Facility layouts based on intelligent optimization approaches

Facility layout problem which deals with the placement of facilities in the plant area is one of the most critical problems in manufacturing systems design. However the facility layout problem is one of the combinatorial optimization and nondeterministic polynomial complete problems, and obtaining an optimal solution for the large-sized facility layout problem in reasonable computational time using traditional optimization approaches is extremely difficult. To cope with these problems, many intelligent optimization approaches have been proposed with extensive applicability, high calculation precision and low computational time. This paper presents the status and trends of facility layout problems based on intelligent optimization approaches. Firstly, three mathematical models for the facility layout problem are analyzed in detail. Furthermore, various intelligent optimization approaches and the comparisons are presented. Finally, the trends on future research directions about facility layout problems are surveyed.