Purpose – In spite of having a number of general-purpose algorithms for solving plant layout problems, facility planners may still face a challenging task to adjust these algorithms to handle special, but not uncommon, layout problems. The purpose of this study is to propose a new method for addressing the impact of overhead space utilization on a plant layout solution. Design/methodology/appro...

We consider the facility layout problem with machine capacities (and hence multiple machines of each type) and random demand. We develop a very efficient heuristic allowing us to find good solutions to the stochastic case whenever good solutions can be found for the corresponding deterministic problem with uncapacitated machines of the same dimension. Hence, this problem represents a case where...

In this study, optimal layout design approach was used to solve problems related to site layout design of agricultural facilities such as refrigeration house, grading and packing house and warehouse. A basic program to support the rational construction of such facilities using Simulated Annealing (SA), one heuristic algorithm and one solution for combinatorial optimization problems, was coded i...

0377-2217/$ see front matter 2008 Elsevier B.V. A doi:10.1016/j.ejor.2008.06.029 * Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 1 7166452357; fax E-mail address: [email protected] (R. Batta). In this paper, we consider the integration of facility placement in an existing layout and the configuration of one or two connecting sub-aisles. This is relevant, for example, when placing a new machine/department ...

the dynamic facility layout problem (dflp) is the problem of finding positions of departments onthe plant floor for multiple periods (material flows between departments change during the planning horizon)such that departments do not overlap, and the sum of the material handling and rearrangement costs isminimized. in this paper a new optimization algorithm inspired from colonizing weeds, invasi...

We present a new framework for efficiently finding competitive solutions for the facility layout problem. This framework is based on the combination of two new mathematical programming models. The first model is a relaxation of the layout problem and is intended to find good starting points for the iterative algorithm used to solve the second model. The second model is an exact formulation of t...

1 Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia. 2 Industrial Engineering Department, College of Engineering, Shahid Bahonar University, Kerman, Iran. 3 Institute of Advanced Technology, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia. 4 Department of Industrial Engineering, Islamic Azad University of Kerma...

This paper presents an Iterative Heuristic Algorithm and Branch and Bound Algorithm for optimal location of clusters on different levels. The use of cluster analysis is proposed for grouping highly related departments for both the methods. The vertical location problem is formulated for optimal location problem. Results obtained by both the algorithms are presented and compared in terms of trav...

This paper presents a novel approach to the facility layout design problem based on multi-agent society where agents’ interactions form the facility layout design. Each agent corresponds to a facility with inherent characteristics, emotions, and a certain amount of money, forming its utility function. An agent’s money is adjusted during the learning period by a manager agent while each agent tr...

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) has become important to distribution and logistics operations due to current mandates by Wal-Mart and the Department of Defense. In order to meet these mandates, distribution operations have to re-layout their distribution facilities to accommodate these RFID systems. This transcript describes a layout algorithm that supports optimizing the design of RFID s...