• Journal of Korean Institute of Industrial Engineers
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.54-60
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• 2001

In this paper, a shape-based block layout (SBL) approach is presented to solve the facility layout problem with unequal-area and fixed shapes. The SBL approach employs hybrid genetic algorithm (Hybrid-GA) to find a good solution and the concept of bay structure is used. In the typical facility layout problem with unequal area and fixed shapes, the given geometric constraints of unequal-area and fixed shapes are mostly approximated to original shape by aspect ratio. Thus, the layout results require extensive manual revision to create practical layouts and it produces irregular building shapes and too much unusable spaces. Experimental results show that a SBL model is able to produce better solution and to create more practical layouts than those of existing approaches.

• Journal of Korean Society of Industrial and Systems Engineering
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• v.22 no.49
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• pp.89-98
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• 1999

The objective of this study is to develop an improved algorithm for layout problems. Computerized facility layout program was also applied to solve the layout problem in locomotive maintenance workshop. The current facility layout is structured in the large space without considerations of many variable factors. For this reason, effectiveness of layout results in loss on effective space utility. This study is to develop an algorithm in the consideration of importance weight and desirable shape of specific department in the computerized layout planning and quantitative relationship rating between each department was used. Standard process duration of locomotive maintenance workshop was used to select the main activities of locomotive maintenance work. This study could generate more efficient facility layout design to reduce the number of movement frequency and travel distance in maintenance workshop.

• Journal of Korea Society of Industrial Information Systems
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.142-148
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• 2008

Facility Layout Planning is concerned with how to arrange facilities necessary for production in a given space. Its objective is often to minimize the total sum of all material flows multiplied by the distance among facilities. FLP belongs to NP complete problem; i.e., the number of possible layout solutions increases with the increase of the number of facilities. Thus, meta heuristics such as Genetic Algorithm (GA) and Simulated Annealing have been investigated to solve the FLP problems. However, one of the biggest problems which lie in the existing meta heuristics including GA is hard to find an appropriate combinations of parameters which result in optimal solutions for the specific problem. The Ant System algorithm with elitist and ranking strategies is used to solve the FLP problem as an another good alternative. Experimental results show that the AS algorithm is able to produce the same level of solution quality with less sensitive parameters selection comparing to the ones obtained by applying other existing meta heuristic algorithms.

• IE interfaces
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.121-132
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• 2007

The facility layout problem (FLP) involves the positioning of facilities within a given workplace in order to minimize the material flow distance between facilities. In this paper, we focus on the FLP in which the each facility has a rectangular shape and an input and output points. We develop a heuristic algorithm in which the facilities are arranged according to the layout algorithm using center of gravity and then simulated annealing algorithm is applied to improve the solution. A comparison of the computational results with exiting algorithms shows that the proposed algorithm provides better solutions in reasonable range of computational time.

• IE interfaces
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.167-177
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• 1997

This paper deals with an application of process value analysis method for a manufacturing process in order to redesign facility layout in a paper company. We have used the value analysis method which permits an overall and rigorous study of process by a functional approach. Firstly, customer's expectations for the future process are clearly and precisely expressed with specifications of the Functional Extern Analysis. The existing process is analyzed using various tool of the Functional Internal Analysis in the second part. From the results of these analysis, we find out that the main problems of current facility are due to scheduling and facility layout. This paper is devoted to resolve the second problem. We suggest an ideal solution in order to have a reference solution. Nextly, We give realistic choices and the final solution for the facility layout.

• Journal of Korean Society of Industrial and Systems Engineering
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.93-100
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• 2009

This paper addresses the facility layout problem in multi-bay environments, where the bays are connected at one or both ends by an inter-bay material handling system. In most previous studies, the main concern is to allocate facilities or departments to the bays whose widths are fixed. In this research, we suggest the efficient models that provide the optimal layout solution under flexible bay width environments. We also suggest a mathematical model that provides the optimal solution using two-way facility allocation approach instead of one-way allocation technique. This paper also shows the approach of TABU search to the assignment and layout design of the departments. The results generated from TABU search are compared to the result from the mathematical model. Models are developed using mixed integer programming for various test problems and solved by CPLEX.

• Journal of Korean Institute of Industrial Engineers
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.359-370
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• 1997

We consider a facility layout problem with the objective of minimizing total transportation distance, which is the sum of rectilinear distances between facilities weighted by the frequency of trips between the facilities. It is assumed that facilities are required to have rectangular shapes and there is no empty space between the facilities in the layout. In this study, a graph theoretic heuristic is developed for the problem. In the heuristic, planar graphs are constructed to represent adjacencies between the facilities and then the graphs are converted to block layouts on a continual plane using a layout construction module. (Therefore, each graph corresponds to a layout.) An initial layout is obtained by constructing a maximal weighted planar graph and then the layout is improved by changing the planar graph. A simulated annealing algorithm is used to find a planar graph which gives the best layout. To show the performance of the proposed heuristic, computational experiments are done on randomly generated test problems and results are reported.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Building Construction
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.664-673
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• 2012

Determining the layout of temporary facilities that support construction activities at a site is an important planning activity, as layout can significantly affect cost, quality of work, safety, and other aspects of the project. The construction site layout problem involves difficult combinatorial optimization. Recently, various artificial intelligence(AI)-based algorithms have been applied to solving many complex optimization problems, including neural networks(NN), genetic algorithms(GA), and swarm intelligence(SI) which relates to the collective behavior of social systems such as honey bees and birds. This study proposes a site facility layout optimization algorithm based on self-organizing maps(SOM). Computational experiments are carried out to justify the efficiency of the proposed method and compare it with particle swarm optimization(PSO). The results show that the proposed algorithm can be efficiently employed to solve the problem of site layout.

• Journal of Korean Society for Quality Management
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.151-162
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• 1991

The purpose of this study is to propose a facility layout design algorithm based on artificial intelligence concept, and then to develop a computer program which is more practical than any other conventional facility layout design systems. The algorithm is composed of five step layout procedures; knowledge and data input, knowledge interpretation, priority determination, inference of layout design, and evaluation, In the step of priority determination, the algorithm is divided into single row and multi row layout problem. In the step of inference of layout design, alternatives are generated by constraints-directed reasoning and depth first search method based on artificial intelligence concept. Alternatives are evaluated by the moving cost and relationship value by interactive man-machine interface in the step of evaluation. As a case study, analytical considerations over conventional programs such as CRAFT and CORELAP was investigated and compared with algorithm propsed in this study. The proposed algorithm in this study will give useful practical tool for layout planner. The computer progran was written in C language for IBM PC-AT.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2000.11a
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• pp.334-338
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• 2000

One of the major drawbacks of the existing facility layout methods is that most of them were developed based on pre-defined cost functions, and therefore fail to cope with the dynamic aspects of modern manufacturing systems. Another drawback is that due to the poor representation capability of the block diagrams, they are not able to convey the sufficient information needed by facility designers. In this paper, a system for solving facility layout problem considering these matters in cellular manufacturing environment is proposed and implemented using GA approach with embedded simulation module and virtual reality technologies.