Genetic Production Line-Balancing for the Hard Disk Drive Industry

Abstract.

Ever-increasing global competition compels enterprises to continuously improve the performance of their production lines. However, performance improvement in complex production is not easy. In this paper, a simulation-based intelligent production line balancing scheme is presented. The proposed method employs genetic algorithm integrating computer simulation to achieve optimal solutions. For a real-life production line, the proposed formalism can automatically determine an optimal configuration with specified performance indices. A real matrix chromosome coding and a parabolic chromosome selection are also discussed, and a detailed implementation in the Extend™ simulation environment is addressed and a realistic case study is presented.