Using the Taguchi method to optimize the differential evolution algorithm parameters for minimizing the workload smoothness index in simple assembly line balancing

An assembly line is a flow-oriented production system in which the productive units performing the operations, referred to as stations, are aligned in a serial manner. The simple assembly line balancing problem (SALBP) is a fundamental version of the general problem which has attracted attention of researchers and practitioners of operations research for almost half a century. With respect to the objective function, the SALBP is further classified into SALBP-1, SALBP-2, SALBP-E and finally SALBP-F. The types of SALBP may be complemented by a secondary objective which consists of smoothing station loads. This objective guarantees a better flow of material. Although there is a great deal of research addressing this problem, most of them consider smoothing station loads as a primary objective. In this paper, a differential evolution algorithm is developed to minimize workload smoothness index in SALBP-2. Also, the algorithm parameters are optimized using the Taguchi method. To validate the proposed algorithm, the results are compared with those of a published heuristic. This comparison indicates effectiveness of the proposed algorithm. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.