Hybrid modelling for optimal facility layout under continuous planning

Optimal facility layout design greatly reduces material handling cost, required floor area and dead space. The usual approaches do not consider material handling aspects and fail to provide an efficient manufacturing environment. This paper proposes a distinct methodology that integrates material handling equipment selection and facility layout design for a heavy manufacturing environment using knowledge-based and optimization technique. The algorithm was coded using C⁺⁺ language. The applicability of the proposed hybrid methodology is simulated on a Pentium III, 550 MHz computer and applied to two projects involving 6 machines, 30 moves and 12 material handling equipment sets.