Dealing with user's preferences in hybrid assembly lines design

摘要

This work presents a new method to address the hybrid assembly line design problem with multiple objectives. The aim is to assign a set of tasks to stations and select the resources to perform each of them. The goal is to minimize the total cost of the line by integrating design and operation issues. The authors used a grouping genetic algorithm to tackle the problem, hybridised with a branch-and-cut algorithm and the multi-criteria decision-aid method Promethee II. The paper presents the method that assigns tasks to stations and selects assembly equipment for each station. It also introduces the way to deal with user's preferences in design problems. The essential concepts adopted by the method are described. The application of the algorithm to an industrial case study is also presented.