Optimization algorithm for workload balancing in surface mounting lines

In surface mounting lines with multiple sequential mounters, production time is dependent on the maximum assembly time of individual mounters. It is necessary to balance workload for different mounters to improve efficiency of production line. In this paper, the problem of workload balancing in assembly line is studied and an integer programming model is built, with the goal to minimize the maximum assembly time of individual mounters. An optimization algorithm based on Scatter Search method is proposed to solve this problem, and numerical experiment and algorithm evaluation are conducted. The results show that the proposed algorithm has better performance on global search and optimization result compared with heuristic algorithm.