Solution approaches for facility layout problems

Abstract

The chief executive officers of real-world factories aim to implement a cost efficient production. The layout of the operating equipment is one of the main influencing factors and this leads to facility layout problems. In this cumulative dissertation we present new exact and heuristic methods for several facility layout problems and we contribute to the field of mathematical optimization via five individual publications. The first publication concerns an mixed-integer linear programming approach for the T-Row Facility Layout Problem based on an extension of the well-known betweenness variables. In the second publication we present new well-performing exact approaches for the Combined Cell Layout Problem by merging two cells of type Single-Row Facility Layout Problem. In the third, fourth and fifth publication we focus on the Double-Row Facility Layout Problem (DRFLP) presenting a combined simulation and optimization approach, combinatorial lower bounds and a study of the relation between the Single-Row Facility Layout Problem and the DRFLP. Combining the results of these five publications, real-world facility layout problems can be solved. Additionally, we support the chief executive officer to choose a layout when a factory is built from the ground up.