Proximity-based adjacency determination for facility layout

We define a new model for adjacency subgraph selection for the facility layout problem based on proximity and present some heuristics for its solution. The new model presents a more realistic representation of the problem than previous ones in that departments which are non-adjacent, yet “close” to each other, are compensated in the determination of the optimal adjacency subgraph. Empirical results comparing the heuristics with the method of Leung [Management Science 38, 594–605 (1992)] are reported.