Assembly Line Tool

Create Cost-Efficient Assembly Lines With This Analysis Tool!

Download the trial version.

Install the software by double-clicking the Installer Package Icon on your computer.

Launch program by double-clicking the Archer Tool icon on your computer.

Press F1 key to bring up Help File

Read the Help File and analyze assembly lines!

The Registered Version accepts up to 500 operations for study. The Trial Version is limited to 20 operations but also includes the full documentation for the tool and explains the serial line and cost models in detail. The tool offers a straight forward 4-step approach to problem formulation with a simple and familiar spreadsheet-type interface for entering data. The help file (accessed by its menu or pressing the F1 key) contains step-by-step instructions on solving problems and tutorials on modeling and advanced topics.

The problem can be studied with respect to various measures of effectiveness and the tool collects and automatically reports up to 20 statistics for the studied sequences.

This tool allows the study of a variety of more complex assembly lines that experience yield loss and have various fixed and variable cost parameters. This is illustrated below.

The line consists of a number (n) of operations (Ops) that must be completed to have a finished product. These finished products will be referred to as "Finishes". At the start of the line, the unfinished products will be referred to as "Starts". In the Basic Model, there is no yield loss (attrition) and Starts = Finishes. The total processing time to make one "Finish" is the sum of all of the n-operations.

The operations have ordering constraints or precedence relationships as illustrated below.

With this inexpensive analysis and sequencing optimization tool you can do just that. You can:

Create Cost-Efficient or Time-Efficient assembly sequences for common assembly lines that eliminate unnecessary costs and/or cut cycle times
Analyze alternative assembly sequences by comparing up to 20 measures of effectiveness
Analyze paced and unpaced lines
Analyze lines with yield loss
Analyze the effects of fixed and variable costs

Is it easy to use? Yes! Just enter relevant operational data and press a few buttons, and appears a champion sequence to put your line on track. Analyze your existing line with automatically generated measures of performance or design a new line from scratch. Its very versatile!

The tool is applicable to most serial flow lines with sequential workstations, and precedence constraints. Examples of serial assembly lines include semiconductor assembly and test lines, and automobile and aircraft assembly lines. Once a good sequence is generated, the results can be used as input for resource and labor allocations or other production analysis.

In addition to searching for solutions that minimize the number of workstations or flow time in the line (a Time-Efficient solution), the tool can also search for the sequence with the best cost performance based on each operation's yield and cost profile (a Cost-Efficient solution). This is useful when performing WIP Investment analysis.

ATC's Assembly Line Tool is based on a Basic Serial Model with three main variations - The Yield and Cost Models and Flow Type -Paced or Unpaced.

Screenshots - Click image to view.