Multi-criteria sequencing problem for a mixed-model assembly line in a JIT production system

Mixed-model assembly lines (MMAL) are a type of production lines where a variety of products models similar to product characteristics are assembled in a just-in-time (JIT) production system. There is a set of criteria on which to judge sequences of product models in terms of the effective utilization of these lines. In this paper, we consider three objectives simultaneously: (i) total utility work cost, (ii) total production rate variation cost, and (iii) total setup cost. In this study, these three objectives are first weighted by their relative importance weights and then a new mathematical model is presented. To solve this model, a memetic algorithm (MA) is proposed to determine suitable sequences. The performance of the MA is compared with the Lingo 6 software. A number of test problems are carried out to verify the good ability of the proposed MA in terms of the solution quality and computational time. The computational results reveal that the MA finds promising results, especially in the case of large-sized problems. (c) 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.