Line balancing:

• The process of assigning tasks to workstations in such a way that the workstations have approximately equal time requirements.

• This minimizes the idle time along the line and high utilization of labor and equipment.

• Idle time occurs if task times are not equal among workstations;some stations are capable of producing at higher rates than others.

• Lines that are perfectly balanced will have smooth flow of work as activities along the line are synchronized to achieve maximum utilization of labor and equipment.

• The major obstacle to attaining a perfectly balanced line is the difficulty of forming task bundles that have the same duration.

• The major obstacle to attaining a perfectly balanced line is

• difficulty of forming task bundles that have the same duration.

• Cause of difficulty is that differences among elemental task lengths cannot always be overcome by grouping tasks.

• Required technological sequence may prohibit otherwise desirable task combinations.

• Cycle time : the maximum time allowed at each workstation to complete its set of tasks on a unit.

• Minimum cycle time is equal to the longest task time and the maximum cycle time is equal to the sum of task times.

• Output rate = Operating time per day

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• Cycle time

• Minimum number of stations=sum of time /cycle time