The Effect of Learning on Assembly Line Balancing: A Review

Authors

  • Zakaria Zine El Abidine
    Affiliation
    Department of Management and Business Economics, Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Műegyetem rkp. 3, H-1111 Budapest, Hungary
  • Tamás Koltai
    Affiliation
    Department of Management and Business Economics, Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Műegyetem rkp. 3, H-1111 Budapest, Hungary
https://doi.org/10.3311/PPso.22283

Abstract

Classical assembly line balancing (ALB) models assume constant cycle times during production. However, this assumption oversimplifies the actual situation, especially in small batch production of up to a few hundred units, since employees can significantly improve their performance thanks to the learning effect, causing task times to decrease. Several researchers have realised the importance of the effect of learning in ALB. However, only a limited number of papers have so far addressed this issue. This is problematic, since ignoring the learning effect in ALB may lead to inaccurate results and by extension misleading conclusions. This study summarises the main contributions in the field of ALB that focus on the learning effect. First, assembly lines (ALs) and ALB problems are characterised. Next, the importance of the learning effect in ALB is highlighted, and the main learning curve (LC) models are introduced. Finally, an exhaustive review of the main contributions in the field of ALB and learning effect is provided. The results highlight that many problems in this area need to be investigated further, in relation to both conceptual model building and the development of algorithms for solving practical size problems.

Keywords:

assembly line balancing, learning effect, learning curve, operations management

Citation data from Crossref and Scopus

Published Online

2023-10-31

How to Cite

Zine El Abidine, Z., Koltai , T. (2024) “The Effect of Learning on Assembly Line Balancing: A Review”, Periodica Polytechnica Social and Management Sciences, 32(1), pp. 90–102. https://doi.org/10.3311/PPso.22283

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Section

Articles