Multi-Agent System for solving Dynamic Operating Theater Facility Layout Problem

The Operating Theater (OT) is known to be a fluctuating production system. The unpredictability of populations’ needs has an impact on the required human and material resources and makes the Operating Theater a dynamic environment. Thus, the use of dynamic models is getting more realistic to solve OT Layout Problem (OTLP). While solving Dynamic OTLP, Real-life Operating Theater (OT) sizes are larger than exact methods capacity, this lead to explore other methods as heuristics, metaheuristics or parallel treatment looking for approximate solutions. In this paper, we developed a novel approach using a Multi-Agent (MA) Decision Making System (DMS) based on a Quadratic Assignment Problem (QAP) and a Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP) for large-sized DOTLP with objective of minimizing total traveling costs and minimizing the rearrangement costs, by studying an individual layout for each distinctive period based on patients demand. The DMS generates efficient solutions in reasonable time and gives the final OT layouts in a graphic interface. Keywords— Dynamic Facility Layout Problem, Multi-Agent Systems; MILP, QAP, Operating Theater