Tools of soft computing as applied to the problem of facilities layout planning

The layout of temporary facilities in a construction site deals with the se lection of their most efficient layout in order to operate efficiently and cost effectively. The layout design seeks the best arrangement of facilitie s within the available area. In the design process of the layout, many obje ctives must be considered to effectively utilize people resources, equipmen t, space, and energy. This study proposes a soft-computing-based approach t o improve the layout process of facilities. The main objective is on obtain ing the closeness relationship values between each pair of facilities in a construction site. To achieve this, an integrated approach, using the fuzzy set theory and genetic algorithms, is used to investigate the layout of te mporary facilities in relation with the planned building(s) in a constructi on site. An example application is presented to illustrate the proposed app roach and the results are then discussed along with recommendations for fur ther work. Depending on the importance of relationships among the various f acilities in the construction site, this study is expected to provide engin eers with an appropriate tool to compare and evaluate different layouts and select the most appropriate and efficient one.