Line-integrated supermarkets constitute a novel in-house parts logistics concept for feeding mixed-model assembly lines. In this context, supermarkets are decentralized logistics areas located directly in each station. Here, parts are withdrawn from their containers by a dedicated logistics...

In recent years, more and more automobile producers adopted the supermarket-concept to enable a flexible and reliable Just-in-Time (JIT) part supply of their mixed-model assembly lines. Within this concept, a supermarket is a decentralized in-house logistics area where parts are intermediately...

With the ongoing trend of mass-customization and an increasing product variety, just-in-time part logistics more and more becomes one of the greatest challenges in today’s automobile production. Thousands of parts and suppliers, a multitude of different equipments, and hundreds of logistics...

In a mixed-model assembly line, varying models of the same basic product are to be produced in a facultative sequence. This results to a short-term planning problem where a sequence of models is sought which minimizes station overloads. In practice - e.g. the final assembly of cars - special...

Assembly line balancing problems (ALBPs) arise whenever an assembly line is configured, redesigned or adjusted. An ALBP consists of distributing the total workload for manufacturing products among the work stations along the line. On the one hand, research has focussed on developing effective...

Production processes in a wide range of industries rely on modern mixed-model assembly systems, which allow an efficient manufacture of various models of a common base product on the same assembly line. In order to facilitate a just-in-time supply of materials, the literature proposes various...

Nowadays, mixed-model assembly lines are applied in a wide range of industries to mass-produce customized products to order, e.g., in automobile industry. An important decision problem in this context receiving a lot of attention from researchers and practitioners is the sequencing problem,...

Almost ever since freight has been transported via rail, shunting yards (also called classification or marshaling yards) are operated in order to separate freight trains and reassemble new trains. The efficient use of shunting yards has a deep impact on the efficiency and reliability of rail...