Analysis of facility layout alternatives using proposed integrated approach

Abstract

The performance of a manufacturing system is generally affected by its layout design. Neither a procedural nor an algorithmic approach is usually effective in solving a practical layout design problem. This paper proposed an integrated methodology for handling such crucial and important problem. The layout alternatives have been analysed for ranking them. The analytic hierarchy process has been adopted for the qualitative performance measures. The models of different layout alternative have been designed by the ProModel for simulation purpose to analyse the quantitative data. The preference selection index method has been implemented for handling the qualitative as well as quantitative data simultaneously to rank the alternatives. The adaptability of the proposed methodology has been illustrated by the case studies. The results of the suggested approach have also been compared with the other methodologies for justifying the effectiveness and acceptability.