A DESIGN TECHNIQUE FOR THE LAYOUT OF MULTIPRODUCT FLOWLINES

In designing a multi-product flowline, problems of material handling and workflow arise on one hand and of machine utilization on the other. Because of variations in the number of operations on parts and in their operation sequences, a sequence of machines that satisfies one particular family of parts is unlikely to satisfy all the other families. On the other hand, if a sequence is generated to accommodate all the families of parts, a simple flowline is unlikely. This is the problem of the layout of multi-product flowlines. This paper considers all the facets of the problem. It advances a solution technique based on the link-analysis or travel-charting method. The technique is all embracing and hence can be tailored to satisfy the requirements of either a single machine or the general machine situation. Manual implementation of the design algorithm is illustrated by an example.