An ant algorithm for the single row layout problem in flexible manufacturing systems

• DOI: 10.1016/j.cor.2003.08.005
• Publication Date: 2003-10-29T16:22:11Z
• Authors: M. Solimanpur; Prem Vrat; Ravi Shankar
• Keywords: 0211 other engineering and technologies; 02 engineering and technology

Single row machine layout problem is one of the most commonly used layout patterns, especially in flexible manufacturing systems. In this paper, this problem is formulated as a non-linear 0-1 programming model in which the distance between the machines is sequence dependent. An ant algorithm has been developed to solve this problem. A technique is proposed to efficiently implement the proposed algorithm. The performance of the proposed heuristic is tested over a number of problems selected from the literature. Computational results indicate that the proposed approach is more effective compared to many existing algorithms in this area.