Multi-objective collaborative assembly line design problem with the optimisation of ergonomics and economics

Abstract

Manufacturing systems are socio-technical systems, with explicit interactions between humans and technologies in shared workspaces. These shared workspaces could also be called hybrid collaborative manufacturing systems, which involve workers as well as technological equipment and combine the benefits of human workers and new Industry 4.0 technologies, such systems are particularly useful in a context requiring flexibility and adaptability. Furthermore, the new Industry 5.0 approach has the objective to shift toward more human-centric and resilient manufacturing systems. The key problems to solve in the design of collaborative manufacturing systems are the combinatorial assembly line balancing problem and the equipment selection problem. An efficient and sustainable line requires a cost-effective choice of equipment while improving the ergonomics and the safety of workers. Both decisions of balancing workload and the assignment of equipment impact the ergonomics of a collaborative system and present conflicting criteria. To this end, we propose a multi-objective approach, the objectives are the optimisation of the investment costs and the ergonomics with a fatigue and recovery criterion. We propose to linearise the fatigue and recovery to formulate a new Mixed Integer Linear Programming formulation. We developed an exact multi-objective solving algorithm based on the ϵ-constraint to obtain the trade-off between these objectives. We conducted numerical experiments with different instances from the literature with promising results for instances with up to 45 operations. Finally, we discuss insightful managerial conclusions and future research perspectives.

Keywords:

• Assembly line balancing problem
• assembly line design problem
• ergonomics
• Industry 4.0
• Industry 5.0
• multi-objective optimisation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, M-A.A., upon reasonable request.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Mohammed-Amine Abdous

Mohammed-Amine Abdous is a research engineer at IMT Nord Europe (France). He holds a Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from Mines Saint-Etienne (France) and the University of Padova (Italy). His work and research are mainly focussed on industrial and manufacturing system design and modelling, human factors in manufacturing, and Industry 4.0.

Xavier Delorme

Xavier Delorme is a full professor at the Mines de Saint-Etienne (France). His works seek to find mathematic models and algorithms to support Decision-Making in Industry, mainly using optimisation methods from Operations Research. Pr. Xavier Delorme research works are multidisciplinary at the intersection of several scientific fields such as industrial engineering, mathematics, and computer science.

Daria Battini

Daria Battini is a full professor of Industrial Facilities Design and Industrial Logistics at the University of Padua (Italy). She is the Coordinator of the Doctoral Course in Mechatronics and Product Innovation Engineering. Pr. Daria Battini investigates supply chain design and management, industrial system optimisation, and manufacturing system management for sustainability. She has been guest editor of several special issues in relevant international journals and she is a member of IFAC and Euroma.

Sandrine Berger-Douce

Sandrine Berger-Douce is a Full Professor of Management at Mines St-Etienne. She is currently Head of the ‘Responsible Management & Innovation’ Department. Pr. Berger-Douce developed original expertise on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategy and practices in Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs). Her field of expertise is focussed on responsible management and sustainable entrepreneurship. More recently, she is implied in research projects dedicated to the digital transformation of organisations regarding the creation of shared value among ecosystems.