Ant colony optimization for the single model U-type assembly line balancing problem

An assembly line is a production line in which units move continuously through a sequence of stations. The assembly line balancing problem is defined as the allocation of tasks to an ordered sequence of stations subject to precedence constraints with the objective of optimizing a performance measure. In this paper, we propose ant colony algorithms to solve the single-model U-type assembly line balancing problem. We conduct an extensive experimental study in which the performance of the proposed algorithm is compared against best known algorithms reported in the literature. The results indicate that the proposed algorithms display very competitive performance against them.

[1]  Uğur Özcan,et al.  Balancing and sequencing mixed-model just-in-time U-lines with multiple objectives , 2007, Appl. Math. Comput..

[2]  Joaquín Bautista,et al.  Ant algorithms for a time and space constrained assembly line balancing problem , 2007, Eur. J. Oper. Res..

[3]  John Miltenburg,et al.  The mixed-model U-line balancing problem , 1998 .

[4]  Luca Maria Gambardella,et al.  Ant Algorithms for Discrete Optimization , 1999, Artificial Life.

[5]  D. Puangdownreong,et al.  Optimal balancing of multi-objective U-shaped assembly lines using the TSGA method , 2008, 2008 IEEE International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management.

[6]  Armin Scholl,et al.  Data of assembly line balancing problems , 1995 .

[7]  Matthijs den Besten,et al.  Ant Colony Optimization for the Total Weighted Tardiness Problem , 2000, PPSN.

[8]  M. Dorigo,et al.  1 Positive Feedback as a Search Strategy , 1991 .

[9]  Alain Hertz,et al.  Guidelines for the use of meta-heuristics in combinatorial optimization , 2003, Eur. J. Oper. Res..

[10]  J. George Shanthikumar,et al.  Bounds and approximations for cycle times of a U-shaped production line , 1997, Oper. Res. Lett..

[11]  Patrick R. McMullen,et al.  Using Ant Techniques to Solve the Assembly Line Balancing Problem , 2003 .

[12]  Salima Hassas,et al.  A.N.T: a distributed problem-solving framework based on mobile agents , 2000 .

[13]  Marc Gravel,et al.  A look-ahead addition to the ant colony optimization metaheuristic and its application to an industrial scheduling problem , 2001 .

[14]  Thomas Stützle,et al.  ACO Algorithms for the Travelling Salesman Problem , 1999 .

[15]  David Sparling.  Balancing Just-In-Time Production Units: The N U-Line Balancing Problem , 1998 .

[16]  Nicolas Monmarché,et al.  An Ant Colony Optimization algorithm to solve a 2-machine bicriteria flowshop scheduling problem , 2002, Eur. J. Oper. Res..

[17]  J. Wijngaard,et al.  The U-line balancing problem , 1994 .

[18]  Luca Maria Gambardella,et al.  Ant colony system: a cooperative learning approach to the traveling salesman problem , 1997, IEEE Trans. Evol. Comput..

[19]  James R. Evans,et al.  Heuristic methods and applications: A categorized survey , 1989 .

[20]  Armin Scholl,et al.  ULINO: Optimally balancing U-shaped JIT assembly lines , 1999 .

[21]  J. Deneubourg,et al.  Self-organized shortcuts in the Argentine ant , 1989, Naturwissenschaften.

[22]  P.-P. Grasse.  La reconstruction du nid et les coordinations interindividuelles chezBellicositermes natalensis etCubitermes sp. la théorie de la stigmergie: Essai d'interprétation du comportement des termites constructeurs , 1959, Insectes Sociaux.

[23]  Thomas R. Hoffmann,et al.  Assembly line balancing: a set of challenging problems , 1990 .

[24]  J. Deneubourg,et al.  The self-organizing exploratory pattern of the argentine ant , 1990, Journal of Insect Behavior.

[25]  Katsuhisa Ohno,et al.  Separate and carousel type allocations of workers in a U-shaped production line , 2003, Eur. J. Oper. Res..

[26]  John Miltenburg,et al.  U-shaped production lines: A review of theory and practice , 2001 .

[27]  Luca Maria Gambardella,et al.  Ant-Q: A Reinforcement Learning Approach to the Traveling Salesman Problem , 1995, ICML.

[28]  Giovanni Righini,et al.  Heuristics from Nature for Hard Combinatorial Optimization Problems , 1996 .

[29]  Marco Dorigo,et al.  An Investigation of some Properties of an "Ant Algorithm" , 1992, PPSN.

[30]  Corso Elvezia,et al.  Ant colonies for the traveling salesman problem , 1997 .

[31]  Thomas Stützle,et al.  The Ant Colony Optimization Metaheuristic: Algorithms, Applications, and Advances , 2003 .

[32]  Luca Maria Gambardella,et al.  A Study of Some Properties of Ant-Q , 1996, PPSN.

[33]  John H. Holland,et al.  Adaptation in Natural and Artificial Systems: An Introductory Analysis with Applications to Biology, Control, and Artificial Intelligence , 1992 .

[34]  Marco Dorigo,et al.  Ant system: optimization by a colony of cooperating agents , 1996, IEEE Trans. Syst. Man Cybern. Part B.

[35]  Francis J. Nourie,et al.  Finding optimal line balances with OptPack , 1991, Oper. Res. Lett..

[36]  Antonella Carbonaro,et al.  Ant Colony Optimization: An Overview , 2002 .

[37]  C. Reeves.  Modern heuristic techniques for combinatorial problems , 1993 .

[38]  Marco Dorigo,et al.  Distributed Optimization by Ant Colonies , 1992 .

[39]  Luca Maria Gambardella,et al.  Solving symmetric and asymmetric TSPs by ant colonies , 1996, Proceedings of IEEE International Conference on Evolutionary Computation.

[40]  Michael Sampels,et al.  Ant colony optimization for FOP shop scheduling: a case study on different pheromone representations , 2002, Proceedings of the 2002 Congress on Evolutionary Computation. CEC'02 (Cat. No.02TH8600).

[41]  Matthijs den Besten,et al.  An Ant Colony Optimization Application to the Single Machine Total Weighted Tardiness Problem , 2000 .

[42]  John Miltenburg,et al.  The effect of breakdowns on U-shaped production lines , 2000 .

[43]  Katsuhisa Ohno,et al.  Stochastic analysis of a U-shaped production line with multiple workers , 1997 .

[44]  Subhash C. Sarin,et al.  A survey of the assembly line balancing procedures , 1998 .

[45]  Nils Boysen,et al.  A versatile algorithm for assembly line balancing , 2008, Eur. J. Oper. Res..

[46]  John Miltenburg.  One-piece flow manufacturing on U-shaped production lines: a tutorial , 2001 .

[47]  Thomas Stützle,et al.  Ant Colony Optimization Theory , 2004 .

[48]  Marco Dorigo,et al.  Ant colony optimization theory: A survey , 2005, Theor. Comput. Sci..

[49]  Cecilia R. Aragon,et al.  Optimization by Simulated Annealing: An Experimental Evaluation; Part I, Graph Partitioning , 1989, Oper. Res..

[50]  Gabriele Kotsis,et al.  Parallelization strategies for the ant system , 1998 .

[51]  S. Hossein Cheraghi,et al.  Ant Algorithms : Review and Future Applications , 2002 .

[52]  M Dorigo,et al.  Ant colonies for the travelling salesman problem. , 1997, Bio Systems.

[53]  Thomas R. Hoffman.  Eureka: a hybrid system for assembly line balancing , 1992 .

[54]  Harvey J. Greenberg,et al.  New approaches for heuristic search: A bilateral linkage with artificial intelligence , 1989 .

[55]  John Miltenburg,et al.  The stochastic U‐line balancing problem , 2003 .

[56]  C. Ribeiro,et al.  Essays and Surveys in Metaheuristics , 2002, Operations Research/Computer Science Interfaces Series.

[57]  Sun Jin Kim,et al.  Balancing and sequencing mixed-model U-lines with a co-evolutionary algorithm , 2000 .

[58]  Marc J. Schniederjans,et al.  U-OPT: An analysis of exact U-shaped line balancing procedures , 2003 .

[59]  Ihsan Sabuncuoglu,et al.  Balancing of U-type assembly systems using simulated annealing , 2001 .

[60]  William V. Gehrlein,et al.  A comparative evaluation of heuristic line balancing techniques , 1986 .

[61]  Hartmut Schmeck,et al.  Multi Colony Ant Algorithms , 2002, J. Heuristics.

[62]  M. Dorigo,et al.  Ant System: An Autocatalytic Optimizing Process , 1991 .

[63]  Ilker Baybars,et al.  A survey of exact algorithms for the simple assembly line balancing , 1986 .

[64]  Eric Bonabeau,et al.  Evolving Ant Colony Optimization , 1998, Adv. Complex Syst..

[65]  Kaisa Miettinen,et al.  Evolutionary algorithms in engineering and computer science : recent advances in genetic algorithms, evolution strategies, evolutionary programming, genetic programming and industrial applications , 1999 .

[66]  Joaquín Bautista,et al.  Ant Algorithms for Assembly Line Balancing , 2002, Ant Algorithms.

[67]  Thomas Stützle,et al.  An Ant Approach to the Flow Shop Problem , 1998 .

[68]  Adil Baykasoglu,et al.  A simulated annealing algorithm for dynamic layout problem , 2001, Comput. Oper. Res..

[69]  Wen-Chyuan Chiang,et al.  The stochastic U-line balancing problem: A heuristic procedure , 2006, Eur. J. Oper. Res..

[70]  Ihsan Sabuncuoglu,et al.  Job shop scheduling with beam search , 1999, Eur. J. Oper. Res..

[71]  Wen-Chyuan Chiang,et al.  An optimal piecewise-linear program for the U-line balancing problem with stochastic task times , 2006, Eur. J. Oper. Res..

[72]  B. Bullnheimer,et al.  A NEW RANK BASED VERSION OF THE ANT SYSTEM: A COMPUTATIONAL STUDY , 1997 .

[73]  Cecilia R. Aragon,et al.  Optimization by Simulated Annealing: An Experimental Evaluation; Part II, Graph Coloring and Number Partitioning , 1991, Oper. Res..

[74]  Bertrand M. T. Lin,et al.  Development of new features of ant colony optimization for flowshop scheduling , 2008 .

[75]  Marc J. Schniederjans,et al.  U-shaped assembly line layouts and their impact on labor productivity: An experimental study , 2004, Eur. J. Oper. Res..

[76]  C. Rajendran,et al.  An ant-colony optimization algorithm for minimizing the completion-time variance of jobs in flowshops , 2006 .

[77]  John B. Kidd,et al.  Toyota Production System , 1993 .

[78]  John Miltenburg,et al.  Balancing U-lines in a multiple U-line facility , 1998, Eur. J. Oper. Res..

[79]  Katsuhisa Ohno,et al.  An optimal worker allocation problem for a U-shaped production line , 1999 .