Line balancing is a production strategy that involves balancing operator and machine time to match the production rate to the takt time, which is the rate at which parts or products must be produced to meet customer demand. The goal of line balancing is to remove bottlenecks and excess capacity, and to level the workload across all processes in a cell or value stream. This is achieved by assigning the right number of workers and machines to each assembly line segment, and equally distributing tasks among workers and workstations to ensure that each operation in the line happens within the specified time frame.
Benefits of line balancing include reducing waiting waste, standardizing production, creating a streamlined flow of the production process, maximizing workforce utilization and production capacity, and reducing wastage. Line balancing also reduces variations within a production line, making it stable and flexible enough to adapt to changes. Perfect line balancing leads to workers and machines that perform in a fully synchronized manner, maximizing process efficiency and representing fewer costs and more profits.
To achieve line balancing, a production line must be structured in a manner that supports a streamlined flow of materials and parts from one workstation to another. There are several methods and techniques for line balancing, including heijunka, which is a technique for reducing unevenness in production. Other methods involve shifting parts of work between stations to lower the longest processing time and therefore lower cycle time. Four steps in solving line balancing include identifying the bottleneck, analyzing the process, designing the solution, and implementing the solution.
