Artificial immune system-based algorithm for the unidirectional loop layout problem in a flexible manufacturing system

摘要

Facility layout design is a significant aspect of designing any manufacturing setup and it has a huge impact on the performance of the manufacturing system. Reductions in operating expenses in a manufacturing system is greatly achieved by a good layout design. The problem of finding an optimal layout is hard and deterministic techniques are not suitable for large-sized problems. In this paper, a two-phase layout design is developed. As a first phase of layout design, an artificial immune system (AIS) algorithm is proposed for solving the unidirectional loop layout problem with the consideration of both min_sum and min_max objectives. The computational results showed that the AIS algorithm is efficient in solving layout problems and producing good-quality solutions. In the second phase, shortcuts are introduced in the flow path of the loop layout to enhance the performance of the system. The position of the shortcut in the loop which gives the minimum material handling cost is discovered.