OPTIMISATION OF MACHINE LAYOUT USING A FORCE GENERATED GRAPH ALGORITHM AND SIMULATED ANNEALING

摘要

This paper presents a novel heuristic method for machine layout optimisation, developed in the course of an internal factory logistics optimisation project. The method is developed from a force-directed graph drawing algorithm, and integrates random permutations using simulated annealing to avoid local minima. The method was verified and validated with a discrete event simulation (DES) model of a furniture development factory consisting of 140 machines. The DES model was developed for manufacturing system analysis as well as design and testing of optimisation methods. The main optimisation goal was reduction of transport costs by minimising the total distance the products travel between the machines. The optimisation problem extends the quadratic assignment problem (QAP) by allowing arbitrary granularity of locations, facility sizes and fixed facilities. The resulting method can be used to solve a wider range of problems by altering the optimisation function or adding new feasibility conditions.