A methodology for solving single-model, stochastic assembly line balancingproblem

In this paper, a methodology is developed to solve the single-model, stocha stic assembly line balancing problem for the objective of minimizing the to tal labor cost and the expected incompletion cost arising from tasks not co mpleted within the prescribed cycle time. The methodology is based on deter mining an initial DP based solution and its improvement using a branch-and- bound procedure which uses an approximate solution instead of a lower bound for fathoming nodes, Detailed experimentation shows the superiority of thi s method over the most promising one from the literature. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.