of reliability is then applied. Bernoulli’s principle is also employed to relate pressure to production flow and aid in managing bottleneck situations. Results indicate that the amount of resources needed after disruption depends on the nature of disruption, and that the scheduler should plan to increase number of facilities following a trend that is only predicted by the nature of disruptions. It is also shown that disruption of one type may not greatly affect productivity of a certain company layout, whilst similar disruptions can have devastating effect on another type. It is further concluded that impacts of disruption are dependent on the type of company layouts.

The forming of an assembly system is a complex task, which should be considered as never ending. In order to successfully plan and implement an assembly system it is of vital importance that the obstacles and preconditions that have an impact on the system are identified and evaluated. This together with the necessary support activities and the attributes of the product to be assembled constitutes the starting point for the forming of the assembly system. The aim of this thesis is to link the theoretical findings with the issues stated above, and through this explain a best practice approach when forming the assembly system. The theoretical work aims at describing the nature and activities within assembly and manufacturing systems and explains these in three different levels of strategies divided into Manufacturing strategies, Layout, material flow and design strategies and finally Logistic, material handling and quality strategies. Then the obstacles and preconditions found are discussed and evaluated which set the basis for the forming of the assembly system and by linking these with the relevant theory, conceptual design proposals for the assembly system and the Logistic support system are formed. These are then evaluated and finally a proposal for the detailed layout of the assembly system is given. This proposal is then to be used as a guideline for the company Aercrete when forming their assembly system.

<p>The forming of an assembly system is a complex task, which should be considered as never ending. In order to successfully plan and implement an assembly system it is of vital importance that the obstacles and preconditions that have an impact on the system are identified and evaluated. This together with the necessary support activities and the attributes of the product to be assembled constitutes the starting point for the forming of the assembly system.</p><p>The aim of this thesis is to link the theoretical findings with the issues stated above, and through this explain a best practice approach when forming the assembly system. The theoretical work aims at describing the nature and activities within assembly and manufacturing systems and explains these in three different levels of strategies divided into Manufacturing strategies, Layout, material flow and design strategies and finally Logistic, material handling and quality strategies. Then the obstacles and preconditions found are discussed and evaluated which set the basis for the forming of the assembly system and by linking these with the relevant theory, conceptual design proposals for the assembly system and the Logistic support system are formed.</p><p>These are then evaluated and finally a proposal for the detailed layout of the assembly system is given. This proposal is then to be used as a guideline for the company Aercrete when forming their assembly system.</p>

Este trabalho utiliza a Programação Linear Inteira Mista (MILP) para investigar as diferenças de produtividade encontradas em uma Linha de Montagem de Modelo Misto. A abordagem de solução foi através da construção e resolução de modelos matemáticos do problema de balanceamento de linhas de montagem de modelo misto (MALBP – Mixed-Model Assembly Line Balancing Problem), seguido do problema de sequenciamento de carros (PSC – Car Sequencing Problem). Uma simulação discreta foi utilizada para verificar os resultados dos modelos matemáticos. O estudo relata o caso real de uma linha de montagem da indústria automotiva das partes móveis das carrocerias de três diferentes veículos compartilhando a mesma linha de produção. A linha de produção é caracterizada como baixa cadência (de até 15 veículos/hora) e totalmente manual. A linha é constituída por mesas de rolos em série onde o acionamento é do tipo de passo não sincronizado. O objetivo é investigar como manter o melhor nível de produtividade da linha de produção e, ao mesmo tempo, manter a característica de flexibilidade para atender a uma demanda variável em volume e diversidade de produto. São apresentados resultados desse trabalho que indicam que é possível a obtenção de alguns balanceamentos flexíveis para alguns mixes de produtos, o que permite manter a diferença nos tempos de produção no limite de 6%, para esta correta combinação de balanceamento-sequenciamento. No entanto, verificando as demais combinações possíveis para os seis mixes de produtos avaliados, o tempo de produção apresentou diferenças de até 19%, dependendo da sequência de entrada dos produtos para um certo mix. Outro fator que também ocasionou diferenças dos tempos produtivos, de 20% em média, foi em relação a alocação/ausência de postos pulmões (buffers). O horizonte da análise, a priori, foi de um lote de produção de uma hora para o modelo matemático e de uma semana de produção para o modelo de simulação discreta. Os resultados obtidos no estudo indicam que é possível operar uma linha de montagem flexível com uma produtividade equiparável a linhas de montagem de único modelo, se cuidados relativos ao balanceamento e sequenciamento produtivos forem observados. Por outro lado, se as condições operacionais de balanceamento e sequenciamento para as linhas de montagem de modelos/produtos mistos não forem consideradas, as perdas acumuladas na taxa de produção podem ser significativas (por exemplo, tempos de produção para algumas condições de teste ultrapassaram em 30% o valor teórico estimado). / This work uses Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP) to investigate productivity differences found in a Mixed-Model Assembly Line. The solution approach was based on construction and resolution of mathematical models for the Mixed-Model Assembly Line Balancing Problem (MALBP), followed by the Car Sequencing Problem (CSP). A discrete simulation was used to check the results obtained by the mathematical models. The study reports the real case of an automotive metal line that assemblies the closures of three different vehicles, sharing the same production line. The production line is characterized as low cadence (e.g., up to 15 vehicles/hour) and fully manual. The line is formed by roller tables in series with unpaced devices. The main objective is to investigate how to maintain productivity, while maintaining the flexibility characteristic to meet a variable demand in volume and product diversity. Results of this study are presented and indicate that some flexible balancing mixes are viable. Production time differences of no more than 6% were observed in such flexible choices. However, the checking of some possible combinations for the six mixes of evaluated products showed a production time difference up to 19%, depending on the sequence of products for a certain mix. Another factor that also influenced production time differences, 20% on average, was the allocation of buffers. The horizon of analysis encompasses a lot of production of one hour, to the mathematical model, and a week for discrete simulation. The obtained results indicate that it is possible to operate a flexible assembly line with a level of productivity similar to a single product line, in case of careful choices in balancing/sequencing. On the other hand, if the operating conditions of balancing and sequencing were not taken into account the cumulative loss in throughput may be significant (e.g., for some studied cases, production time exceed 30% the theoretical value).

FA; UTFPR; RENAULT / Linhas robóticas de solda são comuns na indústria automobilística. Durante a produção de um veículo, sua estrutura metálica precisa ser soldada em um único corpo resistente. Isso é feito por meio de centenas de soldas a ponto por resistência, cada uma liga localmente duas ou mais placas metálicas. Distribuir eficientemente esses pontos entre robôs é particularmente desafiador, levando em conta que: cada robôs podem fazer acessar uma parte dos pontos de solda, há tempo de movimentação entre pontos e robôs podem colidir entre si se ocuparem o mesmo espaço físico ao mesmo tempo. Há muitas maneiras factíveis de distribuir pontos de solda. No entanto, cada uma gera um resultado econômico diferente: Se um robô soldar muitos pontos se tornará um gargalo e reduzirá a taxa média de produção.Obter o conjunto de decisões operacionais que gera o melhor desempenho é o objetivo de técnicas de otimização. Há uma ampla variedade de técnicas descritas na literatura de pesquisa operacional e ciência da computação: modelos matemáticos, algoritmos, heurísticas, meta-heurísticas, etc. No contexto industrial, tais técnicas foram adaptadas para diversas variantes de problemas práticos. No entanto, estas adaptações só podem resolver as variantes para as quais foram idealizadas. Se por um lado podem se traçar paralelos entre vários aspectos de linhas robóticas de solda e tais variantes, por outro o conjunto completo de características das linhas estudadas não é tratável por (ou convertível em) nenhuma delas. A presente dissertação desenvolve uma abordagem para otimizar tais linhas, baseada em um modelo de programação linear inteira mista desenvolvido para descrever o problema. Ela também apresenta um estudo de caso para discutir e ilustrar possíveis dificuldades de aplicação e como superá-las. O modelo apresentado foi aplicado a dados de uma linha robótica de solda da fábrica, composta por quarenta e dois robôs, quatro modelos de veículos e mais de setecentos pontos de solda por veículo. A média ponderada da redução em tempo de ciclo obtida pelo modelo foi de 17.5%. Variantes do modelo, concebidas para auxiliar trabalhos futuros, são apresentadas e discutidas. / Robotic welding manufacturing lines are production lines common in automobile industries. During a vehicle's production, the vehicle's metal structure must be welded in a single resistant body. This is made by hundreds of spot-welding points, each of which tie locally two or more metal plates. Efficiently distributing these welding points amongst robots is particularly challenging, taking in account that: not all robots can perform all weld points, robots must move their welding tools between weld points, and robots might interfere with one another if they use the same geometrical space. There are multiple feasible manners to distribute the welding points. However, each of these forms generates different economical results: If a robot performs too many points, it will become a line bottleneck and reduce average throughput. To find the set of operational decisions that yields the best output is the goal of optimization techniques. There are a wide variety of such techniques described in operations research and computer sciences literature: mathematical models, algorithms, heuristics, meta-heuristics, etc. In the industrial context, these techniques were adapted to related line balancing problems. However, these adaptations can only solve the specific variants they were designed to address. While parallels can be drawn between aspects of robotic welding lines and many of such variants, the full combined set of characteristics of the studied lines is not treatable by (or convertible to) any of them. This dissertation develops a framework to optimize such lines, based on mixed-integer linear programing model developed to describe the problem. It also presents a case study to discuss and illustrate possible difficulties and how to overcome them. The presented model was applied to data from the factory's robotic welding lines composed of forty-two robots (divided in thirteen stations), four vehicle models and over seven hundred welding points for each vehicle. The weighted average reduction percentage in cycle time obtained by the model was 17.5%. Model variants, designed to aid further works are presented and discussed.