Strategies for assembly line re-balancing with focus on level of automation

Abstract: Production companies often encounter changes that have to be met because of changing market tastes. This requires them to be flexible in their production process. In order to achieve this flexibility the efficiency of the production line is sometimes compromised. Efficiency of the production line and its flexibility has to go hand in hand if the company is to compete successfully in this dynamic market. Line balancing is an important feature in ensuring that a production line is efficient and producing at its optimum. The process of Line balancing attempts to equalize the load on each workstation of the production line.This thesis wishes to address the requirements of three organizations, KTH, SWEREA and Electrolux.We are required to submit a Master‟s thesis in order to be eligible to receive a Masters degree from the Department of Production Engineering and Management at KTH.Swedish research group SWEREA has been involved in a project titled COMPLEX in collaboration with academic and industrial organizations, which aims to define the „complexity „of a production system and help manage it. This project was founded by VINNOVA.Electrolux is a stakeholder in the COMPLEX project and has hence provided us with this opportunity of doing our Master‟s thesis at their plant. The Electrolux factory at Mariestad has undergone significant renovation. This has been done in order to reach higher levels of flexibility and efficiency in order to deal with constantly changing markets. To help rebalance their new production line by focusing on the Level of Automation at inefficient workstations is a priority along with supporting them during this phase of reconstruction.We will work on satisfying all three organizations simultaneously. On completion of this thesis, we wish to have contributed towards rebalancing the new assembly line with special focus on Level of Automation at the Electrolux factory in Mariestad along with supporting them during this phase of reconstruction. We also hope to contribute significantly in developing the definition of complexity and possible ways to deal with it.