Scheduling in automotive flexible assembly layouts

In this research, we address the problem of scheduling the assembly tasks of heterogeneous vehicles in flexible layouts. In such layouts, the stations are neither arranged in a serial manner nor linked by a paced conveyor belt. Instead, automated guided vehicles are used to transport the car bodies between the stations. The sequence of tasks is not predetermined, but can differ for each vehicle (operation flexibility). Also, the same task can be performed on multiple stations (routing flexibility). Due to these flexibilities, the industry expects that flexible layouts improve makespan, station utilizations and disruption resilience compared to mixed-model assembly lines. The scheduling of the assembly tasks, on the other hand, is more complex in flexible layouts.     «

In this research, we address the problem of scheduling the assembly tasks of heterogeneous vehicles in flexible layouts. In such layouts, the stations are neither arranged in a serial manner nor linked by a paced conveyor belt. Instead, automated guided vehicles are used to transport the car bodies between the stations. The sequence of tasks is not predetermined, but can differ for each vehicle (operation flexibility). Also, the same task can be performed on multiple stations (routing flexibilit...     »