What is production Line Balancing and How to implement it?

What is Line Balancing?

Line balancing is a technique to distribute the product manufacturing processes at various manufacturing stations to achieve the best talk time. Here the takt time is product manufacturing time. Its value depends on the productivity requirements.

In other words, the line balancing process defines various stages on a production line to achieve a balanced production line.

For example, all processes on the production line will be finished in less than 5 minutes on a perfectly balanced production line if the product takt time is 5 minutes. The manufacturing process shall be done offline or at two stations if the manufacturing process time is greater than the takt time.

Line Balancing Examples

Here are examples of balanced and unbalanced production lines. As a production engineer, you should always work to achieve a 100% balance production line.

Unbalanced Production Line Example
This production line is unbalanced because the human resources and machine utilization is not 100%. For example, at Station-6, the operator is working for 10 seconds and remains ideal for 50 seconds.
Balanced Production Line Example
This image shows a Balanced Manufacturing Line
This production line is balanced because human and machine resource utilization is maximized.
What is the difference between balanced and unbalanced Line?

Here is the list of differences between an unbalanced and balance manufacturing line.

  1. A balance manufacturing line requires nine operators at six stations compared to eight operators and eight stations on the unbalanced manufacturing line.
  2. Balanced line Takt Time is 20 seconds, whereas un-balanced manufacturing Line takt time is 60 seconds.
How do we know if a Manufacturing Line is Unbalanced?

We can plot a bar chart (where the x-axis indicates the manufacturing process station and the y-axis indicates operation time) to determine if a production line is unbalanced.

Process time at station-1 is 60 seconds, whereas process time at station-3, 4, and 6 is 10 seconds. In other words, an operator at station-3, 4, and 6 is ideal for 50 seconds. In this way, we should utilize operators at station-3, 4, and 6 more effectively.

We aim to reduce the manufacturing process time difference to zero
during production line balancing.

Advantages of a Balanced Manufacturing Line

Line balancing is a part of the Lean Manufacturing technique. Implementing line balancing on a production line can have the following advantages:

  • Effective utilization of machines and human resources.
  • Reduces wastage
  • Reduces operator and machine idle time.
  • Productivity increases.
  • Manufacturing cost reduces.

How to achieve Line Balancing on Manufacturing Line?

We can achieve production Line Balancing in the following Steps.

  1. Determine the required takt time for a product manufacturing line
  2. Reduce the Wastage from the manufacturing process.
  3. Perform the time studies
  4. Update the production line layout and Reallocate the resources
Step-1: Determine the required Takt Time for a manufacturing line

Takt time is product manufacturing time to fulfill customer demand. 

Calculation Formula:

Product takt time for the manufacturing line = Available time / Number of required products

For example, if we require 150 products in 450 minutes on a manufacturing line. Required Takt time for the product manufacturing line will be (450/150=) 3 minutes.

Step-2: Reduce the process time and Wastage

The next step is to remove unwanted manufacturing processes from the production line to improve productivity and achieve the required Takt time.

Step-3: Perform the Time Studies

Time study is a way to determine the actual time required to complete a task on the production line. This calculated time is very critical during the production line layout design.

Step-4: Update Production Line layout and Reallocate the Resources

You can modify the production line layout under the following two conditions:

  1. A process on the production line is consuming more time than the required takt time.
  2. The workforce is sitting ideal for a defined period.
This image shows a Unbalanced Manufacturing Line
Unbalanced Manufacturing Line
This image shows a Balanced Manufacturing Line
Balanced Manufacturing Line

The incoming inspection process time is 60 seconds, whereas all other processes take 20 seconds in the unbalanced production line. Therefore we can take the following actions to make the production line more balanced. It will also reduce the product takt time on the manufacturing line.

  1. Assign three operators for incoming inspection.
  2. Assign one operator for battery and screw assembly.

In this way, we can utilize resources maximum and reduce the takt time to 20 seconds.

We will keep adding more information on Production Line Balancing in manufacturing. Please add your suggestions, comments, or questions on Line Balancing in manufacturing in the comment box.

We suggest you also read this article on quality assurance and quality control.

Add a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *