Using simulated annealing to address JIT sequencing for mixed-model assembly lines with setups

This research presents a heuristic to perform sequencing for Just-in-Time (JIT) production systems when multiple products are to be made simultaneously, and when setups between differing products are required. The heuristic used for sequencing is Simulated Annealing. An initial solution undergoes a series of changes using an objective function emphasizing the number of required setups and a material usage rate. Varying emphases between setups and usage are explored. Several test problems are solved, and their resulting sequences are used as inputs for simulated production runs. Output measures are captured from these simulated production runs. Experimentation shows that the varying emphases between setups and usage rate have an effect on production performance measures. Experimentation also shows the Simulated Annealing methodology to be competitive with its Tabu Search counterpart.