Citation: Kádárová, J.; Janeková, J.;
Suhányiová, A. Possibilities to
Increase Assembly Line Productivity
Using Different Management
Approaches. Processes 2022, 10, 553.
https://doi.org/10.3390/pr10030553
Academic Editors: Arkadiusz Gola,
Izabela Nielsen and Patrik Grznár
Received: 20 January 2022
Accepted: 6 March 2022
Published: 11 March 2022
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Article
Possibilities to Increase Assembly Line Productivity Using
Different Management Approaches
Jaroslava Kádárová, Jaroslava Janeková * and Alžbeta Suhányiová
Department of Industrial and Digital Engineering, Institute of Industrial Engineering, Management and
Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Košice, Park Komenského 9, 040 01 Košice, Slovakia;
jaroslava.kadarova@tuke.sk (J.K.); alzbeta.suhanyiova@tuke.sk (A.S.)
* Correspondence: jaroslava.janekova@tuke.sk
Abstract:
A number of scientific methods are used to support productivity growth in companies,
aimed at reducing waste, balancing assembly lines and supporting the introduction of automation
into assembly processes. Their use in industrial practice is widespread, especially in large and
medium-sized enterprises, and small businesses that use scientific methods to a limited extent. The
aim of the research is to show the assembly process of throttle valves implemented in a small company,
the effects of balancing the current assembly line and the effects of proposals of variant solutions
on the automated assembly line and on the amount of hourly assembly production and costs per
product. Within costs, two cost types are monitored: namely the hourly labor costs, and hourly
machine costs. The sum of the hourly assembly line costs is determined by their sum. In the results
section, the main sources of waste in the assembly process are identified, and eight proposals leading
to the elimination of waste are processed. In the discussion, the individual proposals are evaluated in
terms of the cost of one product, the hourly production of assembly and the tact times of assembly
lines. The proposal that is evaluated as the best process is compared with the current state. The
purpose of this article is to point out the advantages of the implementation of scientific methods in
industrial practice, the achieved savings in the solved problem, and thus, to support those scientific
methods in the management of assembly processes which are beginning to be used in greater extents
by small businesses.
Keywords: assembly line; productivity; waste; balancing; automation
1. Introduction
The current business environment is highly competitive, subject to geopolitical influ-
ences and changes that are frequent, rapid and difficult to predict. The company’s success
is therefore based on skills, the right decisions and the company’s actual performance. The
main driver of business prosperity is productivity growth; it is the problems of productivity
growth in production and assembly processes that are often the subject of research by
scientists and practitioners. The solution to these problems is closely related to eliminat-
ing waste, balancing lines, and introducing automation and robotics into production and
assembly processes.
The solution focus is on the control of assembly processes along these lines. The
creation of assembly lines is associated with Industry 2.0 [
1
]. Since then, the assembly lines
have undergone significant changes. While in the early 20th century they were controlled
manually by the workforce, today they are mostly controlled by automated robotic arms.
In the near future, new technologies related to Industry 4.0 will significantly affect the
management of assembly processes [2,3] on the lines.
Today, assembly lines are used in various industries. The main goal is to increase the
productivity of assembly lines, which usually allows the assembly of standardized products.
Assembly lines are mainly focused on the mass production of large products (production of
Processes 2022, 10, 553. https://doi.org/10.3390/pr10030553 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/processes
