A loop layout design problem for flexible manufacturing systems

The interconnection pattern of the processing modules of a computerized manufacturing system affects its performance. The paper discusses a set of requirements that the interconnection network should satisfy. Subsequently, it concentrates on a simple and popular architecture, the loop network. The problem the paper addresses is to design the layout of the system so that the number of machines that the part types cross in their manufacturing process is minimized. It formulates the problem mathematically and solve it by a heuristic that obtains consistently better results than an earlier popular method.