Abstract
In this paper, we study the behaviour of machining-assembly automatic transfer lines. The line consists of an L-stage series assembly line and L_i machining stages which supply necessary parts to assembly stage i. At first, a new approximation method is proposed to estimate a line production rate, and the approximation error is presented. This method has two steps. Step 1 is that an L-stage series assembly line is decomposed into 2-stage merge lines, Step 2 is that a 2-stage merge line is decomposed into 2-stage series lines. Next, using the approximation method, we numerically analyze the effects of numbers of assembly and machining stages on the production rate, and analyze the effect of installing buffer storages.
