HOPE - A GENETIC ALGORITHM FOR THE UNEQUAL AREA FACILITY LAYOUT PROBLEM

In this paper we outline a GA based algorithm for solving the single-f loor facility layout problem. We consider departments of both equal an d unequal sizes. The GAs performance is evaluated using several lest p roblems available in the literature. The results indicate that GA may provide a better alternative in a realistic environment where the obje ctive is to find a number of ''reasonably good'' layouts. The implemen tation also provides the flexibility of having fixed departments and t o interactively modify the layouts produced. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. Ail rights reserved.