الفهرس 
PROBLEM BACKGROUND AND LITERATURE REVIEWOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
The work of the research is directed to investigate the Mixed-Model Assembly
Line Problem, MMALP. The need to the mixed-model assembly lines arose
as a result of the diversification in demand. Tackling the MMALP requires
dealing with two different but inter-related problems, namely, the balancing
problem and the sequencing problem.
In the literature, the area of research is restricted to the paced lines
with deterministic elemental times. There are two approaches that can
be followed to find a solution to the l’vltvlALP: The modular approach and
the unified approach. In the first approach, different questions are separately
answered without a common conceptual apparatus. In contrary, the
second approach simultaneously answers all the necessary questions to
get the solution to the tvlMAL. The practicality of the M\tlALP provides
the impetus for the research presented in this thesis.
The thesis has dealt with the Stochastic Unpaced Mixed-Model Assembly
lines Problem, SU.’vlMALP. A unified approach has been developed to tackle
the problem. The main features 0 f the approach are to deco mpose the
problem into subproblems, then to apply a method of solution to solve
the subproblem. The solutions of the subproblems are combined to form
the solution of the original problem. To study the impact of using the
two approaches on the quality of the solution of the SUMMALP, two methods
of solution have been introduced: the single-pass method and the multiplepath
method.
First, the single-pass method is developed, the method consists of two
main phases, namely, the line-design phase, and the cost-evaluation phase.
The method employs the modular approach concepts, therefore, the two
phases are solved separately.
A multiple-path method that employs the unified approach concept is introduced.
The solutions of the subproblems obtained using the single-pass
method constitute the initial solutions to the multiple-path method. The MP method improves the init ial solutions. The solutions are appended,
hence, the solution of the last subproblem is the solution of the original
problem. The multiple-path method uses some e f the sequencing and
scheduling techniques viz. the n-job-single-machine technique which is
used to sequence the work elements within the work station, and the njob-rn-rnachine
technique which is used to schedule the work elements
on m parallel work stations while constructing the relaxed problem.
A detailed experimentation is carried out to investigate several aspects
of the research. Computational results and analysis have proven the superiority
of the unified approach (represented by the solutions of the multiplepath
method) to the modular approach (represented by the solutions of
the single-pass method). Other conclusions have been drawn about the
decomposition of the problem and other pertinents factors like the shift-
time, etc. Finally, the recommendations to apply the multiple-path method
to industry problem are stated together with recommendations for future
research wo rk.