A Three-Stage Approach to a Multirow Parallel Machine Layout Problem

作者：Zuo, Xingquan; Gao, Shubing; Zhou, MengChu^*; Yang, Xin; Zhao, Xinchao

来源：IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering, 2019, 16(1): 433-447.

DOI：10.1109/TASE.2018.2866377

• Facility layout problem (FLP)
• linear program (LP)
• metaheuristic algorithm
• parallel machine

Facility layout is vital to save operational cost and enhance production efficiency. Multirow layout is a common pattern in practical manufacturing environment. Although parallel machines are frequently implemented in practice to enhance productivity, there lacks any in-depth study on multirow layout problem with parallel machines. In this paper, its mathematical programming formulation is established to minimize material flow cost. A three-stage approach is proposed to solve it. First, a Monte Carlo heuristic is devised to optimize the sequence of machines on multiple rows. Second, a linear program is used to determine the optimal exact location of each machine. Finally, an exchange heuristic is adopted to reassign material flows among parallel machines in different machine groups. An iterative optimization strategy is suggested to execute the three stages repeatedly to improve the solution quality. This approach is applied to a number of problem instances and compared against others. The experimental results show that it is able to effectively solve this new problem and significantly decrease material flow cost.

• 出版日期2019-1
• 单位北京邮电大学