Multi-criteria sequencing problem in mixed-model synchronous assembly lines

Mixed-model synchronous assembly line (MMSAL) is a type of assembly line that can be found in the production of large household appliances (e.g., washing machines, dryers, etc.). In this assembly line, products that are simultaneously processed on the line are transferred to the next station at the same time. In this paper, the sequencing problem of MMSAL with three objectives: (1) total idle cost, (2) total production rate variation cost, and (3) total setup cost is simultaneously studied. These three objectives are first weighted by their relative importance weights and a mathematical model is proposed for the problem. Since this problem is well known as non-deterministic polynomial-time hard class, a meta-heuristic algorithm based on simulated annealing is proposed to solve it. Performance of the proposed algorithm is compared against the Lingo 9 software. The computational results validate the efficiency and effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.