Balanceamento de uma linha de instalação de caixas de transmissão por meio de modelo de programação linear inteira mista

Abstract

The proposal of this project is to make a line balancing optimization of a gearbox assembly line for a Curitiba automobile company, located on the Industrial District. The assembly line is relatively old, and has been passing for a bunch of process improvements, but without acting on the balancing optimization. The line is defined by eight workstations, which have, basically, manual tasks, and it is where is made the assembly of the gearbox with the motor, and one more workstation, where is made the software download in the gearbox and the inspection operations. There are, basically, two kinds of motors, two kinds of gearboxes, and two more assembly configurations, which influences directly on the cycle time. The current project applies a mathematical model on Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP), with the objective of propose optimized solutions on line balancing, and then help in the process of operational decisions based on the equilibrium of workload between the workstations and the workers. The implementation and the computational resolution were made in the software IBM ILOG CPLEX Optimization Studio. A work methodology was followed to apply the MILP model, collecting and validating the data, so it was possible to obtain improved results and with a real applicability. The computational results indicated, for example, a possibility of cycle time decrease of 4.66%, and the viability of reduce one worker, without change the productivity. There was also an improvement indicating an equilibrium solution in the distribution of tasks between workstations, with less idleness.