A distance assignment approach to the facility layout problem

The facility layout problem has generally been formulated as a quadratic assignment problem, where the interacting facilities are assigned to the various sites. In this paper a different approach, based on assigning distances between pairs of sites to pairs of facilities, is taken. A network formulation and analysis of this problem is provided. An algorithm, composed of three phases, is developed. The first phase involves preprocessing of the distance matrix. The second phase involves solving the (generalized assignment) network problem. The third phase employs a heuristic procedure which transforms the solution of the second phase into a feasible assignment of facilities to sites. Finally, computational experience with the new algorithm is provided.