Sequential use of blocplan, solver, and particle swarm optimization (PSO) to optimize the double row facility layout

Abstract

Facility layout optimization is used to increase company productivity by minimizing waste on transportation, movement, and waiting time. It was mentioned in several previous studies that optimal facility layout can reduce production costs by up to 40%. Because of this importance, many previous researchers have carried out research in the field of Facility Layout. The differences between each Facility Layout research are in the characteristics and criteria being analyzed and the optimization method used. The several approaches used to optimize the layout are constructed algorithm, exact algorithm, and metaheuristic. These three methods have their respective purposes and to the best of our knowledge have not been used sequentially. So, this study aims to find the best layout for the double-row facility problem with aisle width consideration using three sequential methods. There are BLOCPLAN for the constructed algorithm, solver for the exact algorithm, and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) for the metaheuristic. The result shows that the use of BLOCPLAN gives a better result of Total Material Handling Cost (TMHC) in PSO. For more machines, PSO has better results than Gurobi Optimization.