A comprehensive approach to UA facility layout design using genetic algorithm

Facility layout planning is a quantum leap for the production industry to realise the low entropy, widely applied to the unequal area facility layout problems (UA-FLPs). This paper aims at the optimisation of UA-facility layout in the flexible bays structure (FBS) to maximise the adjacency requirements of facility types for the production layout. The FBS is a most commonly used structure flexible to allocate the facilities in the bays of unequal areas permitting empty space in the total area of the layout. The proposed mixed integer programming model has been formulated to ensure; minimum side length, confined aspect ratio of facility types, and optimal space utilisation in the total area of facility layout. The genetic algorithm based heuristic has been used to search the discrete solution space in a feasible time span. The optimal results obtained are mapped with the best-known numerical instances reported in the literature to approve the efficacy of proposed solution approach.