Ergo-Balancing in Assembly Lines based on Energy Expenditure Rate

In many assembly systems, ergonomics impacts in relevant way on productivity and human safety. Traditional optimization approaches considers only time variables. In this paper an innovative balancing model is developed including the ergonomics aspect, defined by energy expenditure rate, based on main features of assembly workstations. First, a comparison between time and energy balancing is carried out, and then a new integrated analytical model is introduced to have a unique objective function. A real case allows the validation of the approach and some further researches are defined.