The influence of line balancing on line feeding for mixed-model assembly lines

Though, recent research on mixed-model Assembly Line Balancing Problems (MALBP) and Assembly Line Feeding Problems (ALFP) aims to incorporate real-world aspects, research on the integration of both areas is still limited. This paper helps closing this gap by studying the influence of different balancing objectives on line feeding decisions and costs. For line balancing, different objective functions were formulated and the results were used as input when solving the ALFP. Although, no large cost differences were found, we observed that decision making in line feeding does depend on the balance.Though, recent research on mixed-model Assembly Line Balancing Problems (MALBP) and Assembly Line Feeding Problems (ALFP) aims to incorporate real-world aspects, research on the integration of both areas is still limited. This paper helps closing this gap by studying the influence of different balancing objectives on line feeding decisions and costs. For line balancing, different objective functions were formulated and the results were used as input when solving the ALFP. Although, no large cost differences were found, we observed that decision making in line feeding does depend on the balance.C