A genetic algorithm for facility layout

Facility layout is an important aspect of designing any manufacturing setup. However, the problem of finding optimal layouts is hard and deterministic techniques are not computationally feasible. In this work a genetic algorithm is presented for obtaining efficient layouts. The different aspects involved in the design of efficient genetic algorithms are discussed in detail. It is shown that the population maintained by the genetic algorithm for facility layout should consist of feasible solutions only. A new efficient crossover operator is developed. Experimental results obtained with the proposed algorithm on test problems taken from the literature are promising.