Modeling and balance point characteristics of bucket brigades assembly line

According to the difference in station constraints, the bucket brigades assembly line (BBAL) is divided into three types, namely BBAL-1, BBAL-2 and BBAL-3, and the corresponding mathematical models are established to comparatively investigate the self-balancing and self-organizing performance of the three types of BBALs. It is found that (1) both BBAL-1 and BBAL-2 possess only one balance point and good convergence from any states to the balance point; (2) the balance point of BBAL-3 is of uncertainty; and (3) BBAL-3 becomes self-balanced at the balance point if the point exists, even though it cannot converge to the balance point from any states. The above-mentioned conclusions are finally proved by numerical simulations.