Tabu search based heuristics for multi-floor facility layout

A pair of two-stage heuristics, GRASP/TS and FAF/TS, for solving the multifloor facility layout problem are given. In both heuristics, the objective of the first stage is to obtain a layout with minimal inter-floor flow. Tabu search is used in the second stage to refine the initial layout based on total inter/intra-floor costs. GRASP/TS applies a GRASP to obtain the inital layout. FAF/TS uses an exact procedure FAF from the open literature to obtain an initial layout with minimal inter-floor flow. Computational tests indicate that GRASP/TS compares favourably with other heuristics that do not rely on exact algorithms. FAF/TS is shown to outperform all other heuristics in the open literature.