Development of search method for sequencing problem in mixed-model assembly lines

In the sequencing problem in mixed-model assembly lines, the branch-and-bound method and heuristic method have thus far been developed for minimizing total incomplete working hours. However, these are developed based on the heuristic solution method of a single-station model. Therefore, the precision of the solution considerably changes with differences in processing time for each station. In this study, an effective search method for the sequencing problem in mixed-model assembly lines is proposed. In our method, an efficient search is performed by improving the updating conditions of the solution using the simulated annealing method, and a high precision is achieved without depending on numerical examples.